8 Great Ways to Stay Motivated in College ...

Of all of the ways to stay motivated in college, planning out your year is definitely one you should do. No matter if you are a junior taking the MCAT or a freshman beginning your core curriculum, everyone should plan, plan, and plan. You do not have to plan out each and every single minute of every single day. Just make sure that you are using your time wisely to get the most out of your college experience.

I do not care whether your university is a four-year, your college is a “junior,” or you are at a technical school, aim high. There is no rule book that says that you must stop at a certain point of success. You really can be more than you have ever imagined. Please do not limit yourself to the projected salary for your major or the career that is typically associated with you major. Aim high! And when you get there, aim higher!

We each have a list of things that need to get done before some certain day or month. Do a little bit each day, so that your mission does not become overwhelming. When you overwhelm yourself, you lose the drive and motivation that you need to complete you college career. What are you doing at this very moment? What can you be doing right now? Those are questions that you should ask yourself when you think that you are bored.

In the past what has motivated you? Are you comfortable with that? Ok. Now, try a different source of motivation that you are not comfortable with. Once you move past your “comfortable motivators,” you will be able to get motivated again and stayed motivated for a longer period of time.

Remember all of those silly rules that you had in high school about not leaving school for lunch or the process to write a paper? They are all out the window now. You are most definitely allowed to get unconventional and hop to success by any means necessary. Of course you have to follow the law, but what I’m saying is that you do not have to do what other people have done to become the person that you want to be.

A mentor can be anyone who is willing to help you get to your goal and then to help you see that you can go past it. Reach out to your counselors. Reach out to people already working in your field. Reach out to people who have retired from your field. The key here is to learn as much as you can from them.

Up until now, everything about this post has been about you and your success. Well, here is my challenge to you: make part of your college career about someone or something other than yourself. We each have a responsibility to the people, places and things around us. I suggest that you take the time to be charitable. I know we college folk don’t necessarily have the funds to donate hundreds of dollars to our favorite causes, but we do have our time and effort. I think that doing for others what they cannot do for themselves is a great way to stay motivated in college. Just think about it, now you are literally pushing yourself to do better because someone else’s happiness depends on your success.

Every bad grade, every internship lost, and every second place means something. It means that you went out there and put in work. Failure is not failure if you try again. Maybe this is God telling you to switch your major, or perhaps He is trying to let you know that things will work out. Just do not let your failure be your gateway to letting go of your dreams. You are already in the perfect place to move forward into a wonderful life.

I hope that college brings you the best of times. You can and will change the world if you stay motivated. How will you keep pushing forward?