“Follow your dreams.”

“Believe in yourself.”

“You can do anything you set your mind to.”

Ugh. 

Have you heard these before? “Success platitudes:” pretty sounding statements that should be inspiring, but aren’t actually helpful in any meaningful way.

The problem with these phrases is that they feel like they should motivate you, rather than annoy you, but mostly they just invite criticism. They’re comforting (sometimes), but they’re mostly empty fluff.

What to do?

Write a better quote.

Learn how to take common platitudes like “everything will work out in the end“ and rewrite them into phrases that:

• you believe

• are inspiring

• motivate you to take action 

Take control of your time this term:

  August 19th - Use mantras you actually believe

Go back to the August is for Education homepage.

 Are you constantly thinking about that gap between what you did and what you wanted to do? 

• You missed ten points on a test

• You finished two places behind first

• You missed your mile time by 30 seconds

These are examples of how we focus on the gap, the valley between where we actually were (90%, 3rd place, 7 minutes) and where we wanted to be (100%, 1st place, 6:30).

This is totally normal! In fact, we’re specifically trained to focus on, analyze, and close the gap.

Despite being normal, it’s really freaking depressing.

• Can’t we just celebrate for a minute that you answered ninety questions correctly?

• Can’t we just admire that you placed in the top three?

• Can’t we just say it’s incredible that you ran a 7 minute mile?

It’s easy to get discouraged when you compare where you are to where you want to be. But focusing only on the gap can steal your motivation. Instead, take a moment to notice what you have accomplished.

By celebrating your wins - big or small - you build confidence and momentum. After a break, you can still notice where you need help, but from a place of strength and curiosity instead of frustration and sadness.

  August 18th - Focus on your gains

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Oops. You forgot that outline was due, and now you only have 20 minutes to complete it. Can you get it done?

What if you only had 20 minutes to begin with. Could you have done it then?

Most of us schedule more time for tasks than we actually need. You thought you needed 90 minutes for that outline. The result? You’re confused about what to write, you overthink the topic, and you try to make every detail perfect. Suddenly, a simple outline, or model or essay or whatever, takes WAY longer than it should for no good reason.

Here’s a different approach: Decide in advance how long you will spend on a task, and then that’s it.

Think you need 90 minutes? Nope, you only get 45. Think you can do it?

Of course, don’t turn in sloppy work. But when you race the clock to get work done, instead of spending your time overthinking it and tweaking the font sizes, you spend your time on output, not puttering.

Give it a try. You might be surprised how much you can do! 

  August 17th - Decide how long things take

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Do you schedule time for projects and it never seems to be long enough?

Are you trying so hard to get on task with your time management but as soon as something takes longer than you expect, or an event runs late, the day just gets thrown farther and farther off?

Human beings are, on average, terrible at estimating how long things take. We often misjudge how long common tasks will take, even if we’ve done them many times. This can easily throw of your entire schedule, despite your best efforts.

Lucky for you, there’s an easy solution.

Before you start a chore, assignment, commute, or study session, start a stopwatch or write down the time. When you’re done, mark the time again and record how long it took. Keep track of this for future reference.

It won’t always take the same amount of time for a project. Even a simple chore can vary in the time it takes. But after a while, you’ll get a better idea of how much time to schedule and you’ll run long less often.  

Take control of your time this term:

  August 16th - Time how long things take

Go back to the August is for Education homepage.