Stepping into university life is a thrilling venture that presents a myriad of opportunities and experiences, shaping the young minds of tomorrow’s business leaders. But how do you transition from the bustling corridors of academia to the high-stakes boardrooms of the business world? It all begins with the art of setting goals. From the lecture hall to the corner office, the objectives we set during our university years serve as the blueprint for a future full of successes and personal accomplishments.
In this blog post, we explore the relationship between academic goal-setting and future career success in the dynamic world of business.
Ensure you get the best grades possible
When it comes down to it, achieving the highest possible grades will give you the best chance of securing your dream role after graduation. While that’s not to say that failing to hit the marks during your studies will stop you from being able to build a successful career, better grades typically afford you more opportunities and choices as you take your first steps into the business world.
When you’re juggling different responsibilities at university – from various modules to employment to your social life – setting goals is essential to ensuring you get the most out of your time and achieve the best results. This has been proven through various studies, with research showing that goal setting and regular self-reflection directly correlate to improved academic performance.
Hone essential skills
University is all about developing the skill set needed to carry you into the next stage of your life. Aside from expanding your industry-specific knowledge through your course content, you’ll also have the opportunity to hone soft skills such as time management and self-motivation. On the surface, setting goals may simply appear to be an effective way to meet deadlines, but subconsciously, any time you spend working towards a specific goal, you’ll be developing a range of transferable skills that’ll help you throughout your career.
For instance, maybe you’ve set some self-imposed deadlines to allow yourself enough time to complete a task. This will force you to prioritise your time effectively and balance your to-do list to ensure your work gets completed. Especially if you’re juggling deadlines for different modules, you’ll naturally be developing your organisation skills, and you’re likely to experiment with different techniques until you find what works for you. This is all part of the learning process throughout college and will stand you in good stead as you enter into the world of work.
Holding yourself accountable
Another core skill that successful business owners and students alike all have is being able to hold themselves accountable for both their successes and failures. Goal setting is an excellent way to work on this core skill, but simply writing down your long-term targets isn’t enough to improve it; accountability requires you to regularly review your progress.
This doesn’t mean simply focusing on the positives – by all means, you should shine a light on what’s gone well to help you reach a goal. But, to be truly accountable, you also need to consider the negatives and perhaps ask yourself why you didn’t quite meet your target or explore the ‘even better ifs…’ in the case that you were successful.
Integrity and accountability are both essential components of success for any professional looking to find their way in the business world. Especially as you climb up the corporate ladder and start to take responsibility for managing other people, you’ll need to both hold yourself and your team accountable to demonstrate commitment to the progression of the company. While setting yourself a goal to hit a deadline in one semester won’t necessarily gear you up to spearhead a successful team that demonstrates this core trait, it’s all about forming good habits early on that’ll set you up for success throughout your studies and beyond.
Goal setting facilitates growth
It’s clear that getting into the habit of regularly setting and reviewing your goals is a key skill to master for future success. Having better clarity around decision-making can help you to feel more in control of your progress and set you up for a fruitful career as you blaze your own path across the business landscape.
This story originally appeared on SheOwnsSuccess