As a 20-year-old junior in college, I am surrounded by people who all have different goals, ambitions, and values. I'm at that point in my life where my high school friends are either partying and being social butterflies, or they are settling down, getting married, and even having kids of their own. What works for one person might not work for the next. The trick is to make sure that whatever lifestyle you live, don't waste the time that you have in college.

We've all heard that college is supposed to be the best time of your life, but I know that many students out there might disagree, myself being one of them. Sure, if you consider eating the same 3 meals every day and barely paying the bills each month "glamorous," then yes, college is wonderful! However, many people spend all of their time hanging out with friends, eating food, going to concerts, etc.

For them, college is the dream life. Regardless of which category you might fall into, even if this is the worst time in your life, one thing stays the same: college may be the most important period of your career. Ever.

"It's not what you know, but who know." I never really grasped the importance of that quote until this year. My first year in college, I kept to myself and kind of did my own thing most of the time. I didn't go out of my way to make friends or go to parties or be all that social. I was mainly focused on my grades and schooling. On the contrary, some of my other friends couldn't have cared less about their academics. They spent almost all of their time at parties or at the beach of doing something fun. I think it's important to have fun, but I also think it's important to bust your butt for what you want.

And that's just it. It's about what you want for your life, not me or those around you.

By all means, if you are content making $30,000 a year doing something that you absolutely love, do it. For others, they might not be content until they are making 7 figures a year and have a 4 car garage. If you're happy, you're successful, but just because you're successful, doesn't mean you're happy. What I'm getting at is this: stop defining success by looking at the person next to you.

So many people look at hot-shot CEOs and top executives and think "Wow, they are so lucky!" Bullcrap. They aren't lucky at all; they worked their asses off to get where they are today. If you aren't ready for 80 hour weeks, that lifestyle isn't for you. Chances are, if you are the type of person that spends all of your free time watching TV and hanging out with friends, you aren't ever going to get to that point while you continue to spend your time in this manner. While you're at those parties in high school and college, the future CEO of Google is probably working 3 separate jobs.

Despite which life you choose to live, hopefully one thing is made clear to you in college: finding out what you're really, really good at. If you can go through school and barely scrape by in terms of paying bills, passing classes, etc., but you find out your major skills, you've done it. You have made college worth it and the most important time in your life. You may learn through parties that you're an excellent networker, or you may learn through 3 jobs and 18 credit semesters that you're phenomenal at organizing and delegating.

Here's the catch, though: simply finding out what you're good at isn't enough. After you figure out those areas in your life that you excel, you need to fine tune your skills to fit with the level of success that you have defined. If you're wanting to start your own business and be a successful entrepreneur, you need to have an understanding of your skills. Gary Vaynerchuk, one of my all-time favorite entrepreneurs, has this to say: "Realize that if you do not have a skill, you don't deserve to build a business. You can't just read about it; you can't just listen to podcasts about it; you can't just 'be about it.' You gotta have skills."

College allows young adults to either spend their time socializing and having fun, or it lets people who are focused on work and their career flourish. Two people might go through college living opposite lifestyles, but they both might love their experience. One might make dozens of friends, the other might start a new business fresh out of high school. Neither one is better than the other; it all depends on how YOU define success.

If you fall into the "social" category of a college student, make sure you become friends with absolutely everyone. Be the over-achiever and the extremely outgoing personality at all the parties. If you're more "achievement driven" like me, spend your time working as much as possible, whether that be school and/or a job. However, if you're going to pick work over parties, be sure to meet as many people as you can at your job and in the classroom. In the business world, networking is key.