Dapps rule

Setting Goals

Create Your Academic Career Life Plan (Role as a Student) using the DAPPS rule

For this journal entry, please complete the following sections for your Role as a Student. You must apply the DAPPS rule for each goal, making sure that each long- and short-term goal is Dated, Achievable, Personal, Positive, and Specific.

1. My Dream: If you have a compelling dream, describe it here. If you’re not sure what your dream is, you can simply write, “I’m searching”.

2. My long-term goals in this role (These are the outcomes you plan to achieve as a student this semester; each one achieved brings you closer to your long-term goals as a student in the next 2-10 years or even longer if necessary.)

3. My short-term goals in this role (These are the outcomes you plan to achieve as a student this semester; each one achieved brings you closer to your long-term goals as a student.)

4. Write about what you have learned or relearned by designing this Academic Career Life Plan. In particular, identify any impact this effort has had on your level of motivation to do well in college this semester, or do well in any other parts of your life.

Designing a Compelling Life Plan

FOCUS QUESTIONS

If your life were as good as it could possibly be, what would it look like? What would you have, do, and be?

Roles and Goals

Roles are activities to which you devote large amounts of your time

Friend, Employee, Parent, Sibling, Neighbor, Volunteer, etc.

4-7 major life roles is average and manageable

What goals do you have for each of your like roles?

© 2020 Cengage. All rights reserved.

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How to Set Goals

To be truly motivating, a goal needs five qualities. You can remember them by applying the DAPPS rule.

Dated: specific deadlines

Achievable: set goals that make you grow

Personal: what you really want to achieve

Positive: stated as what you want to do

Specific: measurable

© 2020 Cengage. All rights reserved.

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Your Dreams and Your Life Plan

LIFE PLAN

Your Dream: Dreams are motivators; Dreams span across all of your life roles; the majority of people do not have a singular guiding dream

Life Role: College Student

Long-term Goals: Goals that stand alone and/or support your dream

Short-term Goals: Short-term goals are stepping-stones that bring you closer to the achievement of a long-term goal or dream

© 2020 Cengage. All rights reserved.

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Committing to Your Goals and Dreams

FOCUS QUESTIONS

Do you start new projects (such as college) with great enthusiasm, only to lose motivation along the way? How can you keep your motivation strong?

© 2020 Cengage. All rights reserved.

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COMMITMENT

an unbending intention to succeed

METHOD

we program our brains to look for solutions

MOTIVATION

surges up from a commitment to a passionately held purpose

Visualize Your Ideal Future

HOW TO VISUALIZE

Relax. Most positive impact is achieved through deep relaxation

Use present tense. Imagine that you are experiencing the success now

Use all five senses. Imagine the scene concretely and specifically

Feel the feelings. Events accompanied by strong emotions have the power to motivate

© 2020 Cengage. All rights reserved.