Resilience part 3: Taking steps

Gathering information & planning

When times are hard, it may be a good idea to take time out, step aside and do some planning. It’s very easy to get drawn into day-to-day life or problems, so getting some perspective and new quality information can help you to focus on what you can change.

Learn as much as you can about the situation that you are dealing with. This can help you to know more of what to expect, as well as how better to tailor your goals. For example, if you’re struggling with university work, read up information on how to cope with academic struggles and on study skills to help to direct your efforts more successfully. Remember to focus on quality sources if you’re looking online.

As part of enhancing your sense of control, brainstorm for ideas of things that you could do to make the situation a little better for yourself. 

After gathering information, set out a plan of what you would like to achieve. Next, create goals to help you to put your plan into action. Your goals need to be specific and clear. You can use the acronym SMART to help guide you. Your goals should be:

• Specific (Focus on a single thing.)
• Measurable (Is it something that you can clearly say you’ve done? How will you know?)
• Actionable (Can you break it down into small tasks?)
• Relevant (Is it relevant to your overall plan and what you want to achieve?)
• Time Bound (Giving it a time limit makes it less vague.)

For example, you decide to try out mind-mapping as a way of learning for your next test, and set a goal to create a mindmap for each section in your textbook. You will revise them every study day before supper, up until your final exam. This goal is far more specific and attainable than just saying that you want to do better in the exams.

Do you need help with goal-setting? Life-coaching services at CCDU can help you. You can also watch a video on SMART goals here.