As I’m studying for finals and the hours drag on, the urge to shut the books and open the tab for Netflix becomes more and more tempting. Eventually, I decide that somewhere around the 100th Operations practice problem is a good place to stop, and I happily begin an episode of "How I Met Your Mother."
There are great life lessons you can pull from this show, and other not so great life lessons. In almost ten seasons, however, there’s one thing I’ve learned from this show that has always stuck with me, and it’s in the episode I happened to be watching.
In episode season nine episode sixteen, we follow around Ted’s wife, Tracy, for a change. She finds herself lost after the death of her boyfriend. Then, one St. Patrick's day, she gets advice from an old friend about how to steer her life in the right direction. He tells her “decide whatever it is you want to do with your life, and make every decision from here on out in service of that”.
While this was a very small scene in an otherwise very long series, it had a big impact on me. The idea behind this bit of advice is that we all have choices and we all have goals. There are people that reach their goals, and people that don’t. Following this advice makes the distinction between these two people easy to see. When you’ve decided to do something, whether it be end poverty, write a book, start a company, lose twenty pounds, start a family, or travel the world, you need to make sure that each choice you make brings you one step closer.
In a world that is so full of options and distractions, it’s easy for us to get caught up and put that dream on hold. It’s too easy to say “oh next time I’ll do that” or “well I’ll have another opportunity”. There will not always be another opportunity like the one in front of you. There’s no reason to let that go.
When you’ve made a goal, you owe it to yourself to move towards that goal every day. Don’t let the little things get in your way or move you off track. Plant yourself firmly in the path you know will let you achieve that goal and stay on it. Take any class that can help you achieve it, talk to the people that will help you learn, and most importantly always hold firm the belief that you can do whatever it is you want.
Getting through finals is tough, but it’s not impossible. If you remember this piece of advice and look at the classes you’re in as a step closer to whatever your dream is, finals don’t seem so bad. Don’t just skate by your exams, blow them away. Show whoever it is, your teacher, your parents, or yourself, that you will do well because you want to, and that you want to because it brings you one step closer to what you want to do.
