How To Make 'SMARTER' Goals

 We are already into the beginning of March and some of our 2021 goals are slowly slipping away as we often get caught up in our old routines. You might think there is always next year to try again… but it is still not too late to get back on track! Whether your goal is smaller or big, near future or longer-term, or you do not even have a specific goal in mind, try implanting some of these strategies to help you set and keep on track to achieving your goals. 💪

Maybe you have heard of the acronym “SMARTER” goals which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound, evaluated and re-adjusted. Too often when we set goals, we do not have any way of measuring them or think to do so. As a result, we may think we have come to think we have done so much more to achieve our goals than we really have. Or maybe you think you haven’t achieved anything when you have but instead you “throw in the towel” and all it quits. 

So, starting with step one, “S”- Specific, when you set your goal don’t just say "I want 2021 to be better than 2020". Say exactly what it is you are going to do to make 2021 better, such as: "I am going to workout 3 days a week rather than scrolling through Instagram all day, I am going to love myself, I am going to get straight A’s," etc. 

Step 2, “M” - Meaning. When something is meaningful to you, it is going to be more important to you and you are going to be more willing to do what it takes to achieve your goals. So, continuing with the goal of making 2021 better than 2020, why is it important to you that this year is better than last year? 

Step 3, “A” - Achievable. It is important to make sure your goal is within your reach, but do not make it such an easy goal that it will not make you much effort to achieve it. Since we are still in a pandemic and depending on where you are there could be a lot of restrictions to keep that in mind when setting your goal. 

Step 4, “R” - Relevant. Your goals should be relevant to you, it should not be because someone told you this should be your goal. If the goal does not match your values and beliefs, you might find yourself having trouble achieving goals. 

Step 5: “T” – Time-bound. You have to set an exact date on when you plan to achieve these goals. Since in the first step you make specific goals you wanted to achieve during this year. Depending on your goals, set intervals of when you want to have accomplished parts of your goal. This way you can measure your goals and see your progress. For example, if one of your 2021 goals is to get stronger and you are currently only able to squat 50 pounds, but your goal is to be able to squat 90 pounds by the end of the year. Break that down to 3-month intervals so in 3-months your goal is to be able to squat 60 pounds and so on. 

Step 6: “E” – Evaluate. In this step you’ll want to be continuously evaluating your methods you’ve implemented to achieve your goals. If you do not, it is easy to slip up and slowly fall out of habit and lose sight of your goals.  

Step 7: “R” – Readjust. This is the final step! So, if you find yourself getting suck or not making much of any progress to achieving your goal, you want to readjust your approach. This does not mean you have to give up on your goals but rather try out different things until you find something that works for you. This is why it is important to constantly evaluate your goals. 

While you begin implementing your SMARTER goals, it is important to be aware of your mindset as that can easily make or break your ability to achieve your goals. A few months ago, I was reading this book and one thing that really stuck with me was often people say things like “I am shy, lazy, messy", etc. to describe yourself or “this is just how I am.” By saying things like “I am this type of person” you have cut off yourself from any potential growth as you’ve decided this is who you are. It creates a negative cycle, since for example you say “I am shy” but then an amazing job opportunity arises but you can’t take it, why? Because you are shy. Unfortunately, we often lose sight of who we can be as we get stuck in the past and solely focus on what we have done rather than what we can do. My point is it is important to challenge any negative mindset you may have that is holding you back from accomplishing your goals.

-From your favourite, Peer Support Team 💚😎

Kwantlen St. Farmers Market 2019 Opening

The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and what better way to celebrate than at your local Farmers Market?

The KSA’s very own Kwantlen St. Farmers Market will be opening for the 2019 season on Tuesday, April 16th. The market will be returning to Minoru Plaza, outside the Richmond Cultural Centre and Library, only a 30-minute walk or 10-minute bike ride from KPU Richmond campus. Come check it out! The Market takes place every Tuesday from 12pm - 4pm, rain or shine, until October 8th.

The Kwantlen St. Market features fresh student-grown produce from the KPU Sustainable Agriculture Program, along with baked goods, honey, bath and body products, jewelry, and SPCA-certified, organically-fed chicken and eggs. An expanding number of booths will offer locally harvested farm products as the season progresses.

Celebrate opening day at the Market! At one o'clock we will be serving up Sweet Thea's Divine Vanilla Bean Mango Cake to market shoppers, so please join us for a slice while Barry Wilson performs live at our Main Stage Tent.

Interested in volunteering at the market? Volunteers are needed to help with market set up, host the market's information table, and plan special events. For information on how to get involved, check out the market website, or email our Market Manager.

Interested in becoming a vendor? Check out the vendor application here. All products must be made, baked, or grown locally in order to qualify under BC Association of Farmers Markets guidelines. Booth space costs $40 per day plus $2 GST (30% off for KPU student vendors!), and vendors are responsible for providing everything they need for their mini storefront.

Why a farmers market? Farmers markets give students and community members an opportunity to directly support local farmers, meet their neighbors, and purchase healthy, local produce and other foods. Events like these help to build strong, resilient and healthy communities.

The Kwantlen St. Farmers Market is hosted by the Kwantlen Student Association and produced by Farm Fresh Events.

Want to get involved? Contact:
Market Manager: Anne Janzen
Email: farmfreshevents@gmail.com
Website & Applications: www.kwantlenstmarket.ca

- Erin (Sustainable KSA)

Club of the Month: Kwantlen Music Students Association

Every month we (try to, yes sometimes it just doesn’t end up happening, we’re sorry, please forgive us) feature a KSA club and highlight the fun/cool things that make their club different from the others. It’s a chance to get a little inside information, and see what events and meetings they have coming up.

Our April Club of the Month is the Kwantlen Music Student’s Association. Hear more about the club from the Club President, Emma.. 

Club Executives:  Amy Wack (Treasurer), Alexa Reimer (Coordinator),
Emma Dotto ( President / Founder), and Jeremy Laity (Vice President).

“I started the Music Students' Association because I had a real interest in musician's health as I was dealing with some performance injuries myself. While researching musician's health, I happened upon the McGill University's Musician's Health Club Instagram account and realized that this was something I could bring to KPU. 

From there, the club has grown into a multi-faceted association targeting not only musician's health, but also funding masterclasses, organizing social events and providing performance opportunities for the music students. 

Some events the KMSA have hosted include an Alexander Technique workshop, a Performance Anxiety Workshop, a Spring Formal (featuring the KPU Music Big Band and Jazz Combos), a Jazz Jam night, and, a Piano Masterclass with one of KPU Music’s top 25 alumni.”

 "All You Gotta Do Is Swing" Night    

“What makes the KMSA unique is that it is a club that recognizes the areas in which music students need more support and then takes action to help that by hosting workshops, masterclasses, social events, and jam nights. The executive team is compromised of music students helping music students.”

 "All You Gotta Do Is Swing" Night    

“We are currently getting our monthly Jazz Jam Nights off the ground! These nights are the best because it gives everyone a chance to let loose and just play music with friends and have a good time.”

 "All You Gotta Do Is Swing" Night    

“As the semester is winding down, so are we. However, we have some big plans for the next Fall and Spring semester! Some more masterclasses, workshops, and hopefully another Spring Formal!”

Learn more about the Kwantlen Music Student’s Association or join as a member by checking out their FB page: https://www.facebook.com/kpumusicstudents/. 

Amazing Race Video

March was a special month for us because we held our Amazing Race: KPU Edition event! It was a part race, part challenges event hosted by Active KSA and KPU Sport & Rec. Teams competed against each other for the best finish time and the winners won cash prizes!

Here’s a little recap of what went down...

Want to know more about Active KSA events? 

Life on Campus

The Provincial budget was presented on February 20th and it was a really exciting day for everyone at the KSA who works on campaigns. We have been pushing for more student housing since 2016 and this year the government announced $450 million for on campus housing in the province! This is huge, and it means that institutions across BC can now propose housing projects and borrow money directly from the government to build them.

This is really exciting, and we can’t wait to see where housing ends up being built. So, just in case we get housing here, here are some tips from the pros, or at least from some people I know who have lived on campus before:

1. Open your door. If you stay in your room with the door closed, you’ll miss out on the best part of residence, the lifelong friendships with all the people on your floor. Casual interactions with everyone wandering by are a great, no pressure, way to meet people, get invited to things, and signal that you want to chat.

2.  If you share a shower, bring flip-flops. Also if you have never had a roommate before, mentally prepare yourself for sharing a shower with a bunch of people.

3.  On the subject of roommates, set rules with roommates up front. It might seem weird to do at first, but if you never tell your roommates that you hate being the only person to take out the trash then you will resent them for months, and they will be surprised when you finally explode. It’s way easier to be able to say ‘Hey, I think it’s your turn this week’ because you already decided to share that task.

4. Bring a fan (and a space heater if you’re allowed). There is a very low chance that the temperature the building happens to be is the temperature that you want it to be.

5. Go to the orientation. You meet a whole bunch of people right at the beginning, and go into the year with so many new friends. Also you almost definitely get free food (to the right you will see me, eating all of the free food at our welcome week).

6. Staying on campus late and just hanging out without a set activity in mind is a super good way to get involved with things that are going on at your campus. Several people in our office said they entered campus life because they lived on campus, and described it as the best part of their university experience (pro tip, you don’t have to actually live on campus to do this).

7. Plan something for your first weekend. Lots of people visit home the first or second weekend, and if you stay on campus without any plans it can be quiet and feel a little lonely. Find some other people who are sticking around, or explore the neighbourhood around campus.

8.  Late night fire alarms. This is an experience that is pretty well universal, I have heard from people at UBC and Uvic where fire alarms get pulled as a practical joke (at 3am on a Wednesday… not cool) or SFU where the fire alarms get set off in old buildings because of the steam from showers (also at 3am..whyyy) and basically everywhere that there is residence because people think they can get away with smoking in their rooms. Because residence buildings are so densely filled, firefighters have to respond to a fire alarm immediately, even if they need to leave an actual fire to do this.

9. Expect some level of nonsense. One of our staff knows someone who lived on campus at Uvic, this was back when the campus was covered in bunnies. Her dorm was on the ground floor, and one night someone dropped a bunny into her window. Chaos ensued while the little bunny jumped around looking for an escape route, and the bunny, while alarmed, was fine. This exact thing will not happen to you, but you can probably expect to leave with at least one good story.

We don’t know if KPU will be one of the institutions that gets to build new housing, but just for fun, let us know what your ideal student housing situation would be in the comments.

Thanks for reading

Nicki