I saw two interesting stories last week about the importance of setting goals. The first was during the NCAA tournament when CBS reported about Jimmer Fredette’s contract he made with his brother to reach his ultimate dream of playing in the NBA (see the contract here). This was a great human interest story about a kid who made a commitment to sacrifice to achieve a goal. In terms of clarity of what it is going to take it leaves something to be desired, but as a motivator and reminder that it takes hard work to be great it is a fabulous story. Fredette has this contract hanging over his bed.
The second story is about the effectiveness of an organization that works with college students to set goals and manage time. The group, InsideTrack, has been working with college students for years (they report over 250,000 students so far) to clarify their goals, develop their skills, and handle their outside-of-school lives. The coaches communicated with the students via email, text, or telephone nudging them toward completing tasks and steps towards their goals. The results of the study published in Science Magazine found that minority students were more likely to feel like they belonged to the university community and increased their GPA and increased their likelihood of graduating. In short, this study found that goal setting while working with a coach can have a significant impact on school outcomes. As one EdWeek writer noted, one has to wonder if this wouldn’t be effective in high school too.