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Part 2: Leveling up: Peers


As a college instructor, one of my pet peeves (just behind “is this going to be on the test?”) is handing exams back and having students tease the “A” students. Not only is this junior high level activity at best, but it’s also a clear indicator that these students haven’t matured yet to see the huge opportunity they are missing. By alienating the best students, other students have basically shut the door to any chance of benefitting from the best students in class.

Once you mature to a certain point in your academic and personal life, you realize one universal truth that you probably really wish you had known sooner: you should always be trying to work with and socialize with people who are better, smarter, faster, more effective, and just plain awesomer (yeah, that’s a word) than you. That’s not to say you can’t hang out with average, regular folks, but you should strive to spend as much time with more amazing people as much as possible. Here’s why:

·         Academic. People in your classes who are smarter than you are almost always more than happy to be study partners, so you can basically have your own private tutor. Why not just go to the learning center or get your own tutor? Because allowing the smarter folks to help you actually helps them at the same time hone their own knowledge and zero in on details they may not know as well. You’re doing each other a favor – all backs get scratched!

·         Career. People who may be in your line of work but higher up the food chain (maybe they have a job you aspire to) have been there and done that. They’ve been exactly where you are right now and are almost always happy to share anecdotes and ideas about what they might have done differently, where they succeeded, and where they weren’t quite so successful. This is almost as good as your future self time-traveling back to tell current you how to improve and what to expect!

·         Personal. This is a tough one, but think really hard about your circle of friends. Are they motivated and chasing their dreams? Are they stuck in an infinite cycle of dead-end jobs and “I can go to school or get a real career later”? If you are striving to be a motivated and inspired human, you want to be spending your time with motivated and inspired humans to keep you moving in the right direction!

In general, you should always be seeking out people who are more advanced than you in whatever realm you are trying to improve. If there’s someone you’ve met or want to meet that you really admire, invite them for coffee or dinner. Try to suss out what qualities or characteristics they have that make them successful (are they good listeners, eloquent speakers, compassionate, well-read, etc.) and see if you can’t target those as areas for improvement in your own life. There are so many amazing, talented people in our world – make sure you’re reaching out to them to be inspired!

Next time, we’re going to talk about leveling up our free time – and yes, you should definitely have and create space for free time in your life no matter how busy you are! Until then, do your best work!

Kelley

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