Managing your goals

Why managing your goals matters

SkillSwap works best when you're clear about what you want to learn. Managing your goals is about turning vague ideas like “I want to get better at design” into concrete, trackable steps — so each session moves you forward.

This article shows you how to use Skills to Learn, sessions and the Progress page to build a simple, flexible learning plan.

Start with learning themes, not perfection

You don't need a perfect plan to start. Instead, think in themes — big areas you want to improve:

• “Frontend development with React”
• “Spoken English for work”
• “UX design basics”

Each theme can then be broken down into smaller topics you can actually cover in a 30–60 minute session.

Use “Skills to Learn” as your learning map

Your Skills to Learn are the backbone of your plan. They tell SkillSwap what to prioritise when suggesting matches and shape most of your learning journey.

To edit them, open your profile and go to the Skills & goals section.

Good practice for Skills to Learn

• Keep 2–5 active skills — not 20.
• Be specific.
• Use language that tutors will understand at a glance.

For a deeper guide, see Skills & goals.

Turn goals into concrete sessions

Once your skills are set, the next step is to translate them into session-sized goals. For example:

• Instead of: “Improve English”
• Use: “30 minutes: practice small talk for networking events.”

• Instead of: “Learn React”
• Use: “45 minutes: review my React project structure and fix bugs.”

Before you send a session request, ask yourself: “What would make this 30–60 minutes really worth it for me?”

For a step-by-step on booking, see Book your first session.

Using the Progress page to stay on track

The Progress page shows your long-term growth:

• XP & levels — how much you've learned and taught overall.
• Teaching vs learning time — how balanced your activity is.
• Badges — milestones you unlock as you stay active.

Checking this page regularly helps you see whether your sessions align with your real goals or if you're drifting into random topics.

Learn more in XP & levels and Teaching vs learning time.

When to update your goals

Your learning goals are not fixed. SkillSwap is designed for iterative progress. Update your Skills to Learn when:

• You've covered the basics and want more advanced topics.
• Your focus changes (e.g. from design to job interviews).
• You realise a goal was too broad and want to split it into smaller parts.

Every time you update your skills, your Matches feed will gradually reflect those changes.

Example: From vague goal to clear plan

Imagine your starting goal is: “I want to become better at public speaking.”

1. Add “Public speaking basics” as a Skill to Learn.
2. First session: “Understand structure of a strong 5-minute talk.”
3. Second session: “Practice delivering my intro and get feedback.”
4. Third session: “Work on voice, pacing and body language.”

After a few sessions, you can adjust your goals based on what you've learned and what still feels hard.

Tips for staying consistent

• Try to book at least one focused session per week.
• After each session, write down 2–3 key takeaways and 1 next step.
• Revisit your Skills to Learn every few weeks and remove anything that no longer feels relevant.

Related articles

• Skills & goals
• Preparing for a session
• Giving feedback