Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life

Question: Discuss about victim/creator mindsets/responsibility and choice/mastering creator language/making wise choices. Answer: Success is not a one-way lane and neither there is a single path leading to it. This essay focuses on analyzing personal success comes from adopting a success mindset to find opportunities at every step, self-motivation by the way of keeping a positive view of life and practicing healthy lifestyle choices; Interdependence with the person being in control of his life while creating a support system around himself to promote positive growth. Author Skip Downing explains how students starting their academic journey for the first time can embrace success through these three concepts using real life exercises. Through analyzing Victim/Creator mindset it has been understood that, when a person believes that he is the creator of his life experience from the choices he makes and finds himself responsible for the outcomes of his actions, then he finds a great deal of his life value. He is called a Creator. Students often blame others in case they have a negative experience with something, and the same thing happens if the outcome is positive. In both cases, they credit or blame external factors, or blame themselves, which leads to no change in their behavior and personality and refuse to change. They wait for external factors to change for them to step instead of taking responsibility for their choices. It leads to the creation of passivity and sourness of being a Victim instead of being the Creator. When it comes to responsibility and choice, victims believe that everything lies on fate and their behaviours, feelings and results are no part of themselves. They blame all their problems on othe rs or outside factors and believes that bad luck always has an upper hand. It is the reason they do not achieve their goals, but sometimes they do which is purely in luck. Creators turn their words into actions; pursue their goals and dreams, and believe in themselves. Their self-responsible behaviour coupled with the attitude increase their chances of being successful though it is not guaranteed. By the definition of Mastering Creator Language, a person can be a Victim or a Creator depending on the choice of his words which reflects his mentality. A Victim speaks in a negative tone, blames others and his words set the tone for self-destructive behavior. A Creator, on the other hand, accepts the ownership and responsibility of his words and turns it into actions, believe in the creation of his outcome, and he usually speaks in a positive manner. When it comes to making wise choices, a person makes informed decisions when he is presented with a problem without being advised. The pers on comes up with his alternatives and solutions which he may not have thought before, but the gravity of the situation compelled him to think. Students can read the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost where he described of choosing an unconventional and offbeat life path by listening to his own. The student can introspect by thinking of the way he would choose and what the other path could have led him to if he had taken it. Explaining self motivation means having a purpose in life only makes it more meaningful and exciting. Many students lack this and are one of the main reasons they drift away from their studies and lose focus on studies. Giving them the opportunity to make a choice increases their persistence in staying the course. When it comes to inner motivation, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Students focusing on subjects of interest boost their motivation while subjects of lower motivation tend to get ignored. One simple way to solve this is to write out both and share with another partner. Advising on lower motives of the other helps boost confidence and hence increases motivation. In commitment to roles and dreams, students have their life roles and being aware that college can help them in realising their dreams only assist them in being aware of their outcomes and create experiences, and it let them have the motivation to pursue them. Visualising dreams in pen and paper and expl aining it to others creates an urge in committing them rather than focusing on factors that limit skills. By having a solid and compelling life plan and strictly working on it so that one can lead a fulfilling life and have no regrets for actions he did not perform. It also helps in evaluating the quality of current life. For a student creating a supportive study group can prove to be of immense value. Through this group, they acquire new skills and life lessons that can be incorporated in to be more successful in college and life. For being a part of a support group one has to follow fours steps choosing a suitable team, accepting their goals as own, being present in group meetings at specified date, time and place; and, creating and following the team rules. About strengthening relationships and active Listening, the latter is a necessary skill to have to clearly understand what the other person has to say and giving an appropriate response to it without having any preconceptions beforehand. This ability creates the difference between listening and hearing. Active listening makes the other person feel understood, accepted, reflect the thoughts and feelings of the person being listened to. These, in turn, creates and strengthens the relationship. According to Hughes, students need to learn and acce pt cultural differences which can start from school and can extend onto the workplace. Often teachers have to create curriculums keeping the students families in mind because students often learn sensitive topics better when they learn it from their parents (Staff). Bridging the cultural gap can be done by creating a positive environment for communication where non-verbal message closely matches with the verbal message and introducing cultural fair in schools to highlight diversity (Staff). The author aptly titled the books name On Course which describes the pathways one can take to transform and change his personality to find both inner and outer success in a student's journey. Success can be found in every sphere of life, and the traits one must have to achieve it are hard work, dedication, patience and most importantly taking responsibility for the choices. Interdependency, Creator mindset and Self Motivation are the three most important keys to follow and are mentioned in detail along with, necessary skills to acquire and survive. References Hughes, Sherick. "The Family Involvement Network Of Educators".Harvard Family Research Project. N.p., 2016. Web. 7 July 2016. Staff, GreatSchools. "How Cultural Differences May Affect Student Performance | Greatkids".GreatKids. N.p., 2016. Web. 7 July 2016. Staff, GreatSchools. "How Important Is Cultural Diversity At Your School? | Greatkids".GreatKids. N.p., 2016. Web. 7 July 2016.