Success in individual goals - a team effort
2013-06-05
Yes... you read that correctly. Success in individual goals is often a team effort. While it is certainly possible to succeed alone in individual goals, it is usually much easier to succeed with help. Therefore, I would suggest that when you set a goal, especially one that is difficult or may take a while to achieve, that you tell people that you can trust. For the purpose of this discussion, we're going to assume that you have a goal and a plan to reach it. Some of my other blog entries discuss those issues if you don't have them yet.This is important for a few reasons:
1. Encouragement
You will become discouraged from time to time. You may have times when you don't feel like working toward your goal. You may have times when you feel like giving up entirely. These are times when your friends can come along side and remind you of how far you've come and of the benefits of reaching that goal. They'll remind you why you're doing it, and they may be able to help you along.
2. Peer pressure
Usually considered to be a negative thing in Western cultures, peer pressure can be a positive thing. I've told my friends (and my readers here on CD) that I plan to take and pass the HSK at least level 4, preferably level 5, before I turn 50, which will happen in November of 2015. If I fail or give up, I will lose face and disappoint my friends. This gives me extra encouragement to study and work hard to learn.
3. Support and Help
In the case of my trying to pass the HSK, the friends I told are all native Mandarin speakers and most have at least a 4-year degree. One has a Master's, and several have Ph.D.s, including two with Ph.D.s in computer science (my field). These friends understand my goals and my work, since one of my side-goals related to passing the HSK 5 is to be able to deliver lectures in Mandarin in my field, and they help me with my study.
On my last trip to China, my colleagues there picked up some books with audio CDs for me to help prepare for the test, and they agreed that when we're not discussing technical matters (since my Mandarin is not good enough yet), that we will speak mostly in Mandarin. We will discuss technical matters in English when we're working to help them with their English and to be sure we can communicate effectively until my Mandarin is up to that level. (I did receive a promise from the boss that the interpreter will not be sent away when my Mandarin skill is up to the appropriate level. He's a nice guy and a good friend.)
4. Help you set REASONABLE goals.
A good friend who knows you well will not let you set yourself up for failure. My Chinese colleagues agree that HSK 5 is possible for me given my current skill in the language and my talent for learning languages. If I told them I planned to take HSK 5 this December (2013), the would have told me that it was not possible, but by the end of 2015 is reasonable with a good bit of hard work and with help.
When picking the friends to have encourage and help you, you need to be careful. You need to pick people who are not going to mock you and shoot you down for every setback, but you also need people who are going to push you if you start to falter. Pick people who have succeeded at difficult things on themselves, people who know how to work hard toward a goal. That's one reason why most of the people I've told have college degrees - I've picked an academic goal, so I want people who have achieved significant academic goals. If I were an athlete with an athletic, I'd pick other athletes as my support people for an athletic goal. If your goals are business-oriented, find people who are successful in business.
Write down your goals. Set a schedule by which to reach your goal and set up a plan with measurable steps along the way. In my case, my initial process for preparing for the HSK is to work through some textbooks that I have that are based on the HSK's requirements. I'm working from level 1 lesson 1 to learn vocabulary that I do not completely know - these are words that I know how to say and I know the meaning, but I don't remember how to WRITE the character, for example.
For goals that are based on a test, there are additional things you can do:
1. practice taking the test
2. Push yourself beyond the goal
Also, push yourself beyond the goal when studying. The HSK is mostly multiple choice, so you have the correct answer sitting right there in front of you. All you have to do is recognize the correct answer. Recognition is easier than production, so train yourself to PRODUCE rather than simply recognize. Multiple choice tests are, in my opinion, too easy. They are easier to grade, but they are also easier to take because the correct answer is there for you to see.
I have study materials all the way through the HSK level 6, and I plan to use them in conjunction for preparing for the HSK level 5. That way I push myself beyond what is needed for the test that I plan to take so that when I take the level 5 test it will not be so hard.
This is like the story of the first US Olympic team. They did not know much about the games or the rules for some of the track and field events, so they improvised based on what they knew. It turned out that their weights for the discus, shot put, and javelin were all too heavy. They trained with these very heavy items and when they arrived at the first Olympic games in which the USA participated, they did very well because they trained for something much harder than the real thing. In my martial arts studies when I was younger, I managed to obtain a 2m long iron rod about 5cm in diameter. It weighed about 20 kg. Needless to say, that was much heavier than the normal wooden staff we used in preying mantis kung fu. I trained with that staff and then the regular one was so light that I could train with it for a very long time, and the metal one helped increase my strength.
This is the same concept. Push yourself beyond your goal so that when test time comes, you're comfortable.
I hope that this helps people who are working toward long-term goals.
Thank you, PPsally.I've been to China several times and I have always felt welcomed.
I see Thanks, Ron! I hope it helps people. That's all I'm trying to do here (that and remind myself of what I need to do in order to pass the HSK before I hit 50).
querist - well done Thank You
That is an extremely well written article packed with good advice for everyone and a good refresher for people like me that are goal oriented people and have had lots of goal orientation training.
You're welcome! I hope that it will encourage you to set difficult goals and to meet them.
It is important to have a measurable goal and measurable steps toward that goal. If you want help setting that up, send me a PM.
thanks，it is helpful and as i am making great efforts to learning english well too 。
Do I "have to" learn Chinese? No, not really. I want to learn it because I have a great deal of respect for China's culture and people. I travel to China twice each year and I often lecture at universities in China.
I feel it is important to know the language because it will allow me to communicate better with people there. Not everyone I encounter there speaks English. I don't expect the server in a restaurant to speak English, for example.
I think it is rude to go to another country and expect everyone to speak your language. Since I spend so much time in China, it is only right that I learn to speak Mandarin (and Cantonese for my times in HK and Macau) in order to be a polite and considerate guest.
Also, the Chinese language is the key to understanding and unlocking Chinese culture. There is only so much I can understand in translation. I need to learn your language so I can understand your culture better.
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