How, Specifically

You want to get in the habit of setting short-term, attainable goals. You should also have longer-term goals, of course: doing well on your exams, getting an amazing internship or summer job, getting into a great graduate school, and pursuing your dream career. All of these are good, and you should keep all in mind. But these are not day-to-day goals. Your main focus, especially in your first year of college, should be on what you do each day of each week. A “focus” doesn’t mean a rigid, death-grip schedule. It means simply planning and knowing. This takes mere minutes, if not seconds. Planning saves time, and knowing doesn’t take any time at all—it takes attention.

As you progress through college, your focus will gradually broaden. For example, when you first get to college, you will want to focus on getting good grades in your first courses especially. As discussed, the world of college can be a shock when coming from high school, and a bit of extra focus at the beginning—your beginning—is crucial. Why? Among other reasons, great grades to start will give you breathing room with regard to scheduling and other academic and career options. Poor grades, on the other hand, will be like a dead weight: it takes enormous effort to try to bring up a GPA once it’s already down—and for some graduate programs it simply won’t work. It’s important to remember that the “A” part of GPA stands for “Average,” which means that it takes a lot of individual effort to change a collection of grades. You’ve heard of a “moving average”? They’re used to smooth a set of data points, so as to give a better, more focused picture. They also, by definition, move much more slowly than those data points. The more grades you have, the harder it is to move that average. Also, consider that your early courses are easy compared with the upper-level courses you’ll need to take in your major.

As you gather a bit more experience in college, as well as apply the habits in this book, you will find that it becomes easier to be effective, to know what your professor is looking for, and thus to get those high grades. So, right from the beginning and through your first year, you will want to set goals that lead toward reinforcing good habits and earning good grades. In your second year, if you haven’t picked a major or decided on a career path, you will want to focus your goals on making those decisions (again, as soon as possible), as well as landing internships or beefing up your résumé with community service, extra-curricular activities, etc.

During your last two years, you will be focused on your actual major and on the imminent end to your undergraduate career and what follows from there. I decided on law school, for example, so that involved taking the LSAT, researching numerous law schools, and preparing applications. Each of these took a lot of time—and, because law schools are just as concerned with final grades, I couldn’t let up in my actual course work just because I was nearly done.

This process will be similar for anyone who chooses to continue their education and even for those who jump right into their careers. Even if you aren’t interested in graduate school, or at least not immediately, you will still need to decide on an industry or type of work, research places to work, and prepare for a seemingly endless round of résumés and interviews. You will need to send out job applications, attend career fairs and networking events, buy new interview clothes, and sweat through the actual interviews—all while keeping your grades up during your last two years.

If you wait until you are done or nearly done with college before preparing for either graduate school or employment, you are almost certainly headed for a nightmare. Unless your extended family includes a senator or CEO who is willing to vouch for your dedication (when, ahem, you’ve just shown the opposite), you will be wasting time and the valuable asset you’ve just earned—your undergraduate degree. A better result just takes planning: setting realistic goals, and then working towards those goals. (If your aunt or uncle is a senator or CEO, chances are they’re expert at setting goals and then working toward those goals. If you want to shine in their light, it helps to put the batteries in.)

I made a goal, for example, to review my class notes within a few hours after each class, and to incorporate them into my final study notes (a concept that we will discuss shortly). The goal was a general one that applied to all of my classes. It was something I could follow up with each day, and see progress. I retained more information on the days I reviewed my notes and added the few important lines to my final study notes than on the days I did not. Not only did I notice the difference, but this goal also helped me be more effective every day. But it didn’t stop there. Reviewing class notes, along with other short-term goals, leads to success in your long-term goals. Because I had made this goal to review my class notes early on, I didn’t have to waste time re-learning the material or cramming for finals. I became a more efficient student, which opened the doors to opportunities and to other good habits…which further reinforced this positive cycle. (Among other things, I later had time to excel in law school and write two books.)

So, don’t think of short-term goals and long-term goals as opposites. Short-term goals pave the way for long-term goals, and long-term goals help define (and redefine) those short-term goals. Keep your long-term goals in mind while you focus on simple, immediate, achievable goals. Goals are about making progress, so make your goals possible. Pick a few goals to start out with, master those, and then add more.

As you can see, part of your goal-setting involves striking a balance between getting good grades and getting the most out of college (and having some fun), while preparing for the future. This balance is one of the most difficult things you will have to deal with in college—and it doesn’t stop there. The challenge continues on through your life. Just the other day, I was speaking with a partner at the law firm in which I work. (A partner is the “boss” in a law firm. So, for the first ten years of practice, a new lawyer will have many bosses.) This partner was extremely busy, his desk piled high with reports, legal documents, and client information. He seemed to be working a million miles a minute, answering phone calls, sending emails, changing direction seemingly every minute. I asked him if this was normal, and he smiled. He said that the trick to being a good lawyer is the ability to juggle multiple endeavors, well, all at once.

The same balancing act applies to virtually any field you could possibly enter. Okay, if you go to a remote forest to study orangutans, your focus might be slightly narrower. But then again, you will have to juggle actual survival—so maybe it isn’t that different after all.