LEARNing about YOU!
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mILE 9:
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Now let's go on to mile 10. |
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mILE 10:
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Many of you are just a few years away from graduating or, if you are a senior, the time has come to make major decisions. If you are a senior, there is a little sense of confusion, where to turn, what to do next. As I was graduating high school, I was nervous as ever. We had graduated, but, to me, that did not mean success was coming our way. It just meant we achieved what we were supposed to. Six years later, many of my high school friends were making money, getting married, and buying cars and houses. The "American Dream," right? What we have been taught all throughout our lives? But why are some still not satisfied? One friend, in particular, makes almost $80,000 dollars only two years removed from college (that's a lot of money for a 25 year old single person), and he still complains about his work and how unsatisfied he is. You may have listened to several of your friends or family members complain about similar things. This is happening to millions of students every day. The root of the problem is they have not learned about themselves enough. These particular individuals have followed what I call a "society train."
"Don't know what a society train is?" A society train is believing your life and happiness will come from what you see in others lives through social media (such as: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc.), television, or observing others. Do not be too concerned about what others are posting on social media. Everyone has a struggle and, like most people, they do not expose that side of their lives to everyone. Instead, focus on your life, how you can learn about you, and, most importantly, keep being yourself! When you start learning about you, you have the ability to take yourself further than you would have ever imagined! Are you ready for these discoveries? Let's dive in! Before you hike to the next mile proceed to the Utah Futures Interest Profile Video. Utah futures Interest profile |
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Click the button below to explore Utah Futures and learn more about your interests through the Interest Profile! Don't answer in a certain way to try and get a specific career. Remember Rule #1: be honest with yourself!
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Learn You Module |
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To better understand you, let's start with the module below. This Learn You module will help you begin structuring your life as a young, inspiring person. The module will challenge you to understand yourself better and, in the process, determine your own passion in life. But, most importantly, the Learn You module will challenge you to turn your passion into a blueprint of your own success. Let's break this down:
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Purpose |
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I propose two questions to you (Don't stress if you don't know the answers to these questions now. This course is designed to help you find the answers or improve on the answers you already have!):
1. Who are you? (Describing yourself with things like "tall, short, a man, a woman" can be true, but let's aim for deeper expressions. For example, maybe you pride yourself on loving others). 2. What are you good at? (This can be hard to answer. If you haven't discovered a particular talent that you would like to pursue, consider things you enjoy doing and things you like learning about). In order to understand what you are passionate about, you must first begin to understand who you are and what you are good at. Even more important than that is how do you blend those two questions together to create your own destiny. Recently a woman was talking with me and she said “I am 22, about to graduate and I have no idea what I want to do with my life still.” I asked her those two questions and not to my surprise, she did not understand who she was or what exactly she was good at. Is that okay? Yes! You learn who you are and what you are good at through real life experiences. Whether it is work, volunteering, clubs, or athletics you start to learn who you are through what you are good at right now. It is never too late to find your answers to these questions! Before you continue on to the performance section, let's write down what you think your answers are to those questions: who you are and what you are good at. Hang it somewhere you can see it everyday! I suggest right next to your bed or on the bathroom mirror. Don't be afraid to add to these lists as you gain more knowledge about yourself! But what if I don't know who I am and what I am good at? That's okay! This course will challenge you to learn so that you can answer those questions as you continue to hike through the course. |
PerformanceHave you written down who you are and what you are good at? Great! Let’s begin with making commitments to yourself in the following areas:
1. Finding Your Passion: What gets you excited to talk to others about? What are things you do daily or every once in a while that gets your blood pumping and makes you want to do something about it? Once you start to figure this out let's take it a step deeper with the second area of focus. 2. Creating Your Success: I have a friend who is stuck in his career, he has a bachelors degree and is making a great salary, but he recognizes that for him it’s just a paycheck, nothing more and nothing less. Why? Because his career does not bring any satisfaction to his life. He has recognized money also does not bring complete satisfaction to life. I asked him what he was passionate about and he talked for almost 30 minutes about becoming a doctor. But my next question stumped him, and that was “Okay? So how are you going to turn that passion into your career?” 
Many people, like my friend, do not take the time to ask themselves the questions necessary to come up with what I call "a blue print to personal success." Most people do not experience a “traditional” path to success (4 Year Degree followed directly by a Master's Degree (which is more common to get today), straight into a great career with good money, and then later, onto a smooth retirement). You will have hiccups a long the way. A statement you will hear from people throughout your life is “I thought I wanted to do _______ But I am doing _______ instead.” My point? It is okay to continue to move around and experience different career or school paths. However, the way you create your own success is asking questions to: 1. Your adviser(s) 2. Taking courses in that area of interest 3. Working (volunteer, intern, part-time, full-time) in that area of interest to figure out if that path is the path YOU want to become your own success Don't be afraid to branch out and try something that you have never done before. You will never know if something interests you or not until you go out there and try it. Don't immediately write something off because you think it won't be a perfect fit for you. Sometimes the things you are interested in can surprise you. |
EnvironmentBrian Tracy, Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, specializes in training as well as developing individuals/organizations to become successful. One of his famous lines is “You are where you are because of the way you think.” To further that, I will say you are where you are because of who you are. If you find yourself struggling to get to class, practice, work on time, or complete homework, to make great choices, you may want to understand just what environment you are in. Does your environment (people, location, work, school, etc.) help you with your commitment to yourself or distract you from your commitments to yourself?
If your environment is distracting you from your commitments, how are you going to change what you can about your environment? Notice I said what you can change, there are certain elements to your environment you have no control over such as people and time. But you have control over what you think and what you believe in. Ask yourself, what do you think and what do you believe in. Remember, the more you understand yourself, the more focus you can have towards what you are trying to achieve. Until you change what you can about your environment, you will not be able to fully engage in the last step. However, it is okay if this takes some time. Most humans do not like change; it throws us all off! Certain changes such as personal and environmental changes aren't things you do once and then you are done. You will learn you are going to constantly change your environment to fit your personal philosophy in life. Your philosophy will get clearer as you make more commitments to yourself. |
Philosophy |
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In order to get the best out of each day, you must be willing to maximize, prioritize, and utilize your time effectively. Every thing you do requires invested time. Each day, minus the time you sleep, you have on average 16-17 hours of time for you to invest into what you enjoy doing. How you spend those 16-17 hours a day is up to you, but here are some suggestions that can help you use time effectively:
1. Demonstrate Organizational Skills: Invest your time in appropriate places. You should have a general idea of what your day looks like and the goals needed to achieve them. Do you have goals for your semester? Your year? What about in 5 years? If you do, are they written down? It is important to organize your life so that you are not distracted from utilizing your 16-17 hours appropriately. I encourage you to start off by getting a daily planner and scheduling your time how you want to use it. For me, I know exactly what I am doing 3-4 days ahead of time. Of course, you will always have times when your plans are disturbed, but being that organized can help you maintain focus. Don't be discouraged if you aren't a naturally organized person. Remember, you wanting to be the best you can be! 2. Display Great Communication: If you are late to work, to a practice, or to school, how is your communication? When do you tell those who need to know this information? Communication is one of the most vital skills you will learn in your life. It can get you far on the pathway of life or it can slow your progression. Someone’s initial judgment of you is not as important as how you communicate who you truly are over time. Do you want to become a great teacher, coach, speaker, or CEO? You must learn the art of communication. 3. Be Coachable: If you are an athlete, I know you have heard this saying many, many times in your life. "You must be coachable to be great." This saying goes well beyond the realm of sports however. How well do you listen? Do you ask questions to understand what you do not know? Do you take the advice of others who have more experience than you do? These are great skills to have in your life, especially when you are blazing your own path. Do you have a mentor? No? Get one! A saying I like about older people is “They are walking encyclopedias, drain the knowledge from them.” Listen and ask questions, because in the end, you can never know enough about what you are passionate about. There is always more to learn! |
Before you proceed to Mile 12 take this detour!
Hit the button below to go on the detour. Remember, the pathway to success is not a straight line. Detours can help us to become happier, more successful individuals!
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mILE 12:
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