What do you want to do? to be? to have?

Some of us have answers to those questions and some of us don’t.

One thing we have in common, though, is that when we get busy it’s easy to forget those questions altogether. And then, too often, when we remember them, it’s with a sense of discouragement.

Take charge by officially and explicitly setting goals for yourself.

First, envision a goal: maybe it’s doing well in your classes, declaring a major, or getting better study habits. Maybe it’s having a particular career. Or figuring out what particular career you’d like to have.

A great goal is a well-articulated goal. To get your goals just right, ask yourself: is my goal SMART? The SMART goals test looks like this:

• specific: even if your goal is epic, you should be able to focus on it clearly.
• measurable: how will you know when you achieve your goal, or steps along the way?
• achievable: make sure it’s something you can actually accomplish—not necessarily right now, just eventually.
• relevant: Do you care about the goal? Does it make sense to you? Does it speak to your larger aspirations?
• time-bound: What’s the timeline for achieving the goal? Can you set milestones along the way to measure your progress?

If you’re not sure a goal has all of those characteristics, revise it until it does.

Even the biggest goals are made of lots of smaller steps.

• Break your goals down into small, actionable bites. These are the most important part: they’re how you will actually achieve your goal.
• Translate those bites into a to-do list.
• Get them into your calendar.

Track your performance and reward yourself along the way!

Goal setting is an ongoing process.

If you lose track, wander away, or miss a step, that’s okay—and that’s normal.

The most important thing is to let yourself learn and refine how you set and meet your goals.

No matter how small—or large!— your goals, stick with it. Don’t give up!