eing a senior I remember life as a freshman and all of the things that came with being a first-year college student.
The two things that were appealing to me were the independence and ability to start over.
In college you are given the opportunity to start with a blank slate and reinvent yourself.
I didn’t take this for granted and began my reinvention of myself with gym visits, healthier eating and a sleep schedule that would guarantee success in the form of organization.
I would soon find out, however, that you can plan for as much as you want, but for the most part it won’t go as planned. I stopped going to the gym after two weeks in, I wasn’t eating as healthy as I wanted to (because, you know, ice cream bar and stuff) and that sleep schedule conflicted with things I wanted to do.
What I learned through this is not to rely on your plans always working, and instead planning on trying new things.
That way, if they fail you can settle with the notion that you tried your best and even though things didn’t turn out the way you wanted, you put yourself out there and tried your best.
Failure can be positive — you heard me right!
Failure can be positive because it gives you the opportunity to look back on how you executed your plans and where you went wrong in the process.
From here some people give up, depriving themselves of the opportunities that failure brings.
After I failed my attempt at going to the gym, I didn’t give up. Instead, I set more realistic goals for myself with rewards for achievement, and when I failed at something, instead of getting down, I took a break, reevaluated my situation and got back on the horse.
With eating healthier, I realized that it was going to be a big change for me. With all the temptations around I realized that if I made an effort to eat more vegetables and drink less sugary drinks, I would not only feel better health-wise, but I’d be motivated after accomplishing these goals. Of course there would also be a reward in the form of a trip to the ice cream bar. I know this sounds like I’m 8, but it works.
With my sleep schedule I realized that most of the time, I would not be able to get my desired eight hours of sleep that I wanted to get each night.
I made peace with this and realized that if I could aim for a solid six to seven hours a night I would be pleased and well-rested for the day.
Plus, if I don’t meet the hours of sleep I aim for it gives me an excuse to take naps during the day, and who doesn’t love to reward themselves after a long, busy day with a nice, long nap?
In addition to learning from failure and enjoying the victories in your new life, you can motivate yourself to accomplish more in your life through hard work and resilience.
Through learning how to enjoy the little things in life you can make the transition to college, the adult world or a move to a new town easier and more manageable for you to get acquainted with.
GABE FULGENZIO
