JLPT BC 85 | Myths about Goals

So, I’m really starting to get into Harry Potter.  As I said before there is a lot of imagery even in the first couple scenes.  I’ve also been spotting a lot of N1 grammar points that I learned, too.  That was one thing that I was a little surprised about.  I’ve always been told that N1 grammar is not used so often, but in fact some of it is used in fairly casual writing.

With my new, crazy schedule that I have thanks to my new bundle of joy, I’ve found myself squeezing in study sessions as much as I can whenever I can.  Even if I have a few spare moments, I’ll have my iPhone out drilling through a few words to try to get them down pat.  It looks like I have to absorb about 20 or 30 words a day to be on track to pass the test in December, so I’m doing as much drilling as I possible can.

On top of all this I caught I cold, so I had to take a step back and restrain myself a little bit.  As strange as it sounds, I find it really hard to just relax and sleep for 8 hours.  Even when I’m sick I seem to be wide awake 6 hours after I go to sleep.  I’ve had to really try to calm down and take it easy this week.

Goals Gone Wrong

As a podcaster, I happen to listen to a lot of other podcasts on a usual basis.  One of my most favorite podcasts is the ‘Stuff You Should Know’ podcast, which I highly recommend you give a listen to.  They cover all sorts of crazy conversational tidbits to feed your brain with.

One of their more recent episodes was about goals and how Western society is sometimes fixated on making and achieving goals.  But, sometimes goals our good for you and important, and other times goals can be a bit harmful.  They actually went into a lot of detail in the podcast, so I encourage you to check it out if you have time.

I think goals are something that are always on your mind if you are studying for the JLPT because the test is pretty much built for goals.  It is divided out into levels so you can go through them step by step and see your progress, there are groups of words divided out by each level to help you see your progress as well.  One of the greatest advantages of taking the test actually is that the tests form solid achievable goals for you to follow.

So, it is important to know what can help you move toward those goals and what will lead you away from those goals.  There are actually a lot of common myths out there about goals that I was actually unaware of before I listened to the SYSK podcast.  I thought I’d go over a few, to keep you from sabotaging yourself as you study for the test.

A Handful of Goal Myths

One myth that I have heard before about goals is to focus on someone that you admire that has achieved that goal.  This doesn’t seem to work actually.  My guess is that if you are focusing on someone else you might start to think that they can do it, but you can’t possible do it.

Thinking about all the negative things that will happen if you don’t make your goal can also have a negative effect.  This seems to make pretty good sense to me.  If you are focused on all the negative stuff, you might end up putting too much pressure on yourself and getting stressed out.

Another thing that negatively impacted people achieving goals is to supress negative thoughts or unhelpful thoughts.  I personally think it is better to confront those negative thoughts and find out why you are having them in the first place instead of just plain trying to supress them.

One big myth that goes around a lot is that you can rely on willpower alone.  There is a bit of movement at the moment that if you can visualize something, you can make it a reality.  Although it is important to have good willpower, that alone is not going to get you through to your goal.

The last one that they mentioned was over-fantasizing about what it will be like when you achieve your goal.  It is easy to get carried away with what you can achieve with your goals.  You can achieve a lot but you still need to be realistic.

A Handful of Good Things to do to Achieve your Goal

1) Step by step plan – Richard Wiseman, who wrote the book 59 seconds that this list of items is based off of, recommends writing down a step by step plan.  This will help to make the plan a lot more concrete than just something you will eventually do.  I have to admit that I’m a little bad at this, but I have gotten a little better in my planning to pass the N1.  For example, I’ve started planning out the drill books that I’m going to work my way through.

2) Tell others about your goal – This is something that is incredibly easy to do these days.  You have the social networking tools to shout out to all your friends what your plans are.  Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, or even your own blog, be sure to state your goals load and clear.  Your friends will undoubtably push you to succeed.

3) Think about all the Good Things that will Happen – This definitely something I imagine every day I’m studying.  I feel like once I’ve gotten the N1 a lot of doors will open up for me and I’ll be a lot more desirable in the job market.  I’ll also simply be able to read and understand most things and not have to rely on others so much.  I’m already starting to see a lot of that now, which keeps me motivated toward the end goal.

4) Reward yourself for making progress – This is a rule I follow almost religiousily.  It is so much easier to concentrate for 30 minutes doing drills when I know I can relax afterwards with some chocolate, a video game, or simply some music.  Rewards can be big (like a new TV if you pass N2) or small (like a piece of chocolate for getting through your SRS drills for the day).  Either way, they are effective motivators.

5) Record your progress, write it down – This is something that I’m a bit hit or miss about.  Luckily, there are some great tools that help you record your progress automatically like memrise and Anki that will record how many words you have studied.  Drills books are pretty straightforward as well.  You can pretty easily see your progress there as well.

In general, I think I stick to most of these, but I think I will be working more towards leveraging a lot of these points more. For example, I’m generally not a guy that likes to write down plans.  So, I’m going to try to work on that more over the coming months.

Are you making the most of your goals?

Are you putting these to work for your goals?  Have you set a SMART goal yet?  Let me know in the comments below.

Photo by David Goehring

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