Everything in life must start from the beginning, just as a journey of one kilometer must also start from one step. The beginning of anything in life really has a huge role to play in determining the end point. It is also the same when it comes to admission success; there must be a starting point.
There was this American athlete at the 2008 Olympic competition in Beijing, China, who won ten gold medals in the men’s swimming category. When asked how he did it, he replied, “I’m just trying to blow the whistle.” That is to say, he always tries to start off well. This athlete is Michael Phelps. So you see, every winner must have a perfect start (starting point).
Many students started off well in their admission search and then got the admission of their dreams and ended up becoming champions in all their endeavors in life. These students are not brighter or smarter than the students who were not admitted, but because they got off to a good start, they now have a better advantage than the rest of the students who were not admitted. You have to know that life itself is not fair and if you don’t start off right today, you may never get ahead in your admission search and in life in general.
Sometimes when you ask these students who got off to a good start how they managed to gain admission or succeed in life, these students often reply, ‘we probably work harder.’ That’s all? Wow, sounds so simple. But do you know that this is not true? Everyone knows that if you are to gain admission to any college of your choice and succeed in life, you must work hard, but more is needed from you. So what is the truth? You see, these students who were admitted worked hard, but they did a few other things to guarantee them a place at that institution of their choice. Most of them do this unintentionally. They know things you don’t know. My friends, this is the secret to admission success. In the next few chapters we will examine these secrets in depth.
Starting well doesn’t automatically mean ending well. Sometimes certain factors can come into play to throw you off track. Starting well only gives the initiator a better advantage over those students who did not start well and early, but it does not necessarily mean that the initiator will finish sooner than those who did not start well and early. As I said before, life itself is not fair. It’s not how far but how well. The finish is what really matters in this race. You can start small and end big, but you can never stay small and end big.
Yesterday is nothing but a dream. Tomorrow is just a vision. But today well lived (starting well) makes each yesterday a dream of happiness, and each tomorrow a vision of hope. Starting well helps you create the future starting today; the present.
In order for a beginner to reach the finish line (admission success), they must possess what it takes to get there. In order for a student to gain admission and succeed in life, there are certain characteristics that she must possess. These characteristics are acquired through constant practice.
Take for example, in the case of a newborn baby; it will take that baby a few months before she starts trying to crawl. You see the baby fall every time she tries to crawl. Despite the fall and the pain that the child may feel, the baby continues to push until he masters crawling. When this is done, the child is seen crawling as if it is such an easy task to crawl. After a few months of crawling, the child may want to try another route, which is walking. This is so because the baby sees other individuals walking with their legs, so she tends to imitate them. However, it’s not going to be that easy for the boy, but she will always see the boy trying to move on. The baby is supported by the elderly, so that she can learn faster. After learning to walk, the baby may want to learn to run, etc.
With this illustration about the baby, we can then extract from it certain characteristics that the baby possesses that will help us determine if we are going to finish well (obtain admission success). They are:
Determination
Schedule
hard work, and
you need others
These are the obvious characteristics that the baby possessed to help him achieve his goals (reach the goal). We are going to discuss these four factors that will make you as a beginner to finish in your academic life and in general.
DETERMINATION: This is a simple characteristic that failures do not possess. They confuse it with stress, overwork or loss of time. These things that these failures mistake for determination later become the things that they will experience in the future. You always see them stressed, industrious and working overtime to achieve a little.
A determined beginner or student is one who always says; even if I don’t get admission this year, surely I will be admitted next year. A determined initiator never allows what people say about him/her to affect his/her dreams and purpose in life. In life, a determined beginner or student may fall down seven times, but he will surely get up again those seven times and even stronger. Every time they fall, they always pick something up with them.
“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dare to believe that something within them was superior to the circumstances” -Bruce Barton. In order for you, as a holder, to be a winner upon admission to the institution of your choice, you don’t have to look at your circumstances. And so that you don’t see your circumstances as a stumbling block to the success of your admission, you will need determination. Circumstances are the excuse for failure, so run away from their trap.
Determination is that inner strength that propels you through the challenges and storms of life. Most know that failure is just a lesson in how to achieve success. A determined beginner or student must be determined to learn to cope with failure. Success comes from a person who risks taking a step into the unknown with no guarantee of success. So dear, you have to be determined, if you are going to get the admission of your dreams.
PLANNING: Many students still find it very difficult to pick up a pen and paper to write down what they want and tend to achieve. Most plan their way from the starting point to the ending point. In order for you to be successful in your admissions search, you must plan a success strategy from start to finish. The simple truth is, if you fail to plan, then you have planned to fail.
“Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets planning” -Thomas Edison
Any student or initiator who fails to plan is like a ship without a compass. We all know what is likely to happen to a ship without a compass sailing on the open sea; will perish So this shows you the importance of planning before embarking on anything in life, especially your admission dreams.
There are three ways to plan. We have the short-term plan, the medium-term plan, and the long-term plan. As a beginner or student, you need to plan according to what you want to achieve in a given period of time. When you write your plans, you should know what you tend to achieve with them. The truth is that if your plans are being carried out as you have planned, they will surely give you the desired results. This is like a mathematical constant that can never change its orientation no matter the condition. If your plan is thus constant, there is no doubt that what you have planned will come true regardless of the present contingency or condition; a constant will always be a constant.
You also need to know that your past mistakes are dead and gone. If his first plan didn’t work out as he planned, he must plan it again, but this time with greater efficiency and precision. You just have to re-plan as this is what separates the winners from the losers. Listen to what Edmund Burke said “you cannot plan the future by the past, because they belong to the past”.
HARD WORK: This simply means putting a lot of effort into a plan and doing it well. If you don’t work hard, you will never reach the goal; It’s that easy. For admission success, you’ll need hard work channeled in the right direction.
There are two types of hard work; the one you do when you have a purpose (plan) and the one you do when you have no purpose (plan). The hard work one engages in determines what one hopes to achieve in the future. Failures work hard for no meaningful reason. This is so, since they do not have a plan or even if they do, their plans are not effective. Whereas in the case of a hardworking or beginning student, your hard work always pays off.
The greatest and most historic achievement in life like admission success is obtained through hard work directed towards a particular purpose (plan). Listen to Martin Luther King “If you can’t fly, run! If you can’t run, walk! If you can’t walk, crawl! By all means, keep moving.” Keep moving until you are satisfied with the result of your hard work.
YOU NEED OTHERS: You must have come across the word ‘nobody is an island’. Yes, for you to go far in life and gain admission of your dreams then you will need others. You will need others, such as your friends and family, to encourage you to try harder. You will also need these people to advise and advise you on your plans, but you must be very careful.
Like the baby in our illustration, he needed support to stand up and learn to walk. My dear, you will also need the support of friends and family.
You need to be very careful about the type of people you introduce or attract into your life, as they have a significant role to play in determining how far you will go in life and in your search for admission. Okay, let me explain that to you. As you prepare and plan for admission, you should not be around people who do not understand what you are dealing with. These people can make you lose focus. You must be ready at this point to make some drastic decisions and sacrifices. These decisions and sacrifices may not be favorable for them, but you must do it to be successful. Remember, it is your life that we are talking about here. They also have their own life to live.
Similarly, you will need others to help you develop. People come into our life with a particular purpose. Identify this purpose and use it. You have to use it if it adds any meaning to your life and admission search.
Don’t be rude in your approach to some of these people you don’t need in your life during this period, all you have to do is stay away from them but don’t give them the impression that you are running away from them. ; use psychology.
Dear beginner, if you take these characteristics very seriously, I promise you that you are already knocking on the door of both admission success and successful life in general. Life is full of ideas, opportunities and fulfillment, where only those who know how to dig it out get the best of it. You have never underestimated your worth. No one was born a failure. You are a failure if you only see yourself as such. Strive for the best and you will see yourself reaching the finish line, that is, granting the admission you have dreamed of.