Microsoft or Dell
• Nike or Abercrombie & Fitch
• New York Liberty or the LA Clippers
• ESPN, NBC Sports, or Fox Sports
• Disney or 20th Century Fox
As you can see, the list can feature many potential careers, but the power of the list is that it functions as a vehicle for imagination, creativity, and accomplishment. The old adage that “it won’t happen unless you write it down” is true for many and is a strong rationale for lists and plans in general.
One list that is not shown in the many already suggested above is this:
What I Want Out of My Four Years at _______ University.
As an exercise, try making such a list in which you limit yourself to only ten achievements. Then let’s see if the hypothetical list we created here (during our imaginary freshman year) would have any similarity to something you might create:
1. Graduate in four years with a 3.5 GPA.
2. Get hired by Nike to work in an area connected to my sport.
3. Make friends with at least four professors who are intellectually stimulating and committed to my success through introductions and networking.
4. Become a member of at least one campus organization that has nothing to do with sports.
5. Participate in an overseas course that is either a semester abroad or a shorter study tour in another country (less than twenty-one days).
6. Give back to my sport or college community by coaching or using my team’s access to less-privileged individuals.
7. Make three lifelong friends who will be there for me when times are tough (and for whom I will be there when they need me).
8. Get real about how much I will owe in college loans or in appreciation for those who helped me get through college for free.
9. Read four books that were not assigned but that will stretch my imagination or stimulate my intellectual curiosity.
10. Dominate my friends in video games such as EA SPORTS FIFA, Madden NFL, or Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Bonus Extra: Cure cancer, walk on the moon, get my screenplay purchased, record with Beyoncé.
Bonus Plus: Actually take the time to do another Top 10 list.
Again, you should see that the creation of the list is not hard, but committing to the plan that will deliver the itemized outcomes requires long-term awareness. The other piece in the puzzle is figuring out how to evaluate progress toward your various goals. When a student starts his or her freshman year, graduation seems light years away. Four years. At least 120 credits. So many term papers and final exams.
Sheesh. It’s hard, then, to write “Graduate in four years with a 3.5 GPA.” But if that is the goal, the 3.5 GPA allows for semester-by-semester evaluation. Like an athlete, you will have either exceeded your goal or missed it. If you are ahead, you make plans for leveraging that success. If you are behind, you need to make adjustments. GPA is a great example of the kind of thing to evaluate since it is measurable semester by semester, course by course.
Football movies are famous for their stirring halftime speeches in which the coach convinces the players to put their first half mistakes behind them, to overcome their distrust of each other, to block out the distractions of the crowd and “win one for the Gipper” or some other clichéd personage (how about the speech in Rudy or inspirational words said to Michael Oher in The Blind Side). Sometimes players get chewed out at halftime. Sometimes players get the silent treatment. But invariably, the announcers covering the game, witnessing a great comeback, suggest that adjustments “must’ve gotten made at halftime and would you look at how this team is responding!”
You should feel the same about your ability to adjust. Traditionally, school years are usually broken into semesters (two) or quarters (three) and after final exams there is a point when you know your GPA for the grading period and therefore for your academic career so far. You know whether you are meeting NCAA academic progress requirements, are eligible, are likely to get announced as having made the Dean’s List, or maybe have a shot at making an All-Conference Academic list.
If your grades aren’t what you want, then adjustments must be made. Perhaps your adjustments include one or more of the following:
• Paying more attention to course details
• Skipping fewer classes
• Changing studying habits
• Working with different tutors
• Studying with different friends
• Allowing more time for homework and test prep
• Making more time to meet professors and getting to know them
• Asking for help earlier in the semester
• Making a commitment to do better by working harder
• Allocating more time to studying
Perhaps, as you read this, you have never had, nor expect to have, grades that fall below your expectations. If that’s the case, you can move on to any of the other items listed above in “What I Want Out of My Four Years at _______ University.”
The second bullet point is getting a job at Nike, and while we randomly selected that particular company, the goal can be evaluated just like grades. If you want to work in athletic apparel and equipment when you graduate (or technology, media, medicine, or music), the same approach to accomplishment can be evaluated regularly (and often with the help of a list that is focused on the goal):
• Whom did I meet from my desired industry this term?
• What did I read about my desired company this month?
• Who at my school knows someone working in the field I want to enter?
• How can I get networked to an employee at my dream company?
• What more did I learn about the field I want to work in?
• Will I be ready for a job interview (or internship opportunity) if one suddenly materializes?
Interim measurable goals could be a class project opportunity, a consulting project, a practicum, or an internship with that company or one in its field.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
One of the most important secrets to learn during your time in college is how to create a plan for success that that leads to a desirable outcome. It is not as simple as creating random lists (although that can certainly help) or banking on the hope that things will fall into place for you. An essential element is establishing concrete goals and having a true desire to accomplish those goals and “check them off.” This is what will lay the foundation for you to position yourself for career success.
. . .
ERIK
