From A's to Excellence
Learning to measure life impact without a report card
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I recently spoke with college students at two universities about transitioning from school to work. Graduating seniors have spent 16+ years being graded on their performance every semester. You know how you measure up based on a letter grade. But how do you know if you’re making the grade beyond college?
Here are the four lessons I shared with them:
Failure isn’t fatal. You will make mistakes. It takes practice, but failure won’t crush you if you see it as a teacher instead of getting an “F.” It took me too many years to learn this. What failure have you allowed to define you? It’s time to call it out, own it, learn from it, and move on. Cultivating a positive mindset will change your view of failure and, ultimately, your life.
Your worth isn’t defined by how you compare to others. This is a hard one. I had a classmate in college who once walked out on a test because he hadn’t studied for it. He took a zero. If you look him up on LinkedIn, he’s a CEO. My first thought was, why did I care so much about my grades? I can camp out on this comparison, OR I can realize he’s on his own journey, and I’m on mine. The more you can learn to be authentically you, the happier you will be.
A perfect result does not equal success. Perfection isn’t even a worthy goal. Progress is. If I am getting better today than yesterday, I am successful. Trade chasing perfection for chasing excellence in pursuit of your dreams. If you don’t have a dream yet, don’t worry! Reading books, listening to podcasts, and getting around the right people will help you discover it.1
Significance is more important than success. Success shines a spotlight only on me. Significance is about serving others. Am I saying you shouldn’t chase success? Absolutely not. However, success will find you when you make your life about serving others. How do you chase significance? Through personal growth. Success alone (money, status, stuff) will never feel like enough if it’s not built on a foundation of significance.2
I hope this served you well today. Make this week count!
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Being part of the Maxwell Leadership team has grown me so much over the last year!
Tarek. I went back to school when I was fifty-one. It was sort of a do-over since I had been kicked out of high school when I was 15-years-old. In college, as an older student, I pushed myself HARD. I ended up graduating cumma sum laude. I got accepted into a local masters program (social work) but that summer I found out I had a brain tumor, and was undergoing life-saving surgery that October. I had multiple disabilities from that surgery, but I wasn't going to lie around...I entered an online university and worked for the next three years on my masters. I got a 4.0, attending out of state residencies using a power chair (unable to walk) and then pushed myself through internships and a two year job with an agency in order to earn my hours to licensing. Sound like I'm bragging? I actually carry some shame about doing that. It wasn't good for my health and pushing that perfectionism caused me to lose out to some important family events. At the time, I actually thought it would make a difference in my work...that I had driven myself that hard. It made no difference. No one knew what my grades were or how I had pushed myself to achieve...to make up for how I felt about my young choices in life. No one knew but me...and I was too tired to enjoy it.
Powerful!!!!!