Death Before Dishonor

You are a high school student, and for some reason you're not inspired to do your best work. In fact, the only reason you even work as hard as you do may be due to a fear of punishment from authority figures. You've noticed other students that seem to be focused, but you don't know how they do it. You have interests, but nothing that keeps your attention for long, or relates to a path where you will enjoy personal achievement one day. You may have talked with teachers, counselors, other students, and parents about your future, but nothing seems to click. What do you do? Where do you go to find your path? How do you find a path? Is there even a path for everyone? You may wonder, why can't you just pick something, and have it inspire you so that you enjoy learning? Why do some seem to have it so easy?

Over half the students I work with are sitting high school just "floating" along until something, anything, catches their attention. Many take the default path and pick college, or the military thinking this "experience" will solve their dilemma. This isn't because they are bad kids, stupid, can't do the work, or don't care. These high school students want to be inspired to do great things and have a successful life, but don't know how.

I, too, was a "floater." With grades and SAT scores in hand, I would sit and watch the students that knew what they wanted to do and pick those paths with confidence. I knew early that a job wasn't going to be the ultimate living strategy unless I was able to use all of my talents and do great things. I had great teachers and coaches in high school who constantly challenged me; the problem was that I knew they would be gone the moment I moved my tassel from right to left. What the hell was I going to do with my life? As a person who has sat through two college graduations asking, "What am I going to do now?" I can honestly tell you, it isn't a great feeling. Once I finally jumped from the "job" ship and really worked to forge my own path, I learned a real smack in the face lesson; I had wasted time. What did I waste time doing? I wasted time not developing the skills that would transfer to any path of success I chose.

Once I jumped the "job" ship, I had to learn a whole new set of personal characteristics and skills in order to achieve my dreams.

In Learning Curve: How to Prepare for Success When You Don't Know Where Your Life is Going, I share my story, and then a list of characteristics each student can develop before success happens, so that when they find their passion, these skills will be a part of their character, and the transition toward success will be easier, faster, and more rewarding. Over time, these characteristics will become stronger as they are practiced with intent to find the path that is right for you. Your "WHY" should be based on the life you desire.

By waiting until you know exactly what you want to do to develop these characteristics, you waste valuable resources, such as time and money, and may not be able to make up the ground when you finally are "inspired." This results in missing valuable experience and opportunities while adding unwanted confusion and frustration to life. By developing the right personal characteristics, you will have a greater chance of grabbing that opportunity that is important to the success you desire as it starts to reveal itself.
If your "WHY" in life is to be happy, achieve personal defined success, and wake up many days knowing you are making a difference in this world, then you should read this book. As you complete the chapter, work to answer the follow-up questions that are at the end of each characteristic. Don't worry if you can't answer them all at once, you are a work in progress.

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