Admit it. You are either reading this article because you are one of us, or because you seek to understand us.
First, let me clear something up for you: It is incorrect to call an overachiever a teacher’s pet. If you are a teacher’s pet, you more than likely do extra credit or ask lots of questions in order to receive positive attention from professors or higher-ups in your field of study. Overachieving is simply a high-functioning form of independence. We are not going above and beyond for anyone else but ourselves.
This is not to say we are all selfish. Many of our agendas overflow with philanthropic events and we donate our time to team organizations. It might surprise you to find we are quite versed in selflessness. I am always excited to help my sorority sisters “Light It Up Blue” every chance we can get to support Autism Speaks. And I always enjoy partaking in Relay for Life with my school’s cross country team and running as many laps as possible in support of those whose lives have been impacted by cancer.
But the secret to overachieving is not to buy a Lilly Pulitzer agenda and fill it with everything you believe looks good on a resume. Instead, it requires you to believe you can, and therefore you must! We achieve our potential with passion for what we do, and the mentality that we still have not reached our full potential so there is more work to be done.
Overachievers often juggle an interesting balance of self-confidence and insecurity. We know we are capable of reaching our dreams and making change in the world, but we are also intimidated by the possibility of failure. When, inevitably, we do fail the best way we can cope is to tell ourselves we did the best we could. Even if you don’t think of yourself as one of us this probably sounds familiar.
But what sets overachievers apart is that while anyone can rationalize to themselves that they did everything they could, it takes a special kind of confidence to be completely honest with yourself in whether or not you have done just that. Overachievers admit it to themselves when they know they could have worked harder; they are truly their own worst critics. This kind of dissatisfaction is the extra cylinder that overachievers run on.
Without passion for what you are doing you will not ask yourself innovative questions and seek solutions. Overachievers see many solutions and will strive to use them all in order to achieve their goals. Often this brings special headaches and may be the reason we can also be excellent procrastinators. It can be intimidating to pick one method when we know there is more than one way to do something, and we are not 100 percent certain which is the absolute best course of action.
Don’t ask me how many times I’ve weighed in my head “which is better.” Should I head to bed before 2 a.m. so I won’t be tired for cross country practice the next day, or stay up to read one more chapter so I’m better prepared for my anthropology class tomorrow? Should I take a year off and teach English in a foreign country, or would it be more efficient to start grad school right away? Should I take the extra shift at work or accept my friend’s invitation to go out this weekend? Should I take on a more elaborate position in my sorority because I think I would be good at it or am I going to need a break?
That’s the trick: mind over matter. We believe we can do it, so sometimes we defy what our bodies can handle. Labor is not always work to us -- a challenge is merely a fun activity. That doesn’t mean that the stress never catches up to us. Sometimes we do bite off more than we can chew; that happens when you push the limits. In overachieving you can overdo it, but you can also learn from the consequences and exercise your resilience.
I am an overachiever. Feel free to call me one, I’ll never take it as an insult. If your objective is to make the most of your day then there is no reason to feel ashamed.
