Page 66 - Keys to College Success

No matter how strong your influences, you have the power to choose what you
value. Evaluate any value before you make it your own. Ask questions like the following:
■ What is the source of this value? Is it from the outside, or did I choose it on my own?
■ What might happen if I adopt this value?
■ Do my life goals and day-to-day actions reflect this value?
■ What other different value could I consider? What effects would it have on me?
Values often shift as you grow. A major life change can be a catalyst for reevalua-
tion, making you step back and think about what’s truly important to you. Woody’s
story is a perfect example of how a major upheaval can alter what you value and where
you choose to focus your time and energy.

Expressing Values in Your Choices
Because what you value often determines the choices you make, your values also shape
your life experiences. For example, colleges have increasingly diverse student popula-
tions, a diversity that is often reflected in the workplace as well. If you value human
differences, pursuing friendships with students from other cultures will prepare you to
interact productively with diverse coworkers. SELF-ESTEEM
Interestingly, recent surveys indicate that many college students, especially men, value Belief in your value as a
self-esteem more than money, friends, food, alcohol, and sex. For women, self-esteem person that builds as you
rated equally high as money and friends. Valuing self-esteem highly may stem from the achieve your goals.
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idea that you need a strong sense of self-esteem to take action toward your goals. However,
the reverse is true. Taking responsible action builds self-esteem because it gives you some-
thing to be proud of. Woody took action in response to his illness, and the self-esteem he
earned empowered him toward achievements he couldn’t have imagined.

HOW CAN YOU SET AND
achieve productive goals?

GOAL Goals, Time, and Stress Management
When you set a goal, you focus on what you want to achieve and then create a An end toward which you
path to it. Goals exist in both long-term and short-term time frames. Long-term goals direct your efforts.
are broader objectives you want to achieve over a long period of time, perhaps a year
or more. Short-term goals are smaller steps that move you toward a long-term goal,
making it achievable piece by piece (see Key 2.1).

Take Charge of Your Goals
Before college, most students have a significant amount of guidance from parents, teach-
ers, and other adults. Think about your life up until now: How much setting and pursu-
ing of goals did you do on your own, and how much did you do because you “had to?”
Chances are you spent most of your time fulfilling directives others laid out for you.
Transitioning to college involves increasing your command of the goal-setting and
achievement processes, requiring you to take risks in ways that you may not be accus-
tomed to. This includes making your own choices about what trade-offs, or sacrifices,
you are willing to make to get where you want to go. Of course many students will still
involve family members in determining big-picture goals, and instructors and advisors
will define goals for coursework and majors. However, no one will set up the steps
from start to finish and walk you through them. That’s your responsibility now.
Defining your personal mission—a “longest-term goal” within which all college and
life goals fit—will help you define a big-picture view of what you want. Personal devel-
opment expert Steve Pavlina recommends that college students ask themselves: “Why
am I going to college?” If your honest answer is something along the lines of “because it

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