English Learning Community and Resources

As the end of the year is approaching, many of us are looking back and reflecting on what we have achieved and the things that we, despite our best intentions, haven’t quite achieved this year. You may feel mixed emotions as you look back. Hopefully, you feel pride and accomplishment for the things that went well, but you may also feel this tinge of guilt for those goals that dwindled, weren’t successful, or you haven't even started to work towards.  
 
However, your year may have been so far in terms of the goals you’ve set for yourself. I encourage you to take this moment to reset and refresh before jumping into new goals. This way, you give yourself a head start to beginning 2026 with a fresh outlook and a new, sustainable, and realistic system for achieving your goals in the year ahead. 
 
Reasons why you may have not reached your goals in the past
Before we dig into how to set those achievable goals, let’s explore a few reasons why goal setting may not have worked for you in the past: 

• First of all, having too many goals is one of the main reasons goals fail. Essentially, if you choose 50 things to pursue, you aren’t choosing anything at all, and as a result, very little will get done. It’s much more effective to choose just a handful of goals for a given time. 

• Secondly, choosing goals that you don’t really care about is another pitfall in achieving goals. If you don’t have the intrinsic motivation to go after a goal, it will be incredibly difficult to work on that goal regularly. Choosing a goal you are genuinely excited about will make the process of achieving it much smoother and more enjoyable. 

• And then thirdly, which is probably the most common culprit: setting goals that are too vague. If a goal doesn’t have a clear definition, you won’t know how to achieve it. Think about ‘why’, ‘when’, ‘how’, ‘how much’, and a clear deadline to solve this issue. For example, ‘I want to improve my English’ is not a clear goal that you can work towards constructively. A clearer goal is to ‘improve my English by attending this month’s English speaking session and taking two OLS B1 course modules a week until the end of 2025’. With this goal, you’d know exactly what to do.  

So, these are a few of the many issues you may face in goal setting. Now let’s dig into the steps that can help you set achievable language learning goals for the new year or any time you need a fresh start! 

Now, let's get started with the five steps to setting achievable goals:

Step 1: Reflect and let go 
Before setting any new goals, take a moment to reflect on the goals you set but didn’t reach this year and forgive yourself. The purpose of this is not to judge yourself, but to intentionally close that chapter so you can start this process with a clean slate and fresh eyes. So, dust yourself off, let go of feelings of regret, and open your mind to the future ahead! 

Step 2: Brainstorm and dream 
After releasing the old in step 1, it’s time to dream up all those new goals you may want to achieve. Get everything out on paper: the big dreams, the small dreams, the unrealistic dreams, and the scary dreams. Really give yourself some time and space to brainstorm. In the following step, you can worry about what is realistic at this moment in time.  
 
Step 3: Choose what truly matters now 
Once you’ve got your big list of possible goals, take a step back and ask yourself which goals feel most exciting and meaningful to you right now. First, make a shortlist by circling a maximum of 10 goals from your list. And then, finally, pick just one to three goals to focus on for the next period, for instance, 3 months. This will help you stay focused and actually enjoy the process instead of feeling overwhelmed. 

Step 4: Make your goals achievable  
Now that you’ve chosen the goals that are meaningful to you, it’s time to make them tangible and plan. Let’s take, for example, the goal of ‘I want to improve my English grammar by the end of the year’ and follow the next steps: 

• Think about how you are going to do that and the actions that you’ll take to achieve your goal. For this goal of improving your grammar, you could take one beginner level OLS grammar course a week.  

• Then think about when you’ll make time to take the necessary actions. You could plan one hour a week to follow the course, for instance, every Monday evening from 7 to 8pm. And then another hour a week to revise and practise what you’ve learnt, for example, every Thursday from 7 to 8 pm. And importantly, write it in your calendar! 

• And finally, create a space where you can track your progress! This not only keeps you on track, but it’s also very motivating to see what you’ve achieved so far. 

Step 5: Celebrate your progress 
Achieving any meaningful goal like learning a language takes time, and that’s completely okay. Every step you take along the way is something to be proud of. So, celebrate the small wins and the times you kept your promise to yourself. If you want to celebrate your progress together with a supportive community, I highly recommend sharing your progress and goals HERE in our OLS English learning community. 

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I hope these steps will help you set your ambitious yet achievable language-learning goals! Remember, focus only on the goals that truly matter to you, enjoy the process, and be proud of every little step that you take on your journey to reaching that goal! You’ve got this! 
 
Until next time! 
 
 
Marieke, OLS Community Manager - English