The Art of Small Goals - What Could Chinese Middle Schools Teach Us

In 1977, 5.7 million Chinese high school grads enrolled in an entrance exam. Those who scored top 278,000 were admitted into colleges. In 1985, 1.8 million enrolled in college entrance exam. 560,000 passed. And to get into Top 36 national universities, the competition is brutal.

But there are schools consistently sending most their kids to top colleges. They are called "key" middle schools, elite members of China's secondary education system. What is the secret sauce to ace their game?

A typical Chinese middle school has a junior division equivalent to K6-K9, and a senior division, equivalent to high school. Kids spend 3 years in the junior division then another 3 in the senior one.

Each middle school belongs to one of the two categories: “key” or non-key. Key middle schools earn their prestigious badges by consistently graduating 90% of their kids to colleges, compared to 20% or less for their non-key counterparts. 

For the top 36 Chinese Universities, their students almost exclusively come from these "key" middle schools, who dominate China’s college entrance exams for decades.

Everyone in China knows if kids survive a “key” middle school, a good college is out of question. 

A retired teacher who led such programs deciphered the strategy for me: It is all about managing small goals consistently for 6 years. 

Here is how it works: 

• The Chinese education system is notorious for all kinds of endless tests to constantly rank students within the same municipality, region, province or even nationally. Year 1, through many exercises, the key middle schools will march every kid to rank above the top 50 percentile –"let’s beat the other half". Sounds quite modest, right?

• Year 2, they march kids to beat the other half again. This time, not against everyone but the top 50%. The goal is to get everyone from top 50% to top 25%, so they will belong to the “better half of the better half”.

• Year 3. Same game. They march every kid from 25% top 12.5% - still, "beat the other half".

• By Year 6 when kids are ready for college entrance exams, almost every one ranks among the top 1.25%.

Of course, in a system where 30% high school grads could get into colleges, these elites write their own tickets.

Why small goals? 

People are mostly motivated by attainable goals. By breaking big goals into a consecutive string of achievable smaller goals, people are more likely to achieve them. This is how every "key" middle school in China turns kids into self-propelled Energizer Bunnies. These kids are not necessarily the most gifted but definitely the most motivated and disciplined.

What could we learn from this?

Healing stroke is a little like acing the intense competition of a Chinese college entrance exam. It takes a long time to ramp up, unbelievable amount of hard work, lots of commitment and persistence to achieve the best outcome. To beat the odds, one needs various therapies, commitment to exercise, and relentless focus. And most important, the art of managing small goals to keep all the above going. The good news is, few of us need to rank above the top 1.25% to see results.