Planning for the Future, What Do You Need?

Preparing for the future may be one of the hardest challenges one faces. It is the unknown that can cause the most anxiety or fear of failure. That fear and anxiety can be dilapidating. Prep work is probably the most important part of this. Preparing yourself mentally and physically for the struggles ahead is paramount.

If a person has never been taught how to do this it will be that much harder. One may question, at this point, how can one be taught HOW to prepare for the future? Who isn’t taught how to prepare? Isn’t this something that is inherent to human nature? The short answer is yes and no, in my opinion. Yes it is inherent and can be taught. No; not everybody is taught this.

A person who lives paycheck to paycheck, in my opinion, has NOT been taught this.

The anxiety that one may experience in thinking of the future is because they do not know how to plan for it. The future becomes an abyss of the unknown, of failure, or even, danger and death. It can stimulate fear and that fear can freeze a person and stop their forward progression.

Now, is this fear rational? YES, it most certainly is! Maybe not the fear of death, but the fear of failure is definitely rational. Most people, I imagine, experience some degree of anxiety when setting goals for the future. There is never a guarantee that one will achieve these goals. Even a person that plans and prepares the most can fail. This is why the future can be so scary.

I have heard a lot of graduating college students express these fears in different ways. Most of the students I have discussed this issue with have some degree of anxiety because of this. Some even sabotage their own graduation to stay in school just a few more years. They fail classes or change a minor, refuse to pay financial holds.

They worry about leaving school and securing employment, providing for themselves and their family, and the myriad of other things that American Culture has come to expect from them. They feel that without a promise of a job they will fail and have to move back in with their parents, or worse.

What can one do to mitigate this fear? One possibility is to talk about it with other students. As clichéd as it may sound talking about one’s problems with another person can help. Understanding another person’s perspective, and solutions, to a problem, may present ideas in solving the issue.

Talking about a personal problem, with another, may make one realize that a lot of people have the same issues. This can help lessen the fear and anxiety by making one feel that they are not an outcast or different.

The people that have expressed the least fear have been those that extensively plan. They have a detailed set of goals. Not a short list of hopes, but an actual list of achievable goals with descriptions of what it will take to achieve them.

This gets me to my final thought for the morning. Planning is great and having a well laid out plan with attainable goals is a must for success. Now, what is the second thing you need after a well thought out and analyzed plan? Probably more important than the plan is, D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E, and that will be the discussion of my column tomorrow.

 

 

What Happened to Respect in the U.S.?

This morning’s thoughts turn to respect. People are raised differently throughout the U.S. This is something that is clear from one individual to the next. One can argue that individuals influence those around them and in turn are influenced by others. Researchers have done many studies on this subject.

The way one speaks, and speaks to those around them, is one way that we influence others. Today I ask, what happened to speaking with respect to and about one another?

When I was young my father made sure that I spoke to him with respect. It wasn’t hard for the lessons to set in. Most, if not all, youth at the time were taught to “respect their elders.” This wasn’t long ago. I am a Millennial, albeit, just barely. I make the cut by 5 years. It did not matter who the adult was: a teacher, preacher or otherwise. I was taught to respect my elders and speak to any human being with respect, if only for the reason of them being human.

What has happened to this philosophy in the U.S.?

I have seen, on Social Media, a university professor whose comments were humorously and condescendingly contextualized toward a student, attending the school he works at, over a claim of oppression. He condemned her story and said that she was “ignorant” for her claim.

She is a Caucasian Conservative Republican claiming that she had recently began to be attacked for her political beliefs and the color of her skin. The professor is a Caucasian, assumingly, of a different political party. I am not condemning this professor’s actions or his claim that the student’s story is erroneous. I will, however, argue that his point could have been made with more respect for the woman.

Why is the norm becoming to reply with shouts when one disagrees with another?

Our leadership is one place that change could be initiated. President Trump is one individual that we see on the new-media shouting rhetoric contextualized with anger. Why not change the tone? I am reminded of an environmental slogan, “Think global, Act local.” The same applies to behavior; societal behavior change begins with the individual’s behavior.

The solution I propose is a simple one. I propose a call to action to all my readers and followers. I challenge you to wake up with a congenial disposition daily. One must challenge internally their will to not let the world change that disposition.

It is easy to blame others for your decisions and the consequences of those decisions. The world encourages in doing so. It is also challenging to accept failure and blame for most people.

One must face adversity with a smile and welcome the challenge. One must realize that the day-to-day makes you stronger, every day, even when the world tries to tear you down.

We as a society, as a nation, must stop shouting and challenging one another. We must sit down and realize that we are all human. We are all different and that those differences make us stronger. That to move forward, together, we must discuss hard issues with empathy toward one another and acceptance of each other’s faults, but with respect.

Featured Image Sourced from YouTube: Actor Jeff Daniels during opening scenes of HBO’s series, Newsroom.

 

 

 

The All-Nighter

 

The college all-nighter is a right of passage for most students. There will be one paper forgotten about only to be done just before deadline. A test that studying for had to be put off until the last minute for one reason or another.

Every student inevitably pulls the all-nighter. Staying up until the crack of dawn, banging away on the keyboarding trying to hammer out the last minute details to a paper long forgotten. Searching for last minute details to add for spice. It is this night that the student finds strength to graduate.

The student discovers that it can be done. There is light at the end of the tunnel and as long as they don’t procrastinate every assignment, one can come in last. One has to come in last. Which one is the question?

Some students pull more all-nighters than others, if they are habitual procrastinators. Some students may prefer the all-nighter. It is quieter or they think better when wired on coffee and energy drinks.

Some students will only attempt the feat once recognizing the futility of the all-nighter. Eventually the all-nighter turns into all-day. The student cannot sleep once the night is concluded. They still have class to attend.

Doing the work all-night is only half the battle. Surviving the day to submit the work means mission accomplished. Coffee and energy again rescue the tired pupil. They wane to display and keep their eyes open. Slogging from one class to another.

Every person on campus recognizes the all-nighter. They have red-eyes and dark bags under them. They bump into people when zombie walking the halls. They turn their work in and immediately leave class or sleep in the back.

These are the people trying to graduate. These are the students that have experienced college in all its wonders and pains. To live and celebrate life one must sacrifice and so many times the student chooses sleep to lose.