The BIP had the pleasure of working with Sam Stewart who led us through his setting and achieving meaningful goals presentation. Before showing us how to set goals, Sam led us through a short discussion about the difference between motivation, intentions, goals, and how motivators lead to good and bad goals. Sam started by defining what S.M.A.R.T. goals are: Specific, Measurable, attainable, Relevant, Time-bound goals. He then explained that humans are motivated by four things: fear, desire, duty, and love and for anything to happen these motivators must be met with intention. When motivation is combined with intention, goals are met. Sam had us choose five goals and identify what motivates us toward that goal. This exercise allowed me to reevaluate some of my goals because my motivation behind them was not what I would have thought it would have been. For many of us this was a very eye-opening experience because we did not know what motivated our goals. The biggest take away was a quote Sam said towards the end. “We overestimate what we can do in a week and underestimate what we can do in a month”. This stuck out to me because I feel like this is the exact negative feedback loop, I was stuck in during the height of covid. I would be motivated for a week and feel super great but then burn out because I was trying too hard. Reflecting on this material has allowed me to develop a real set of goals that I can accomplish before I am done with college. I could not be more thankful for the opportunity to listen to Sam and learn from his presentation.
