Mr. A.R. Rahman, the celebrated composer of music went through struggles in certain phase of his life. He lost his father at his early stage of life. When he was 25 years old, he even wanted commit suicide. The Oscar winning composer says in his biography “Notes of a Dream” that his initial low phase of his career eventually helped him to emerge braver. He got a chance to do music for 35 movies but he did only for two movies. Everyone wondered why he rejected the opportunity that he had got. He had said if he had accepted all their offers, it would be like eating everything at the same time which would have created indigestion. So if you eat small meals, you make it fulfilling and enjoyable.
As students or as professionals or as pastors we must know our strength and weakness. We should set up goals and objectives to be successful in our studies or professions or in our vocations. Goals are different from objectives. While goals are our end point intentions; objectives are the day today milestones that we wish to cover in our journey to attain the larger goal. For example, wanting to improve one’s English vocabulary is a general, non specific long term goal.
If someone sets a target of learning 900 new words to add to his new vocabulary in three months by learning 10 new words everyday. it is a time – bound and specific schedule. This is called objective. There is an anonym used to attain this objective – SMART. It means Specific, Measurable, Action oriented, Relative and Time bound objective.
A student who wishes to appear for a particular examination he should use this SMART objective well ahead of such examination. He should plan for each day, each week to cover a certain portion of that particular subject. For example he should resolve to study and revise six chapters in a week by mastering the concepts and practicing problems for one and half hour everyday. The more measurable an objective is in the specific action taken, the amount of hours to be spent and the amount of work to be completed daily, the more realizable will be the end goal of completing the examination with good grades.
One should acquire two good habits. First is Self Discipline. One should avoid the temptation of postponing the daily objective. One should also adhere to the daily objective with determination. Second one is perseverance. One should overcome the temptation of giving up in the midway. But one should continue to study with steadfastness.
Then, the one is sure to succeed in the examination. This simple technique can become a habit in the course of time. It is a pragmatic approach. It allows us to calculate mathematically whether we are on the right track or not. Its benefits in the school, college, and career and in life itself are many. As we succeed in our goals one by one, we acquire a positive and confident outlook. We stay motivated to achieve more.
I wish you all a happy and Prosperous New Year.

Most Rev. Dr. M. Devadass Ambrose

Bishop of Thanjavur