I had an end of quarter meeting with the master’s student I am mentoring today. In addition to his accomplishments/progress this quarter, we reviewed my goals for him for winter quarter. 

These goals were: 

1. Become comfortable with the nomenclature used in our field 

2. Become competent on basic human TC work 

3. Become more comfortable with plasmid cloning 

I asked him if he felt these goals were reasonable given his progress so far and his schedule for winter quarter. At the end of our meeting he told me he appreciated that I had laid out three clearly defined goals for him and that it gave him confidence and motivation. 

His comments had me contemplating the importance of goal setting. Goals give us a path forward and motivation as we anticipate the sense of accomplishment that comes with achieving our goals. Having a variety of goals ensures that even if we don’t make the progress we anticipate on one goal, we have other areas where our progress can help us continue to feel successful. 

Goal setting doesn’t come without it’s risks though. Setting too many goals or goals that are too lofty can demotivate us. This appears to be a common problem among graduate students, who so often face burn out and fall prey to imposter syndrome. 

My hope as a mentor is to help my mentees learn how to set goals that are achievable. I aspire to help them appreciate that sweet sense of accomplishment once their goal is achieved while learning to not be too harsh on themselves if they fall short of a goal.