The time is early April and a knock comes on the door of my office at school. At the door is a student who has come with great concern. It has finally occurred to the student that their grade is in jeopardy. After they tell me their version of what has gone wrong, the real meaning of their visit comes out when they ask if there is anything they can do to fix their grade. Note, this is usually 2-4 weeks before the end of term, meaning that 10-12 weeks have already happened.
Sadly, my answer is almost always a solemn “no.”
I tell you this story in early January, in the week when classes at Valencia, UCF and many other fine institutions have begun, so that you can learn a core lesson of success…care about your success NOW. Many, many students do actually care about success, but frustratingly, they care only at the end. Its as if they have failed to comprehend that the previous 10-12 weeks matter as much, if not more, than the last 2-4. Of course, I blame part of this on our country’s fascination with test scores as the measure of learning, but that’s a rant for another post. Today, the focus is on you, my dear reader, and your role in your life success.
See, the same issue often occurs for people out of school. They realize that their work has been less than solid when the rumors begin about layoffs. Or, the parent only realizes that they needed to care early about the choices of their child when the school’s resource officer, or worse a city policeman, contacts them. You even see this in some entrepreneurs who, with big dream in hand, fail to fully engage the “care meter” early in their pursuit (though admittedly, you see this less often here).
The problem won’t really be present in the first couple of weeks. Our parking lots are crammed full of cars of eager students who show up dutifully for that first couple of weeks. But by the third week, somehow magically all parking woes have ceased and empty seats begin to emerge in classrooms.
You must care now…and in the first month…and through the doldrums of the middle. If you don’t care now, I promise you it will be far more difficult to succeed if you wait. I want you to live well, and that takes engaged action from the start of the endeavor, not merely the last days.