One of the things that our society is categorized by today is how successful a person is. Everyone strives to be successful. Personally, I do not think that success is something that can be ultimately reached. More so, I believe it is something that is only chased.
As I have been going through my college career, I have sort of been trying to figure out my definition of success. What is the deciding moment between a moment that is successful and a moment that is not so successful? What are the things that I have been doing that have pointed me to those successful moments? It has taken me a little time, but I think I have a few answers.
My success secret is simple. A lot of people think it is more difficult than it actually is (I was one of those people until I really thought about it.) And the big secret is........ if you say you are going to do it, do it.
Honestly, I wish I had figured these things out when I was just starting college. As said in previous posts, my first year of school was rough. I wasn't challenged as much as I should have been in high school so I thought that just skating through college was the only option. I was wrong and my grades showed that. Granted, they were not awful, but they were just not what I wanted them to be.
Sure, I do things last minute. Things get stressful. I may cry. But things get done. If I say I am going to do something, come rain, sleet, wind or snow (most of the time its snow up here in VT), I will do it. To be able to do this, I have some tips that I have figured out.
ONE: Be on time. All of my friends make fun of me because I am always early to things. If I have class at 12:15, I am on my way to that class by 12. I am not sure why, but I just hate being late. Lateness is probably one of my biggest pet peeves and it honestly pains me to be late to something. I find that sometimes this takes just as much self control as it takes planning. You can plan out your exact route and times to do things, but if you hit that snooze button one time or take a few extra minutes on Pinterest, then all of that planning goes to waste. It is all one big compromise. This applies for almost everything in my life, not only showing up for class or tours, but also for submitting assignments and papers.
TWO: Keep yourself organized. Sometimes it gets hard. Trust me, I am in no way the most organized person. My room looks like a bomb went off with clothes, makeup, hair products and all of my rugby gear all over the place. But when it comes to big things, I am always organized. If I don't write down when something is due, I will almost always forget. I am a big fan of to-do lists and calendar alerts in my phone. What ever you need to do to keep track of our life, do it!
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| I am a HUGE fan of planners. I love planners so much that I actually have 2 of them: one for school work and one for blogs and extracurricular activities. To go a little bit further, I even color code them. I know. I'm weird. (image) |
THREE: Figure out deadlines. This one goes hand in hand with number two, so just stick with me. While somethings spell out deadlines for you (papers, exams, quizzes, projects) other things my not be as clear. I find it 10 times harder to be able to complete things when there isn't a deadline spelled out for me. I always do the classic "I'll do it later" thing. Always always always figure out a date that gives you a reasonable time frame to complete a task and stick to it.
FOUR: Set Priorities. This is a biggie. If I say I am going to do something, I don't want to disappoint anyone by not completing the task. That means that if I have way too many things on my plate and someone asks me to pick up another I have to tell them "no" straight up. In previous years, I thought saying no was a bad thing, but trust me, it's not. Saying no is one hundred times better than saying yes and then having to back out at the last minute. It is still something that I find really challenging today. I always want to please everyone and I feel like by saying no I am letting them down. Through this I constantly have to remind myself that I am actually preventing myself from letting them down by saying no.
FIVE: Define. What does success mean to you. You can never be successful until you have a clear idea of what it is. I usually start with my biggest, larger than life goal and work my way from there. When good is good enough, I'm done and accept the fact that it is good enough. I can definitely be grouped into the category of a perfectionist sometimes. I want everything I do to be perfect. But in the end, I just have to get things done.
What does success mean to you?
Love,
Susanna
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