I once invited a student for an internship job. While waiting at the reception, the student was watching a video on her phone with the volume load enough for everyone in the office to hear. When her phone rang, she picked up and was responding in a load tone. She gave the impression that, “well I’m just a student. You should accept me the way I am.”
But being a student doesn’t excuse one from behaving inappropriately. While this may be an extreme case and not a typical occurrence among students, there are certain subtle habits that if you don’t work on them today may rob you off opportunities tomorrow.
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Theodore Roosevelt once said, “If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”
So today, we bring you 10 negative habits every student should break before you leave school.
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Let’s get to it…
- Blaming Everyone else but Yourself
“There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.” says J.K. Rowling
Being caught up in the habit of blaming others except yourself only speaks lack of responsibility on your part. If you are in the habit of blaming your parents, lecturer, friends or school for your results in life, this habit will not help you in the long run. Rather start by accepting that you are where you are today because of all the decisions you have made in the past. And the decisions you make from today will determine where you will be in the next five years.
- Trying to be Perfect
In school, you are graded on a scale of perfection. The closer to perfection your school work is, the more favorable result you get awarded. In reality, perception wins over perfection. This is why many graduates with the best results end up less fulfilled than people who understand the act of selling themselves. Politicians don’t win elections by being the perfect candidate. They win by creating the right perception about themselves and their ideologies. Perfection is a quality we may strive for, but we can never reach. You will always fall behind your expectation. So learn to forgive yourself, learn from your mistakes and move on.
- Spending most of your time Consuming media
Today, one of the most valuable skills anyone can have is the ability to avoid distraction. There are too many things looking to get your attention today that if you are not careful, you will devote more of your life on distractions than on your life. Remember that TV or social media isn’t your life. If you want to get ahead in your career, you must minimize the “unproductive” time you spend consuming unproductive information or entertainment. You can use these same media to advance your career and better your life.
- Keeping the Wrong Friendship
“The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice; it is conformity.” Says Rollo May.
We all need to make, keep and cherish friends. Just remember that you are who you spend most of your time with. We all know these people who play devil’s advocate to every idea you have and every goal you want to pursue. We are already our greatest self-critic, so it doesn’t help when there’s someone beside you, ever ready to pounce on what you say and tear it down. Many great businesses today were built by friends who met in school. So if your friends don’t inspire you to get better, you have no business maintaining that friendship. Hang out less with these naysayers and spend more time with supportive people who share constructive feedback.
- Worrying about Competition
In school, you needed to compete with everyone to find you place academically. When you leave school, you’ll need to collaborate more than compete to get ahead. Start developing the habit to work with others while you are still in school. The real competition you will have to face is with yourself. Your goal should be to continue to get better than you were yesterday.
- Poor Reading Habit
“It is what you read when you don’t have to, that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” says Oscar Wilde.
In school, students typically develop the habit to read only to write exams. You may get away with that at the moment but not for too long. If you are hoping for school to end so that you can stop reading, you will be disappointed at how fast you become irrelevant after school. Who you become after school will be determined by the people you meet and what you read. You’ve got to cultivate the habit of reading outside school work.
- Dodging to Speak in Public
In a funeral, most people will prefer to be the one in the coffin than the one to deliver the eulogy. You can’t avoid this dreaded demon for so long. It will always rob you off of opportunities. Everyone at some time has to deal with this demon. Don’t wait for the embarrassing moment before you see the need to start honing your public speaking skill.
- Feeling Entitled
That it took you a total of 16 years in school to get a bachelors degree does not entitle you to a good life. If you really think about it; there are several thousands of people who went through the same process and have the same or even better qualification as you. How your life unfolds will be as a result of the extra effort you put into developing yourself, learning new skills, networking and adapting to change. No one is coming to rescue you. You’ll have to work things out yourself.
- Living above your Means
There are three basic money skills you need to create wealth; money-making skill, money-keeping skill and money- growing skill. You may be lucky to get a good job after school and start making money. But if you lack the skill to keep and invest money, you will always be just a pay check away from going broke. School is a good place to start cultivating personal finance habits. If you have the negative habit of living above your means while in school, you’ll have a hard time with your finances after school regardless of how much you earn. Start cultivating money-keeping and growing habits.
- Holding on for too Long
For some people, you will have to hold on to your career path. For others, you may need to change career path along the way. Majority of students chose their course of study ignorantly. You don’t have to hold on to a career path that you find is not right for you. At some point, you will need to allow yourself to let go and follow your interest. Many success people today did not succeed from what they studied in school.
You don’t decide your future; you decide your habit, your habit decides your future. Make the effort to work on these self limiting habits. What other negative habits do you plan on breaking? Let us know in the comment section. If you are yet to subscribe to our channel, this is likely a good time to subscribe. Until next time; YOUR SUCCESS MATTERS!
