Page 87 - Keys to College Success

Move toward mastery. Go back to the Weekly Summary chart and fill in the Ideal Time in
Hours column with the numbers of you think would make the most sense. Consider the differ-
ence between your actual hours and your ideal hours. What changes are you willing to make to
get closer to how you want to ideally spend your time? Write a short paragraph describing, in
detail, two time-management changes you plan to make this term so you focus your time more
effectively on your most important goals and values.

WRITE IT Communicate

RECORD YOUR THOUGHTS ON A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER, IN A JOURNAL, OR ELECTRONICALLY.

Emotional intelligence journal: How you feel about your time management. Think
and then write about how your most time-demanding activities make you feel. Paying attention
to your feelings is a key step toward making time management choices that are more in line
with your values. What makes you most fulfilled and satisfied? What makes you the most
frustrated and drained? What do these feelings tell you about your choices? Describe how
you could adjust your mindset or make different choices to feel better about how you spend
your time.

Real-life writing: Examine two areas of academic specialty. Use your course catalog
to identify two academic areas that look interesting to you. Write a short report comparing
and contrasting the majors or concentrations in these areas. Consider GPA requirements,
number of courses, relevance to career areas, campus locations of departments, “feel” of the
departments, other requirements, and discussions with students and instructors. Conclude
your report with observations about how this comparison and evaluation process has refined
your thinking.

2 WORK IT Build Your Brand
CHAPTER Explore Career Goals Through Personal Mission

A successful career should be grounded in personal mission in some way. Draft yours, using Covey’s
three aspects of personal mission to think through it:
■ Character. What aspects of character do you think are most valuable? When you consider the
people you admire most, which of their qualities stand out?
■ Contributions and achievements. What do you want to accomplish in your life? Where do you
want to make a difference? What are you willing to risk to make it happen?
■ Values. How do your values inform your life goals? How can you live according to what you
value most highly? Consider what you would prioritize if you had one year to live.
With a personal mission statement to provide vision and motivation, think about your work-
ing life. Spend 15 minutes thinking about everything you wish you could be, do, or have in your
career 10 years from now—skills, earnings, benefits, things or places you want to experience, any-
thing you can think of. Depict your wishes by listing them, drawing them, cutting out images from
magazines, or combining any of these ideas—whatever you like best.

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