Goal Setting and Hard Math Questions, September 18, 2008

I always encourage students to set HUGE goals. What many students are preoccupied with, is how they will accomplish the goal. That is why goals are seldom set.

For example, a student may have a strong desire to be a millionaire by the time they are 30 years old, but only the few that actually BELIEVE they will do it, actually do it.

Often times, it is as simple as that. You need to take the first step: Set a goal, and believe you can achieve it.

Let me give you an example from mathematics. Take one of those long math questions, one that requires multiple steps and, often times, results in multiple anxieties. The problem with these questions is that students sit there and stare at them because they have no idea what the answer is. I am sure that any teacher, no matter how comfortable they are with the material, would look at the same question and not know the answer. The answer requires multiple steps.

The answer won’t come just by looking at the question. What students need to understand is, they don’t need to know what the answer is! They don’t even neccessarily need to know how to get to the answer. What they do need to know is how to take the first step.

As long as you are moving forward to a goal, you are approaching it. Obvious statement?

So, my advice to students is: do something, anything, take a step.

Goals are the same way. You don’t need to know how you are going to get to your goal, you just need to take the first step.