Risk, reward, effort, and work
Aug. 11th, 2004 08:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninevirtuesI'm still thinking about grades. Naturally, because I'm a tri-geek and coach, I apply that context to this one... here goes:
When I set goals for my performance in a race, I commonly set two of them, and achieving either one means I have met my goals:
1) A time goal (complete the event, or some segment of it, in a certain time).
2) A placing goal (place in the top X% of the field, commonly the top 25%).
That way, if conditions are way harder than I expect (the course is mismarked, and long, or the heat is brutal) I may not make goal #1, but I still have a chance at goal #2. Conversely, if competition is stiff that day, I may not make goal #2... but I still have a shot at goal #1.
I don't set a specific placing as a goal, nor do I set a goal to beat a specific person. I can't control what my competitors do, and I will only spike my anxiety if I worry about that. I can only control what I do.
Fast forward to grades. I'm very happy and relieved that I got the grades I was aiming for. Seeing the good marks on the computer screen mentally turned an exhausting and frustrating school term-- in which I struggled mightily and was unable to reach my goals-- into an exhausting and productive one-- in which I reached the goals I set for myself.
It's likely that many of the final exam questions got thrown out, because everyone missed them, and that accounts for my suddenly improved GPA.
Well, hmm. Here I was thinking that, because my new and improved GPA was not a direct result of my own actions, it didn't really count as a goal achieved. Time for a new approach: Next term, I'll set a goal #1 (absolute % score) and a goal #2 (grade, which is sort-of dependent on how other people do) for each class.
When I set goals for my performance in a race, I commonly set two of them, and achieving either one means I have met my goals:
1) A time goal (complete the event, or some segment of it, in a certain time).
2) A placing goal (place in the top X% of the field, commonly the top 25%).
That way, if conditions are way harder than I expect (the course is mismarked, and long, or the heat is brutal) I may not make goal #1, but I still have a chance at goal #2. Conversely, if competition is stiff that day, I may not make goal #2... but I still have a shot at goal #1.
I don't set a specific placing as a goal, nor do I set a goal to beat a specific person. I can't control what my competitors do, and I will only spike my anxiety if I worry about that. I can only control what I do.
Fast forward to grades. I'm very happy and relieved that I got the grades I was aiming for. Seeing the good marks on the computer screen mentally turned an exhausting and frustrating school term-- in which I struggled mightily and was unable to reach my goals-- into an exhausting and productive one-- in which I reached the goals I set for myself.
It's likely that many of the final exam questions got thrown out, because everyone missed them, and that accounts for my suddenly improved GPA.
Well, hmm. Here I was thinking that, because my new and improved GPA was not a direct result of my own actions, it didn't really count as a goal achieved. Time for a new approach: Next term, I'll set a goal #1 (absolute % score) and a goal #2 (grade, which is sort-of dependent on how other people do) for each class.
