“Where were you yesterday?”
“I was studying for an exam.”
“But you said you’d be there. You were supposed to run the event! Thankfully someone else was there to step up.”
Six nights a week. That’s how many commitments I had taken on as a sophomore. I was supposed to be somewhere six nights a week (all extracurricular). I was leading groups and participating in student organizations.
What happened!?
Back then I said “yes” to opportunities. Not just some of them. ALL of them. I didn’t want to miss out. I wanted to make sure I had something to put on my resume. I volunteered, signed up, and tried to do it all.
At the same time I changed majors. I took an extra heavy class load so that I could graduate “on time.”
Then it stopped working.
First I showed up unprepared for an activity. Next, I was late plus unprepared. I started to feel badly and so I put off homework to do a better job for my other commitments. My grades slipped. Ultimately I slacked so badly that I failed a class: a prerequisite for all of the courses I would take next semester.
I failed a class so that I could participate in activities to pad my resume… something was off the mark! Welcome to the five year plan. I decided to quit all of the activities and focus on school.
But it didn’t have to be that way.
What I didn’t know then was that there are specific reasons we take on responsibility. We have several aspects of our lives (and resumes) that we need to make progress in.
Looking back, I left most of my Life Accounts on empty while I took on as many leadership opportunities as possible. The result was that I didn’t grow in other areas. And honestly, I was so spread that I didn’t even grow much as a leader.
I mistook “activity” for “progress.”
For the month of March, the Intentional Academy is offering Midterm Rehab, a workshop designed to help you get control of your time, money, and career before this semester gets away from you.
We’ll teach you how to audit your commitments.
You’ll find what each adds to your life, identify and eliminate redundancy, and find things that will move the neglected areas forward.
If you’re tired of running from commitment to commitment without anything to show for it, then you should head over to www.intentionalacademy.com or email rehab@intentionalacademy.con to sign up for the workshop!
