During my time as a college student, I would say that I have had varying levels of effectiveness. In my first year, my level of effectiveness fluctuated because I didn’t understand what factors were needed for me to be effective, thus I would say my effectiveness as a freshman was mostly poor. Last semester my level of effectiveness significantly improved, and so I would now say I am at a medium level of effectiveness. I put this down to goal setting.
While I am currently happy with my level of effectiveness in college, there is always room for improvement and so I have set both short and long term goals which ultimately should lead to the production of my desired results. Beneath I have listed both my short and long term goals for my time in college.
Short term desired results (P):
Achieve 87 or above on homework.
100% attendance.
Achieve 87 or above on quizzes and tests.
Achieve 87 or above on papers.
Long term desired results (P):
Get B+ or higher in every class each semester.
Graduate with a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
Be profitable with my on-campus business with the Razor’s Edge Shark Cage Scholars Program.
When relating this to the example of the goose and the golden eggs in Covey’s ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, I think of myself as the Goose (the production capability/PC) and the outcomes of my short term and long term goals, the golden eggs (P). I think of it in a way that if I am not healthy, or having a good work/life balance then I will not get my desired results. For example, I need 8 hours sleep per night to be fully productive the next day, if I look after myself (the goose), then I will produce the golden eggs, which is, in this case, is good grades and 100% attendance. I view the production capability (PC) as the bigger picture, which in the case of my time in college is my personal success.
In order however to have a high level of effectiveness, one must balance both the focus on production and the focus on the production capacity. It is important to know my short and long term goals while asking myself, ‘Am I making progress?’. I would say that at this point in my college career I am taking the steps to achieve my desired results, and have quantitative evidence of that from last semester in particular. I am confident that if I continue to set both short and long term goals, with a focus on my production capacity, I will have a successful college career and ultimately will have a high level of effectiveness.
