Seinfeld’s SMART Steps to Success

Transition to slide 7 and share the basic outline for writing SMART goals. Depending on students’ background knowledge of writing goals, you may choose to play the video explaining SMART goals on slide 8 or skip it.

Follow this video with a preface to the goal brainstorming activity which comes next. Let students know that in this part we are not writing SMART goals just yet, but gathering many ideas. It is okay if some things on their list are too big and ambitious or too small at this point in the process. Later we will narrow them down.

Move to slide 9 and give each student 2 minutes to write down as many personal goals in any area of their lives they hope to improve. Emphasize that they do not have to commit to any of these goals. They are just aiming to move ideas out of their heads so that they can later refine their focus. Move to slide 10 and do the same for academic goals.

Next, present slide 11 and as a whole group have students brainstorm Round Robin style what it is they hope to get out of their time in this club by answering the question, "This club will be a success if…"

• Go around the group one by one having students answer the question above in their own words. As the facilitator, write down their responses on the board or a piece of chart paper.

• Each student should come up with something different than the goals already listed.

• Continue moving around the room until everyone has had a chance to respond. You may go around the room more than once until you run out of ideas to write down.

Then, with slide 12 displayed, have students reflect on the club goals list to determine one that stands out to them personally and that aligns well with one of their favorite personal and/or academic goals they wrote down for themselves. Provide students with time to restate this goal in a way that reflects the alignment with their club participation. Assure them this is just a first draft, and we will continue to refine their goal.

Next, display slide 13 and remind students of the different elements of a SMART goal.

When we you have reviewed the elements of SMART goals, begin to work through the process of writing their goals in the SMART format. Pass out the attached SMART Goals handout to each student and go through slides 14-18, taking a moment to elaborate on each step and providing a few minutes for students to write down ideas for their own goal at each step.

Display slide 19 and discuss the concept of milestones. Encourage students to set milestones and to write down the steps in the process.

Display slide 20 and share the following quote from Brad Isaac, a young comedian who asked Jerry Seinfeld for advice about how to be a better comic:

He said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day.

He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day.

"After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain."

Move to slide 21 and pass out the attached Habit Tracker handout to students. Explain that over the next few weeks, they will use this sheet to keep track of their goal progress. They will write down one habit in each of the numbered habit boxes. These habits should very closely tied to, or maybe even exactly stated, from one of the steps or milestones they identified for their goal.