Share one example of a goal you set for yourself in the past that you did not successfully accomplish. Explain why you feel you were not successful. Share one example of a goal that you did accomplish, and explain why you feel you were successful with that goal. (If you have never set goals, then base these examples on those of a friend or a relative).

A Thing I Failed and a Thing I Accomplished
     I failed to get into medical school when I was 19 in high school. In my high school life, I had only one goal in mind – to get into one of the best medical schools in my country. I studied day and night for the first two years. However, I couldn’t keep my motivation up in the third year. It was too much work and pressure on me. I didn’t know my progress clearly and didn’t have a clear plan that includes smaller steps to achieve my goal (2.1 Setting and Reaching Goals, n.d.).  In the end, I did not get grades I expect for most of the practice exams in my third high school year. Eventually, I did not get into the medical school I want even if I’ve spent almost every single second of my available time to study.
    I succeeded to excel in English to gain resources I need for my job and daily life.  When I was in high school, I found many resources on the Internet are written or spoken in English. I love acquiring new knowledge and see different things around the world. With that thought in mind, I made up my mind to learn English well so that I can read all those articles in English, talk to people all over the world and listen to great speeches on the Internet. For this goal, I set up several milestones to measure my progress. Every two to three years, I will take a standardized English exam to see how much I’ve progressed. In order to better my English speaking, in the last year of my college life, I went to the U.S. as an exchange student to live with native speakers. That was the first time I literally need to talk in English just to get my daily life worked out. When I got back my home country, I’m aware that without the English-speaking environment, my English would deteriorate. Therefore, I tried hard to land a part-time job as an interpreter. And for my job, I keep seeking opportunities to work at international companies where my colleagues are foreigners. I would have more chances to practice English when I co-work with them.  I’ve been very proactive in finding resources to help myself improve my English (Summary of Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, n.d.). Now, I’m working at an Indian Company in Taiwan where many of my colleagues are Indians and Americans. I’m capable of communicating at my job and making friends with my colleagues, too. What’s more, I use a lot of information in English online for my entertainment and even for my work. Especially, many resources for programming are in English, thus helping my job a lot.
References
2.1 Setting and Reaching Goals. (n.d.). In OerCommons. Retrieved from http://www.oercommons.org/courses/college-success/view
Summary of Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. (n.d.). In QuickMba. Retrieved from http://www.quickmba.com/mgmt/7hab/
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