Diversions and the GPS: Deciding What is Relevant

The best thing about college is the opportunity to try new things.  This plethora of opportunities serves as a double-edged sword that gives you new insights about yourself and also distracts you from your goals.  Some of you may ask: “how could having so many opportunities be a bad thing?” I’ll use an analogy to explain.  Imagine going to college is like walking into a chocolate store.  You see a large amount of goodies and want to try them all.  Sampling everything in the store most likely will lead to a stomach ache leaving you less happy than when you first walked in.  On the other hand, taking advantage of only some of the offerings will prove most favorable.  College is similar in the respect that if you try everything while there you’ll start to feel burnt out from over-commitment and if you try a few things you will leave more enriched than when you first walked in.  Trust me on this; I had to learn this lesson the hard way.

So the real question is which opportunities are benefits and which ones are merely diversions.   One method of deciding is looking at your end goal for guidance, e.g. choosing activities or position in organizations that are most aligned with your career path. For example if you want to be an accountant becoming the treasurer of your student organization is logical.  If you have not decided on a particular career path, choosing activities that will enhance transferable skills such as interpersonal communication and business acumen is a good idea.  You could also start by assessing your weaknesses and selecting opportunities that would improve them.  I find choosing an equal amount of activities that enhance my strengths and minimize my weaknesses works well.

If you make choices that do not align with your future goals just remember the following advice from my mentor Marybe and her friends: 

Life is like a GPS system. You know where you want to go but sometimes you've got to stop recalculate the directions.

 

 

Have tips or comments on how to decide what opportunities are relevant? Leave a comment below.