In many students first year of college, they take some 100 level classes. Most of these classes can be pretty simple, full of mindless work that students just struggle to stay awake through and find extremely boring. This semester I took a 101 class that I learned more than I ever expected I would. In my Intro to Entrepreneurship class, which I had to take to as a part of my leadership minor, I learned three lessons that changed my life. All the lessons I learned in this class could be applied to entrepreneurship, but truly had a greater impact in my life.
The first lesson is: “Eat no for breakfast.” We like to live comfortable lives where we stay in our little bubble of security. As humans it’s normal for us to be content where we are in life and not try anything too risky. But once we are brave enough to step out of our comfort zone we will face new challenges and have new experiences. But as we face these challenges and experiences, we will fail and people will say we can’t do it. These nos can either make or break a person. By being able to accept nos and use them as motivation to do better, we are able to find success in whatever we challenge ourselves to do in life.
The next lesson is to create opportunities and connections. Some people get lucky and the perfect opportunity to succeed falls into their laps, but the majority of people have to work their butts off just to get the chance to have an opportunity to make it big. Being able to sense opportunities or even create your own is essential to succeed in life. Every single person you meet has the opportunity to be your next step to success. By making connections with people there is a higher chance for more opportunities and in turn a higher chance for success. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” really seems to sum up this concept well. Creating connections with others can lead to more opportunities in life that can have a lasting impact in both your career or your personal life.
The last lesson my professor told us is, “Go find your set of quotes”. Each of us finds our motivation through different ways. A life changing quote for one person can mean absolutely nothing to another based on past life experiences. Go out and find your own set of quotes to bring you up when you are down, show you perseverance when the going gets tough, or reinvigorate your passions when life just seems to become redundant. I will leave you with three quotes that me a lot to me personally:
