It’s the homestretch of the semester and let’s face it, you’re feeling the slog: Midterms, exams, homework, readings, classes, more readings, clubs, office hours and an endless amount of busywork (the worst). I’ve been there. I got my bachelor’s degree five years ago -- and then missed the slog so much I went back for more (a master’s degree to be exact). In between, I’ve fallen into ruts: I’ve switched jobs several times, I entered an industry I never felt hot about, I’ve thought I got my big break in the industry I did feel hot about, I lost it, I went back to get a master’s in the industry I didn’t feel so hot about, I dropped out of grad school, I got a couple more jobs and then finally, finally found a grad program I was interested in -- the one I’ve always wanted all along.
But even now, the climb toward the peak of my mental Everest still isn’t complete. It’s not any less challenging either. It’s still a slog.
And yes, even though I’ve been in the “real world” for half a decade and now I’m back in school, every day getting out of bed can still feel like scaling Everest. Do I really want to blow off a night at the bars to spend six hours on a literature review? No. But I do it anyways because I know the end goal -- attaching a few letters to the end of my name, separated by a comma—is worth a thousand bar crawls.
Now, inherently, that involves a mountain of motivation. I could tell you that I "got grounded” or “found presence of mind” or “looked within myself” to find motivation, but plugging in a bunch of buzzwords won’t make this different from any other article. You want that stuff? Go literally anywhere on Facebook. You probably want real-world, applicable stuff because you can’t be bothered figuring out what “grounded” means when you’re up at 11:30 p.m. chugging an energy drink hoping you finish in time for your midnight deadline.
So here are four ways you can stop climbing Everest and start taking the escalator to the summit.
1. Get organized.
There’s no bigger lesson I learned as a grad student than “get your crap together.” Using tools to get organized makes your days a lot clearer and your tasks a lot more doable. Get a planner and some gel pens and color-coordinate your assignments according to class: blue for Mondays, red for Tuesdays, etc. Plan them out for the entire semester and write down little reminders for big assignments a couple of weeks before they’re due, like “TERM PAPER DUE IN TWO WEEKS.” Also try out planning apps like Google Calendar to get your assignments and your extracurriculars straight. The clearer your days are, the clearer your end goal will be. The clearer and more specific your end goal is, the more motivated you will be to achieve it.
2. In five years, I want to be…
There’s no more clichéd interview question than this one. Yet there’s a reason every interviewer asks it. It’s a telling answer, and an answer you should start considering. If your five-year plan doesn’t match up to what you’re doing right now, then find a plan that does. Here’s an exercise that totally helped me: Get a blank piece of paper and write the words “I want to be…” at the top. Then below it, write every possible answer you can think of. They can be cheesy like “happy” or specific like “be a writer.” The key to not stop writing for at least five minutes. If you get stuck, take the previous point and elaborate on it, using the same “I want to be” format. Stop only when you have a strong feeling: happiness, satisfaction or a need to cry. That’s when you’ve hit gold.
3. Find a routine.
What does every world leader and CEO have in common? They’re up early and do the same things each morning. President Obama starts his day in the White House gym working out while watching the news. Oprah squeezes in a meditation session every day. And Steve Jobs’s motivation game was on a whole 'nother level. These men and women know what they want to do from the moment they wake up. Having a set routine throughout the day forces you to finish tasks in an orderly manner, and having a routine motivates you to do your tasks.
4. Treat yo’ self.
When you’re fully motivated to do something, eventually you’ll see yourself hitting some breakthroughs on your journey—An A on a paper, some really good feedback on your final project or nailing a presentation. These are mini-victories. Celebrate how far you’ve come with a meal from your favorite restaurant or a night out with friends. Even the most skilled climbers had to take a break from scaling Everest. And chances are, they looked down and marveled at how far they came. So should you.
No one climbed Everest in a day, and it was never smooth climbing. There were jagged rocks, twists, turns and really bad weather. But they kept at it anyways, and for a few moments, were literally on top of the world. Here’s hoping you reach your summit.
We all have our own challenges to face. Fighting to reach beyond your limits is a concept The Red Bulletin knows all too well. The mountain climbers in this article push themselves to extremes to overcome their Everest.
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