How to have a strategic plan for your studies

Whenever we hear of strategic plans, we only think of big organisations. Organisations use strategic plans to define their goals or direction. This helps them make decisions on allocating resources to pursue these goals.

Strategic plans help organisations keep on track and this is what has led to many of them being successful. Any organisation that falls along the way, probably never had a strategic plan.

As a student, consider yourself as an organisation. You too, can have a strategic plan as a road map to your academic success. Have one for each term, academic year or even for your entire educational experience, which could be four years or more.

You can make a simple strategic plan that is easy to understand and follow. Here is how:

Mission statement: Write down a paragraph that outlines your general mission for creating your plan, what you intend to accomplish. This paragraph is what is referred to as a mission statement. It defines the goal you intend to achieve.

Personalise it to fit with your personality since each individual has a unique personality and thus, there can be no identical mission statements. Your talent and strengths should help you achieve your dreams.

An example of a mission statement would be: Rose Mawia is a determined, hardworking girl, among the top ten in her class. She intends to use her outgoing nature to build positive relationships and keep her grades high. She will build on her social skills by managing her time and relationships well. Rose’s motto is: Enrich your life and go beyond the sky.

Choose your goals: These are what you intend to accomplish in order to meet your mission. Take care of any stumbling block you may face in your journey. If you have some weaknesses, recognise them and find a way of avoiding them. Some goals may include:

I will set aside specific times for my homework.

I will eliminate all activities that waste my time.

I will build a good relationship with my teachers.

Plan how to reach the goals: If, for example, one of your goals is dedicating the time you spend watching movies to reading, plan around it by ensuring you go nowhere near the TV. Be true to yourself and even if it means telling your friends you can’t meet them on certain days because of your school work, so be it.

Write objectives: These are essential and distinct statements that are measurable. Objectives provide you with concrete evidence of your success, making it easy for you to know whether you are on track or not. Objectives help you reach your goals. An example would be ‘Have a study timetable and follow it to the letter’.

Progress evaluation: Your strategic plan should have in place a system for an occasional reality check. If the term is halfway through and you are not meeting your goals; re-visit your strategic plan and enhance it.