​We are goal-driven creatures that rely on all our various career aims to motivate ourselves beyond our current condition. Studying any standardized test is frustrating and we need goals to help us through the hardest moments.

If you, as most students enrolled in a standardized test do, define your goal as merely passing the test you may find this not particularly motivating. It may be far better to have more quantifiable goals. 

For example, how many new words are you targeting? Even if you do not make your broader goal of reaching entrance level requirement , you will have improved if your specific targets such as 20 essays or 10 new passages in reading are reached.
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Some suggested goals are:

1.     Vocabulary – How many new words can you commit to in a day?
2.     Reading – How many new passages will you read in a week?
3.     Practice Tests – How many full and partial tests will you get through in one week, a month, 3 months?
4.     Essays - How many essays are you going to write each week?
5.     Grammar- How many targeted grammar structures will you strive to master per day or per week?
6.     Listening – How many listening dialogues or lectures will you listen to? Don’t forget the importance of casual listening on YouTube as well.
7.     Pleasure English – How many movies, books, outside conversations will you engage in?

Remember it is not enough to just say you will do more of it. You need to have quantifiable goals