Treat Yo’ Self- A Tip for Academic Successs

When you get right down to it, academic success is just a lengthy series of short-term goals.

Study for the test, finish that project, work on that packet, try to keep your notes organized by the end of the week. These smaller goals pile up to make larger ones, such as getting an A on the final or getting accepted to Yale.

It stands to reason, therefore, that much of how well we do in academics, regardless of our grade level or classes, is determined by how good we are at creating and meeting these short-term goals, and this is what makes or breaks most students. As a humble offering, today, we wanted to share with you a simple tip for meeting those short-term goals, and thereby reaching for academic success.

The tip is: Treat yo’ self. In other words, reward yourself for meeting goals. This seems simple, but bear with us. Creating and meeting goals is a challenge for a student’s self-discipline. Self-discipline, as it turns out, is just riding a bike or really any other skill—it is strengthened through practice. Investing in this skill will pay dividends, and so it is thus prudent to invest in this skill for the sake of academic as well as professional endeavors for today in seasons of life to come.

And, as we said, rewarding yourself is a great way to do it. Studies (too many to count or reference) show that self-rewarding can boost motivation and help develop consistency in self-discipline. Besides providing incentive, a good self-rewarding system can promote a sense of accomplishment and better self-care. Our Bumo academic coaches really help organize and set goals so you can be successful.

As a final note, not all rewards are effective! One-time rewards should be avoided in favor of repeatable rewards. For example, rewarding yourself by buying a new backpack isn’t a reward you can just repeat the next week. The best rewards for reinforcing daily habits are those that can happen on a fixed routine. In other words, they need to be repeatable, to some extent. Some examples might be:

• When I get home from school, I won’t check my social media until I’ve studied calculus for 15 minutes.

• If I study for and pass the test next week, I will try a new restaurant with my friend.

• I am going to spend 15 minutes studying for AP Euro every day. I am going to buy a calendar just for AP Euro, and every time I finish my 15 minutes I will put an ‘X’ on that day on the calendar. (This one seems lame but don’t underestimate it! Watching those ‘X’ marks pile up is highly gratifying.)

Connect with an academic coach at Bumo with a free consult today.

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