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Pathway To Success

Decent Essays

Why do so many people drop out of college? There is no single answer, however in my opinion not having the right tools and mindset to stay “On Course” can be a big cause of people dropping out of college .There are many things one needs to do to stay “On Course”. In this essay, I will write about some of the most important things one needs to do in order to stay “On Course”. I recently finished reading Pathway to Success by Skip Downing. In this book Mr. Downing provides tools to college students to help them stay “On Course” and succeed in college and in life. Some of the most important advice Mr. Downing provides is that in order to succeed in college and in life one must have a Creator mindset, accept personal responsibility, master …show more content…

To master self-management one must act on purpose, develop self self-discipline and employ self-management tools. It is highly recommended that one uses Stephen Covey’s Quadrant ⅡTime Management System. This system splits all task into four categories. A task is either important and urgent ( Quadrant Ⅰ), important and not urgent ( Quadrant Ⅱ), urgent and not important (Quadrant Ⅲ), or neither important nor urgent (Quadrant Ⅳ). Spending as much time doing Quadrant Ⅱactivities is vital for success. I have found this system to be very helpful in my life. One can also keep track of their activities with a monthly calendar, a list of the next important actions one needs to take , a project folder containing everything necessary for a particular project among other time management tools. Without proper time management one will most probably fall behind on their work.One must also develop self discipline. In order to develop self-discipline one needs to do whatever has to get done, whether or not they feel like it in order to reach one's goals.Self discipline means one is persistent and focused until one accomplishes their commitments. I believe mastering self management and discipline to be extremely important for one to stay “On …show more content…

Even if one is using all the tools provided by Mr. Downing to stay “On Course”, there can still be unconscious forces that pull one off course. These forces are scripts that we live by. Our scripts include our thought patterns , emotional patterns and behavioral patterns. These scripts also include our core beliefs about ourselves, other people and the world around us. We do not know for sure where these scripts come from but it is likely that they come our childhood. During childhood we make observations about how others respond to us, what significant adults in our life say to us and by observing the behavior of significant adults in our lives. One must recognize self-defeating behavior patterns that are the results of these outdated scripts. Once must rewrite their scripts and get rid of their self-defeating habit patterns that pull them off course. My cousin Sam told me, when he was a freshman, he read Pathway to Success. He told me that through recognizing outdated scripts and rewriting them he saw a big improvement in his productivity and happiness. This is an example of why it is important to reasses oneself and make sure there are no outdated scripts that are pulling them off

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