ENGLISH Reading Exercise #18 (Advanced) Goal Setting Step 4

ENGLISH READING PRACTICE PLAYLIST – CLICK HERE

To improve your English fluency and confidence when speaking, use the Synchronized Reading Method. Be sure to watch the Introduction video in the link above first, to understand the methodology. These English reading practice sessions will dramatically improve your English fluency.

These exercises are designed for intermediate to advanced students who want to sound like a native speaker. By reading along with the teacher at the same time, with the teacher’s voice superimposed over their own, students start to self-correct in the areas of pronunciation and fluency, learning to read and speak in natural word groups.

If you find the pace is too fast, go to the Intermediate version, and repeat until you are fluent in sync with the teacher’s reading.

Here is a transcript of the video: English Reading Practice: Exercise 18 (Advanced) – Goal Setting Blueprint – Step 4

Be sure to watch the introductory video to this playlist before doing this exercise.
Click on the link below in the Description . . .
(https://youtu.be/IOeaBha6dUU)

Instructions

1. Turn up the volume so the teacher’s voice is loud.
2. Read the words in red out loud at the same time as the teacher.
3. Pay attention to the teacher’s voice intonation and the word groups.
4. If you find the speed is too fast, go to the playlist and choose the intermediate version.
5. Check any new words in a dictionary to fully understand the text.

Step 4 – Goal Planning: Use Deadlines As Lifelines

When goal planning, deadlining is another crucial step in the goal achievement process.
What is a deadline? It’s a specified date or time by which a goal, task or project is expected to be completed.

Karl Kraus (1874-1936), Austrian satirist, once gave this definition of a journalist:
“A writer whose skill is improved by a deadline: the more time he has, the worse he writes.”
In other words, when journalists have a limited time in which to complete a task, they are more motivated and focused, resulting in better writing.

Conversely, when there is no deadline, a person can become undisciplined, procrastinate, and even overthink the subject, resulting in poorer quality writing.
This satirical comment does emphasize one thing – a deadline gets results.
It creates urgency, it sharpens thinking, it makes things happen.

Which goal planning exercise is more likely to be achieved?
I would like to take a vacation in the Bahamas sometime!
OR
Six months from today I will be enjoying a vacation in the Bahamas.

Yes, deadlines crystallize thinking and increase motivation in the goal planning environment.
However, it would be a mistake to think deadlines perform miracles.
Simply saying, “In seven days from now I will have made an extra $5,000” is not going to miraculously deliver unless you have a strategy and a realistic plan based on your present circumstances.

So when deadlining during your goal planning sessions:

1. Break the goals down into manageable stages.
2. Work out a reasonable time frame for the accomplishment of that stage and factor in a safety margin for unexpected delays.
   (This prevents disappointment and discouragement through missing the deadline.)
3. Put the deadline date for each stage in your computer planner or diary.
4. Get the deadline date from the last stage.

Your goal planning now has a final deadline for the accomplishment of that goal.
It has a high chance of being achieved.
You have planned, set reasonable stages, your focus is clear.

Next? Keep the overall deadline in front of you daily as you accomplish each stage along the way and START!

If you miss the deadline . . .
Generally, when it comes to goal planning, the deadlines you set are for your own benefit.
It is unlikely missing a deadline will be a life and death matter.
So get deadlines in perspective and see them for what they are: tools to keep you moving and to inject a sense of urgency into your project.

If circumstances come up beyond your control that make you miss the deadline then re-schedule it.
Re-schedule deadlines if necessary but keep your goal planning on track.
Think it out and set a new date which is realistic, based on current circumstances.
The main thing is that your goal planning exercise is still moving forward and you have a framework to guide you.

So in summary, why are deadlines lifelines when setting goals?

Here is a definition of a lifeline: something on which someone depends to help them out of, and successfully overcome, a challenging situation.

Deadlines become lifelines because they
(1) help you manage time more effectively and help increase productivity by creating a sense of urgency,
(2) add clarity to your projects and help reduce muddled thinking, and (3) help you keep focused on the task at hand, thus avoiding distractions.

Next: Step 5 – Goal Objectives: Looking Ahead To Get Ahead With Planning

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Now you have completed this English Reading Exercise, try this one:
English Reading Practice: Exercise 14 (Advanced) Goal Setting Introduction