Gabby: Hey guys, I'm Gabby Wallace and this is Go Natural English.
Today, I'm going to share an amazing tip with you for setting goals. This lesson will help
you in all areas of your life and especially when you're learning a language like English.
So let's take a look at how to set goals in a smart way. It's called smart goals. When
you make a goal it's important to make it Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic,
and Time-bound. So what does these mean? Specific. For example, a lot of you have wonderful
goal of becoming fluent in English and I commend you. That is an awesome goal and I'm so proud
of you. But in order to see measurable progress, we need to make a specific goal. For example,
my goal is to have a conversation in English or my goal is to read the news in English.
Next, Measurable. Can I really measure my fluency in English? Well sure, you can measure
your English by using a test score. But even people who are fluent in English are constantly
learning. I learn new words in English all the time. So it's difficult to say, "Are you
fluent?", "Are you not fluent?" It is a subjective measure.
So it's easier to make a goal which is more measurable. For example with my news reading,
I could say, "I want to read one new story in English each day." That's measurable. It's
easy to say, "Yes, I did it", or "No, I didn't do it".
Next we have Action-oriented. So my action is to read. If I read a news article every
day in English, meaning, I have completed my goal. Other goals which are not action-oriented,
for example, my goal is to like speaking a new language. Well, liking something is not
so easily measurable. So we want a goal that includes a specific action. For example, to
read or to take a test or to have a conversation or to learn 100 new words. These are action-oriented
and measurable goals. Next, Realistic. It"s important to challenge
yourself. However, in order to maintain your motivation, it's important that your goal
be realistic. So I believe that everyone can speak English
fluently with the right preparation. However, you want to break down that goal into realistic,
bite-size portions. Break the goal down into smaller steps.
So realistically, you can learn 100 new words this month. According to the time which I
said, "one month," it's realistic. If your goal is to learn 100 new words today or in
one hour, I would say that's not so realistic. So go easy on yourself while maintaining a
balance where you have challenge and keep your goal challenging but realistic.
Last, Time-bound. It's so important to set a deadline for your goal. If you have a little
bit of pressure that comes from a deadline, then that will motivate you more to achieve
your language learning goal. In my news reading example, my deadline was every day. So each
day, I need to read one new story. In vocabulary learning example, my deadline was one month.
I need to learn 100 new words in one month. So you decide according to your goal and according
to how realistic it is to complete your goal in a certain amount of time. You choose the
time. But I recommend to keep the time period small. Set goals for each month. Set goals
for each week. And even set goals for each day. If you have a problem focusing, I would
recommend setting goals for each hour. Okay. It depends on you and how much structure you
need. But definitely make goals for short time periods.
And that way, when you complete your goal and you check it off your list, you will be
even more motivated each time you know you have completed your goal. So it's nice to
have that feeling everyday or every week or at least every month.
So remember make a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic and Time-bound.
And remember I'm here to help you with your goals and Go Natural English is the perfect
tool to help you progress with your English learning. So remember to use all the tools
available to you when you set your smart goal and visit us at gonaturalenglish.com
************************************************************************ Go Natural English - Gabby Wallace
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