Dear College Students

Right now I bet you have a confusing mix of confidence and uncertainty.  You are both totally in control of your future and simultaneously sure that at any moment your worst nightmares could come true.

This is life.

I can’t promise to cure all the ills of your life, however I can give you a few life tips that I have learned from others and attempted to apply myself.

1. Surround Yourself With Positive People
   Positive people are normally successful people.  They find that though not everything is always going to be great, you can always make something good out of a bad situation.  People that are positive always get more work done, not because they are better workers but because they start with a better attitude.  If you start out defeated you will end up defeated, if you start out knowing that you can overcome whatever obsolesces are you in your way you are far more likely to succeed.  However its hard to foster this positive spirit on your own.  You must seek out and surround yourself with positive people that you can both learn and grow from.  Do you have people in your life that help you succeed or help you fail?
2. Learn From Others Mistake
   Everyone makes mistakes, that’s part of life.  How we handle mistakes is what defines us.  No doubt that you will make a number of mistakes like the rest of mankind, however you are likely to make less mistakes by learning from others mishaps.  Be kind, don’t burn bridges and always stay open to learn from those around you.  Ask yourself, as well as others when appropriate, questions about how mistakes could have been prevented, how things could have been done differently or how teams could have been assembled in a more appropriate manner. Learning from others will not only grow you as a person but teach you to approach situations in a different manner than before.
3. Always Give 210%
   You have undoubtedly met a number of different kinds of people in your life.  Each and every person has a different work ethic.  Some work harder on not working than they would ever use working.  Others give only what they are asked to give and not an iota more.  Still others give 110% and everyone calls them over achievers.  I’m asking you to make a new category, the 210% category.  Be those that think outside the box, find the solutions to problems that everyone else says can’t be solved, when everyone else has quit you keep going.  Be the type of person that does a good job on every project not because of you will be judged by a teacher/boss/leader but because you have set a standard of greatness for yourself.  Set the bar high and never stop reaching for it.  Give your all and let your work speak for itself.

This of course is a very short list.  However I believe taking these three simple pieces of advice too heart and by living them will alter your life dramatically.  You will find a horde of people along the way that will tell you to give up and tell you its not worth it.  When you hear those words remember one thing.  You’re the one that gets to decide what defines you, not others.  We will all die one day, what will you leave behind?  Start now!