“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We all feel the pressure to graduate college, get a well-paying job, and support ourselves. Living the life we want is something we sometimes put off when it comes to doing what we feel we need to do. We put off travelling and rob ourselves of the opportunity to see the world. We put off experiences because sometimes work and responsibilities get in the way. Before we know it, we end up in a life that everyone else wanted for us instead of the one we wanted to build for ourselves.

Stop trying to please other people. Your life isn’t their life, and you shouldn’t worry about other people’s happiness before your own. So what if you don’t like the same things as someone else in your life? We are all different and having different interests and hobbies is what makes us all special.

Embrace what you love. Listen to the music you want to listen to, watch the shows you want to watch, hang out with the people who make you happy, and do whatever makes you happy. It may not be the same things that make everyone else happy, but why should that matter?

Realize that life isn’t a popularity contest. Real life isn’t like high school. You can’t judge your happiness based on what someone else has accomplished. Who cares if your best friend from high school is a CEO of a multi-million-dollar company and you’re working as a producer for a radio show? Life isn’t about who has the most friends, who has the biggest house, or who makes the most money. Do what makes you happy and not worrying about whether it will get the popular vote, otherwise you’ll just end up being miserable.

Don’t be afraid of change. Life is kind of like a roller coaster, the ride wouldn’t be much fun if nothing ever changed. Life is going to be full of ups and downs and feeling like your world is upside down. Sometimes it’ll seem as if everything is happening too fast for you to handle and other times it’ll feel like everything is slowing down and you aren’t ready for the speed of your life to change. Embrace the change. Embrace the roller coaster that we all call life and you might find so much more happiness than you were expecting.

Don’t be afraid of failure. Getting the life you want isn’t going to be an easy journey. It isn’t going to be smooth seas all the time. There are going to be bumps in the road and you will fall occasionally, but you have to learn to pick yourself up. If you’re too afraid to go after what you want, you’ll always be stuck in the same place. It doesn’t hurt to try and if one opportunity closes the door in your face, another one will open if you just have the patience. The important part isn’t never failing, it’s never giving up.

As college students, we’re facing a lot of pressure to fit in and do what all our peers are doing, but if we aren’t careful, we’ll end up living a life that focuses on stability rather than happiness. Being unique individuals with different dreams and goals is what makes us special. If we lose that, we just end up living the life everyone else wants us to live rather than the life we actually want.