Keeping your priorities straight in college is not an easy thing to do. College is the first time in our young lives when we have complete and utter freedom. It’s very tempting to mix up what matters and what doesn’t matter when you are living away from home. A big mistake that a lot of college students make (well, one of the many mistakes we make) is that we try to impress the wrong people. It’s time to consider whose opinion really matters.
So many of us spend vast amounts of time, especially early on in college, trying to make friends. How do we make friends? By impressing others. This is no one's fault, it’s just human nature. I’m not really into the whole act of impressing people intentionally. There’s just simply no worth behind it. With my friends (I don’t have too many), I don’t need to impress them, I just simply be myself. I guess it’s worked, as I’ve known most of them for many years.
It would be a glorious lie if I told you that I’ve never tried to impress someone. When we were younger, I think we all did that. Now, the only person I am trying to impress is my boss. The only way you can impress your boss is by your performance. You impress them if you do your job well and that’s what I strive to do every day. It’s important to do it not just for brownie points, but also to build credibility for potential future promotions. More responsibility means more opportunity and money. The only way to way to be given more responsibility is to build trust and credibility based on prior performance.
I’d consider myself a focused and driven individual. Some spend so much time trying to meet make friends and impress others; I just simply don’t have time for it. Not everyone does this, but it’s pretty obvious to notice those that always try to please their friends and peers.
Trying to impress others doesn’t just look desperate, but it also can make you give way to peer pressure. As I’ve talked about previously, peer pressure leads you to no promise, only risk. Having and making friends is a wonderful thing; just make sure that those relationships are being formed for the right reason.