One Big Mistake Many Of Us Make During Our College Years
It’s not too late to turn back though…
“I wish I could do that!”
“You’re so lucky!”
Do you find yourself saying these things when you see your peers succeeding?
It could be the friend who is globe trotting around the world with beautiful scenic photos on Instagram. It could be the friend who became a successful entrepreneur and living a life that looks like a dream. It could be the friend who landed their dream at a well-known company making 6-figures as an entry level employee. It could be the friend who lost a lot of weight and is slaying in their new hot bod. The list goes on.
Did some people achieve these goals based on pure luck? Possibly. Luck may have something to do with, especially if they come from a place of privilege like being born in a so-called first world country, they were raised in a middle to upper class family that had supportive parents/guardians, were genetically blessed, or they were simply at the right place at the right time.
HOWEVER…
The simplest secret to achieving your goals is sacrifice. What are you willing to give up today in order for a better tomorrow?
Junk food?
Frivolous spending?
Partying every weekend?
Scrolling on social media during your down time?
Whenever I find myself getting distracted from my goals, I reevaluate my why and ask myself how bad do I really want it.
When I was studying accounting in college, I always found myself tuning out the professor during the lectures and going through the motions doing just enough to pass without putting in the time to really study. I didn’t have any interest in looking up the latest accounting news like I did for other topics. I had zero motivation in studying for my CPA exam. It was at that moment when I thought to myself, “Do I even like accounting or am I just faking it til I make it because it’s a ‘good’ career path?”
It ended up being the latter. While I was pretty good with number crunching without trying. I had zero interest in doing this 60+ hours a week for the long term. When I was doing my internship, I often found myself extremely bored. I would try and hurry up and finish my spreadsheets so I could use the remainder of the time to preoccupy myself with other things that were more interesting.
This all started when I was taking post-graduate classes after finishing my 4-year degree. It then became obvious where my head was really at. Since I was a commuter student during my fifth year, I was no longer distracted with campus life and sports. I was strictly there to go to class, put in my hours as a grad assistant and then go home. This meant I had a lot more time on my hands to really figure out what should I do with my life.
I was left with two options:
- Continue the accounting route
- Go back to the drawing board and figure out what the hell do I want to do.
I decided to stop continuing my post-graduate education because I came to the conclusion that I was wasting my time (and money).
I Made A Mistake
I made a mistake. It’s a mistake that I see a lot of people make especially during their college years where they are pressured to pick a career path and feel obligated to stick to it for the next 40+ years. I dove into accounting because it was something I was pretty good at and the job market for accountants is always is demand. I literally had zero problems finding jobs, my heart just wasn’t in it and I felt like the recruiters could tell, even when I didn’t realize it.
Which brings me to this question…
What Is Your Why?
This is a simple question we forget to ask ourselves, but it is an oh so important one. We are bombarded with images of other people’s idea of success. The influence may come from our parents, our peers, our school teachers and counselors, our mentors, or social media. Even though people may be evangelical about their idea of living a successful life, you have to go back within and see if that lifestyle is right for YOU. At the end of the day it’s YOU that has to live the decisions you make, not them.
How Bad Do You Want It?
Once you identify your why, you have to figure out what are you willing to do in order to get there. You may see someone living your ideal lifestyle in real life or social media. Instead of saying “I wish I could do that,” or “Wow, you’re so lucky,” change your wording to “How can I do that?”
Create (And Do) Actionable Steps
Using the art of asking and research can provide you with the proper tools to be equipped for your journey on achieving your goals. This along with creating (and doing) an actionable plan can put you one step closer to whatever it is you’re trying to do. These actionable steps may come with sacrifices and a lot of discomfort. But if it’s something you really want, you do it by any means necessary. Well…not by every means. I don’t want you out here breaking the law because you think I implied that, haha. But you see what I mean.
So Let’s Recap
- Identify your Why
- Ask yourself what are you willing to sacrifice in order to achieve said goal
- Create actionable steps to get you one step closer than the previous day.
You got this! :-)
