You, more productive than ever before? Get ready, because this college productivity strategy can make this the most productive year you’ve ever had...
The 2 reasons why most students never reach their goals
You’re a busy person. You understand the value of time and have none to waste. Believe me—I get it. So let’s jump right in.
There are two big reasons why students fail to reach their goals. What are they?
The first is that they don’t know what to do. The second is that they don’t do what they know they should be doing.
We don’t know each other personally (well, probably not). Obviously, I don’t know what your goals are. Since we’ve never talked before, I won’t pretend I can show you the way forward if you don’t know what steps to take to reach your goal. That’s for you to figure out.
Often all the steps you need to take to reach a big goal won’t be clear. But let’s assume you either know what you should be doing, or at least have a good idea.
How do you bridge the gap between dreaming of a goal and reaching it? The only way to make it happen is to take action.
Why's it so hard to take action?
You probably already understand that the only way to reach a goal is through action. It’s a simple concept. Everyone knows it’s true.
But why do so many students fail to act when they already know what they have to do?
Here’s a truth about human behavior: We all know of tasks that would make our lives easier if we did them. But what’s the problem? We don’t do them....
Before you read any further, STOP! How many things can you think of right now that would help you reach your goals faster? What could you start doing that would help you get the grades you want more easily? How many tasks can you come up with of that would save you time in the long run?
If you were to pause and think about these questions for just a few minutes, I’m sure you’d effortlessly come up with multiple answers.
The question now, is this: do you want to make life easier?
Yes—everyone does.
So if you want to make life easier, and you already know how to do it, why haven’t you acted yet?
If you’re like most people, you don’t have a good answer.
Like I said—We all have things we know would make life easier if we did them. But for some reason, we still don’t act.
There’s a simple solution though. The strategy I’m about to unveil will help you bridge the gap between should do’s and already done's.
When you first read it, don’t be fooled by its simplicity. I can assure you that once you try it, you’ll see your college productivity improve FAST! I can’t promise it’ll change your life overnight, but if you stick with, over time you can expect huge productivity gains.
Allow me to introduce: The Goal-Box Method.
An introduction to the Goal-Box Method
Do you consider yourself to be an open-minded person? Great! Let me reemphasize not to let the simplicity here fool you.
Once you fully understand the method and have put it into practice for a few months, you’ll find out how powerful it is for your own reasons.
The idea is to write your weekly goals down on an index card or sheet of paper. As you go throughout your week, make sure to complete the goals you wrote down. Then cross them off.
You’ll reuse the index card or sheet of paper each week until it’s filled up with crossed off goals. Then you'll toss it in your goal box.
What's a goal box? Your goal box will simply be a box you use to store your goal sheets/cards once you've filled them up until a designated period of time has passed. You can use a shoe box, a drawer, a cardboard box, or anything else that you want!
For the sake of explanation, let’s say you’re using a sheet of paper. Each time you fill up a sheet, toss it in your goal box without looking at the old sheets. Possibly even make a slit in the box so you don’t have to open it.
The idea is that at the end of the year, you’ll finally reopen the box and find paper after paper of crossed off goals.
Can’t you see how pleasantly surprised you’d be at how much you got done in the past year?
There’s only one simple rule to follow: You MUST complete the goals you write down each week!
Why the Goal-Box Method Works
There are several reasons why this method works.
It involves writing your goals down, which studies show increases your odds of completing them.
You’re creating a record of everything you’ve accomplished.
Why does this matter? If I asked you to make a list of 25 of your biggest accomplishments last year, you could probably rattle of several off the top of your head. I’m sure you could come up with 25, but without a written record of them, it’s harder to track what you completed.It gets you in the habit of setting weekly goals
But above all else, it challenges you to bridge the gap between things you know you should do, and things you’ve done! This is how you move ahead in life.
Since we’ve covered the basics, I’m next going to tell you about the two different methods.
The Goal Box Method Variation 1: Progressive Overload
Weightlifters know that progressive overload is the key to getting stronger. This means continually increasing the difficulty of your workouts so you never quite adapt. This gives you results fast.
The same basic concept underlies the first variation of the Goal-Box Method.
Before you read this about this variation, I want you to know that I was hesitant to include it in this post. Why? Because as of right now it’s just a thought experiment. Unlike the second variation, I’ve never actually followed this one myself.
This isn’t to say it won’t work for you. Just that I’ve never personally tested it or had anyone else test it out for a full year.
But I decided to include it because following the logic of how this first variation would work in theory will help you better understand how to use the second variation (which I use myself and highly recommend).
Here’s how the progressive overload variation works. Remember, there’s one simple rule to follow: You MUST complete the goals you write down each week!
At the start of the first week, write down the most important thing you need to do that week on a piece of paper or an index card. Yes—you read that right. You start by writing down just one thing during week 1. Write it down and get it done.
Then at the start of the second week, write down the two most important things you must finish that week. MAKE SURE you do whatever it takes to complete them!
On the first day of the third week, you’ll write down the top 3 biggest tasks you have to complete that week. Again, you must finish them by the end of the week.
After the first 3 weeks, guess what you’ll be doing during week 4? You’ll be writing down the top four things you need to do.
Are you starting to see the pattern here? You’ll continue to add an additional goal to the number of goals from the previous task each week.
Isn't this too easy?
Now, you might be thinking that this sounds too easy. First, realize that there’s no limit to the number of goals you can complete in any week.
During the first week, you won’t just be doing one task and then relaxing the whole time. You can and should push yourself to complete as much as you can. The point is that at the very least, you must finish the one goal you wrote down.
Remember the one and only rule: You MUST complete the goals you write down each week! Doing more is always encouraged as long as you finish the goals you wrote down no matter what.
Still thinking this sounds too easy? Well the first month or two (or three) is barely a warmup. Just wait until the week comes when you’re responsible for completing 20 goals. This is when the going will start to get really tough. And it’ll only get worse....
But understand that if you stick with the method, you’ll be accomplishing over 50 goals a week during the last weeks of the year!
If you kept up with the challenge, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find over 1,275 goals crossed off at the end of the year. Many of them you’ll have forgotten even setting. But just think of how much further ahead you’d be in your life after finishing 1,275 goals.
The Goal Box Method Variation 2: Index Card Challenge
This is the variation I follow on a weekly basis. I started doing this in about December of 2016, so I’ve been at it for about a month as I write this.
Here’s how it works.
Imagine a time in the future, say a year from now. You reopen your goal box. You randomly pull out one index card that now has lonely, fading red line across the top.
There are multiple blue lines below, and 5 of them have goals written on them. Each goal is crossed off. You hastily shuffle through card after card as more and more memories come back to you. Each card has 5 big goals checked off.
You realize you’ve finished a total of 260 big goals over the course of the year! Just picture how much further ahead you’d be after such a productive year.
Like I said above, there's no limit to the number of goals you can work on each week. If you have more time, go ahead and get as much done as you can.
But what business do you have spending your time on all these other things when the 5 most important things you have to do aren't done? Something serious to think about...
When should you abandon a goal?
Remember, the cardinal rule of the Goal-Box Method is that you must finish the goals you set for yourself each week no matter what. At some point when the going gets stuff, the question of when to abandon a goal will inevitably come up.
The short answer is NEVER! The point of the exercise is to challenge yourself to do more than you thought you could. You must follow through with the goals you set no matter what!
This being said, there’s one case in which it’s acceptable to abandon a goal. Say you write out 5 of what you think are your most important goals for the week. Then by Tuesday, something else pops up that’s bigger than one of the goals on your index card.
In a case like this, it’s acceptable (and encouraged) to swap out one goal for another. But other than this, DON'T allow yourself to make exceptions. It won't be easy, but you can do it!
What's the takeaway?
One big reason why students never reach their goals is because they don't know what to do. Another is that they don't do what they already know they need to do.
This can be overcome by self-accountability. Whether you use one of the Goal-Box Method variations or not, put your goals in writing, give yourself deadlines, and never stop challenging yourself!
Very encouraging article. It beats the tendency to procrastinate and motivate people to work for and achieve their goals through a fun and creative method!