ACHIEVING GREATNESS

5 Steps To Excellence As a Student

In an increasingly competitive world still surrounded by so much mediocrity, how does a student position for outstanding achievements?

Everyone loves success. No one loves failure. In whatever field people find themselves, the desire for excellence is always there, irrespective of the effort applied. Every team wants to win the prize, every student wants to come out with the best possible result. People who desire to marry want the best spouse and the best children. The list goes on and on. The reality though, only a little percentage of people achieve this excellence everyone dreams of.

 Reading this should help you, that’s assuming you’re a student who is either pursuing a degree or a certificate (diploma, professional, skill-based etc.), be better prepared to navigate the waters of readiness and competence and ultimately achieve excellence.

So, let’s look at the 5 important steps that will position you for the desired excellence:

1. Know Yourself

The most important part of your success plan is YOU, not the plan, not the strategy. You, my friend, are the one it’s all about. It makes sense therefore, that you are the first thing you study. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What do you excel at? What are your challenges? What’s your passion? If you’re preparing for an exam, are you competent in all areas or are you skilled in certain aspects and weak in others?

There is actually no better general best practice to excellence than knowing this, for it affects every other thing. We’d share a few practical stories in another post, so you’ll have an idea of how understanding their personalities helped different people achieve success.

2. Know The Task Before You

What are you trying to achieve? Is it a degree, a promotional exam, or a certificate etc.? In what field do you seek this achievement and what does it entail? It could be a professional career, like accounting, engineering, law, medicine etc. it could be a diploma course for a desired skill, or it could be an attempt at switching your career.

Get to know the scope, the duration, and the end product of your pursuit. A thorough knowledge of the task and yourself would be vital to the next point.

3. Set Your Target

Now that you know yourself and your task, the next thing to consider is how successful you want to be? What is your target based on your perceived ability? Are you seeking to be the individual best performer? Do you want to achieve the highest possible grade?

Having a target gives you something to aim for. It serves as a guide and helps keep you on your toes. Be careful though, that you don't go about setting targets that exceed your personal ability, as that would just be you setting yourself up for disappointment in the future. 

An 80% score is regarded as a very good result generally, but if you can hit 90%, 95%, or even 100%, then go for it!

4. Mentorship and Networking

It is said that he who sits on the shoulders of a giant would be able to see far. Mentorship has proven to be an excellent source of motivation and guidance in the pursuit of excellence. Look around, do some research, and identify people around you who are ahead of you in this endeavour or field.

They could be practicing professionals, senior colleagues, or even tutors. The wealth of experience such mentors possess would serve as a great asset in your arsenal as you prepare for your task.

An equally important point is networking, or forming a team. This means forming or joining a group of your equals with similar interest. The motives for being part of such a group should be clearly stated and you ensure they are in your best interest and take you closer to achieving your goal.

5. Develop and Implement a Success Plan

Having attended to the first four points, it’s time for this, the main action stage. Closely guided by your findings, you develop a plan. How much time do you want to give to your studying that would serve your goal? How many days a week would be enough? Would your plan be time bound, for example, 10 hours weekly? Or would it be topic bound, say 2 topics every day? Are you reading with a team or do you fly solo? Do you read better in the day or at night?

When you get this plan developed, execute it with speed. Start well, stay faithful. Pace yourself properly. Avoid burnout, if necessary, work with progressive overload.

 Wow, you read to the end. Congratulations, you’ve read enough to succeed, but I’ll add one last thing that could undo all the hard work and well set plan. It’s the chief reason a lot of people end up failing despite their best intentions.

AVOID DISTRACTIONS

What’s a distraction? It’s anything that takes your eyes off the prize. It’s that silly thing that encroaches into your plan and sets you back. Whether it’s a leisure activity or some other business, one distraction is powerful enough to undo all you plan to achieve and you end up feeling silly and defeated. So, at all cost, AVOID DISTRACTIONS. Knowing yourself, you know what applies best to you.

There you have it, success on a platter. Use this, teach this, and excellence would be your friend. Soon, we'll come your way with practical stories from success examples. 

Stay smart!