How to Set Goals for GCSEs

GCSEs. Every teenager in the UK dreads them. It can be difficult and daunting to revise for exams while still trying to enjoy life, but with the journaling method outlined below, hopefully, I can provide a practical way to help lighten the burden of exams a little, saving you stress and building healthy habits early on in school.

Write Down Your Goals

To achieve any goal, the first step is always to define what exactly it is. This is so that you can easily visualise what achieving your goals looks like, what challenges you may face, and how you can break down your goal into shorter, simpler tasks so that you don’t get overwhelmed and give up before even trying (we’ve all been there!).

Commonly, when goal setting, we all like to be optimistic and write down goals with very short deadlines, as if we’re suddenly going to wake up tomorrow and be the perfect person we envision ourselves to be and complete all the tasks we’ve been putting off for a long time. It’s important to understand that habits and consistency are built over time. 

The willingness to change and put in the effort can happen anytime, but for it to become easy and almost second nature, you need to practise consistency every day. You will also experience a lot of setbacks along the way, but the important thing is to never give up, because at the end of the day, the biggest investment you can make in life is investing in yourself, so you should try and fail as many times as you need!

So, how do we exactly go about writing down the goals? 

A common framework used is the SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound), which can be useful to help you think more deeply about your goals and create realistic goals.

Here are some examples of how to write down goals:



• I want to revise some biology on Sunday -> NOT a SMART goal, and very vague 
• I want to revise ½ of Topic 1 in biology by reading my notes and practising exam questions from 12-2 pm on Sunday -> SMART goal as it tells me exactly what I need to revise, how I’m going to achieve my goal and by when.

Keep Track of Your Goals

When studying for a subject or working on a project, you will always have setbacks or days when you make excellent progress. Keeping track of whether you achieved your daily goals can help you see the bigger picture by allowing you to see how you’re doing in the long term. 

Otherwise, you might get too focused on having one bad day, when in the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn’t matter because you have many more days left to try again at your goals – Every day is a fresh start! (Or every hour if you want it to be!)

So, how do we keep track of our goals?

There are lots of different ways, but I suggest a diary, to-do and habit-tracking apps. With journals, I would first decide between a handwritten diary and an electronic version. It should be its own separate working document or file from your school notes, showing a consistent log of your work.                                                                                                                                                      

Personally, I prefer electronic ones as you can easily edit them to update your goals and customise entries to your liking. However, the advantage of handwritten notes is their therapeutic and visual nature.

You can download an app to create a journal on your computer or phone, or use a password—protected Word document.

So, how do I use your journal to track my goals?

I’d create a template for your entries so that you have a structure for your thoughts and goals.

The one below is what I use, but I’d suggest experimenting with different headings and seeing which ones are most useful for you:

It’s useful to remind yourself of three things you are grateful for, as it is proven that expressing gratitude can help improve your mood.

Reflecting on what went well can help us feel positive about our achievements of the day or the good things that happened to us.

Looking forward to the future can help us feel motivated to complete our goals. 

A to-do list can give you a visual representation of the tasks you want to achieve daily, and it’s satisfying to tick off tasks once you’ve completed them. If you don’t manage to complete a task, don’t worry; you can always write a note next to it or leave it for the next day. 

Sometimes, things don’t go to plan, or you may have a lot of thoughts or need to vent, so you can have a section where you can write freely about what happened during the day and whether there are any take-home lessons you can take from the day. 

Finally, every day is an opportunity to improve yourself (the present is a gift!), so you can write down a few changes you can make to your life/study routine, which you can work on tomorrow or later down the line to help achieve your goals. 

Tracking Topic Progress Through GCSEs

There is so much to keep track of across all of the subjects at GCSE level.

Whether you are just getting ready to start your GCSEs or preparing to sit the final exams this year, it’s a good idea to use your journal to keep track of what you cover in school - making a note of how confident you feel about each topic as you move through all the new material. 

This extra step is key for efficient revision. When revision time comes, you then know what parts of the curriculum that you might have learned a long time ago will need some more attention. Prioritising topics like this is something students often struggle to do accurately if they start doing this much later on.

Sherpa also has its very own tool you can use to organise and track your GCSE revision progress:

It's preloaded with all the topics you will cover in your GCSE subjects, so you can make notes on how confident you are as you learn the topics. That way, you will have a ready-made revision planner for your exams!

If you are not doing GCSEs, read this blog on how to create your own modernised version of a topic tracking revision planner.

What Happens if We Don’t Set Effective Goals?

Without proper planning, you may find yourself struggling to know whether you are achieving your goals and how much progress you are making, which can often lead to unnecessary stress, anxiety, and low self-esteem. 

However, I understand that sometimes it can be overwhelming and daunting to start working towards your goals, so my best advice is to just try for five minutes and then decide afterwards if you want to keep going or try again later.

The biggest hurdle is starting and believing in yourself. But if you can do that, you’re 50% of the way there!

Breaking down your goals into manageable tasks and scheduling time to work on them are the two most important factors to achieving whatever you want but everything comes with practice. After all, practice makes perfect!

So, why not give journaling a try today? You may just find that it helps you plan to achieve your GCSE goals!

References:

1. Doran, G.T. (1981) There's a SMART Way to Write Management's Goals and Objectives. Journal of Management Review, 70, 35-36.
2. Fekete EM, Deichert NT. A Brief Gratitude Writing Intervention Decreased Stress and Negative Affect During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Happiness Stud. 2022;23(6):2427-2448. doi:10.1007/s10902-022-00505-6