The world likes a man with a plan.
(I say man instead of woman mostly because woman with a plan doesn’t rhyme quite as well. As anyone knows, rhyming is essential to making any important point. :P)
People like people with plans because they’re predictable.
People like other people being predictable.
Your parents want you to have a plan. They’ll ask you what you’re going to do for a living. Or they’ll ask you where you want to go to college.
The answers you give can comfort them.
What you’re going to do for college is important to them. They care and have an opinion on the matter. By asking you, you can answer them and put them at ease. The plan you provide them will make you a predictable person. Instead of worrying about what you’re going to be doing years from now, they get to worry about other things. Right?
Your plan makes you a known quantity.
In fact, you’ve probably heard plenty of success stories from people with a plan.
Successful people tell their story as if they went along a logical path the whole time. They did this thing. Then they did this thing. Then they did this next thing that the previous things prepared them for. It sounds like a logical path.
Here is the thing:
Most of the people I’ve met that make those logical path claims are full of crap. Sure… they might genuinely believe it but to a third party observer those logical paths often look completely ridiculous and unpredictable.
I’m going out on a limb here because maybe it’s just me but…
My plans in life have sucked.
Nothing ever went according to plan.
I did things. I learned things. I tried and retried things. Every time I stumbled forward or back a bit.
At no point in this journey, did I think I would take the path I ended up taking.
I just looked to the next step and stumbled in that direction.
Usually, I ended up nowhere near where I planned.
The point:
It still worked out.
I love planning things out in advance but my experience says the successful implementation of a plan depends heavily of improvisation and learning to appreciate the opportunities you get.
Sure… make a plan but don’t get discouraged when you don’t get somewhere you wanted to be.
Just make a new plan and try again.
The destination may be in question but the detours make the trip worthwhile.
Image Sources: Wikipedia
Have you ever sabotaged your success doing this silly little thing?
Ever procrastinate?
You only procrastinate the stuff that sucks. You don’t say, “Ahhh… I’ll read that text from my crush later.” Nope. Now… Any pause is intentional and coordinated to respond better.
Here is the problem with academics:
You probably think most academic stuff sucks – at least a little. (Especially compared to other things you could be doing.)
And the thing is:
FORCING YOURSELF TO STUDY JUST MAKES IT WORSE!
You’re slowly hardening your association of school and being miserable.
You need to create positive associations with academics. You want your brain to be getting hyped up and positive when you’re thinking about studying and giving into this internal oligarchical instinct to force yourself to studying – ain’t helpin’.
Chill the internal dictator for a moment…
A big secret: You need to STOP forcing yourself to study so much.
But, if you’re not forcing yourself then how are you going to see those killer straight-a’s that you’re always dreaming about?
WAKE UP!
Get your copy of my book about How To Get Happier Straight A’s.
It only costs $4.99 (and if these strategies don’t work like magic like it has for thousands of other students then you can get a full refund.)