Assignment 3: Goals and Motivation

Task 1: What is a SMART goal? What are the advantages of writing goals as SMART goals? (One
paragraph)

A SMART goal is a goal that follows set principles that will make a goal feel more achievable. An
advantage of writing goals as SMART goals is that goals become clearer and easier to track, you can
see if they are possible to reach and relevant to future plans and you can make sure that the goal
can be completed in a specific time. A SMART goal breaks down a long term goal and allows you to
see is as smaller goals that can be completed along the way.

Task 2: Write a personal SMART goal (either personal, education or career goal). (One sentence)

My SMART goal is to complete the TPP Program by the end of semester 1 2019, so that I can then
study a Bachelor of Education in semester 2 which will allow me to achieve my goal of becoming a
Primary School teacher.

Task 3: Write an academic paragraph on each of the following (you are encouraged to refer to
ideas/theories you have learned about through the course materials or other sources):

a) What are your motivations for wanting to achieve this goal? Discuss whether your
motivation is intrinsic/extrinsic (or both). (One paragraph)

I am motivated to reach my goal of completing the TPP program because I know that by
reaching this goal I will be a step closer to starting and completing university, and by doing
that I will be qualified to work in the career I have always wanted. I would say my goals are
both extrinsic and intrinsic. My goal is extrinsic in the way that I am motivated to complete it
because I know that by doing so I will reach employment in the career I want to work in, and
it will allow my to reach my financial plans. It is an intrinsic goal in the sense that I want to
do well in my studies and have good results, and by doing so I will be satisfied and motivated
to keep working towards my goal.

b) What are one to two possible obstacles that might prevent you from achieving your
goal? (One paragraph)

There are two obstacles that I feel may prevent me from reaching my goal, time
management and staying motivated. I think I may struggle to effectively manage my time so
that I am able to work and spend time with family and friends, while still putting in the
required hours for my study. I also feel that staying motivated may be something that
becomes an obstacle for me, as I may lose motivation when a task seems dull or difficult to
complete and I would rather be doing something else.

c) What are one or two strategies you have learned about in this course (or from other
sources) that could help you overcome these obstacles? (One paragraph)

Setting limits is a strategy that I think will help me to overcome the obstacle of time
management. One of the modules talks about setting limits as a way to limit where my time
is being spent, so that I am spending the most time on tasks that are actually necessary. I
need to look at all of tasks and which of them are most important, and decide where I may
need to say no to things. To overcome a lack of motivation, I can work on how I approach my
study. In one of the modules this is talked about as ‘Changing the Conversation’, and it says
to think about tasks I enjoy, and try to have that same motivation for study. Neuroeducation
says this can be done by convincing yourself to like the study, which will then convince your
brain that you do.