I know they are just works but maybe that is why change is so hard, transforming seems like something I would be willing to do, while change seems like something I have to work on.

Thanks for the post,

Tabs

The hard part is making our minds up.

I’m off to read your article.

Stanley F. Bronstein
MrAchievement
Attorney, CPA, Author & Professional Motivational Speaker

This news story that I linked to at the bottom is really sort of ridiculous. These kids have wasted their youth, and it looks as if they’re intent on continuing to do so. Despite looking impeccable on paper, many of these “ambitious” kids can’t tell their ass from a hole the ground. I’m not sure attending an Ivy League will change that, and in all likelihood, it will probably exacerbate it.

The formula for success, if you want to call it such, that encourages this sort of behavior is obviously broken. It’d be interesting to revisit these kids in thirty years to see how many have become alcoholics, are divorced and have dysfunctional families, and wish they had not wasted their youth pursuing a path that would take lead them to unhappiness.

Now, it’s unfair to say attending an Ivy League is what leads to unhappiness; however, it’s a person’s behavior (i.e., what they must do in order to get there) that sets them up for a lifetime of unhappiness. Most of these kids have their daily schedules planned out ten years in advance. Unfortunately, they forget to include “being a kid” in their schedule. No time for dating, no time for prom, no time for friends, because none of that will fit in a schedule that was designed for the sole purpose of making the kid look better when compared to 10,000 other lost youths by an undergraduate admissions board.

The better route would be to take all of that ambition and determination and funnel it into ventures more productive. Date, go to prom, make plenty of friends, build relationships, experience your youth, and enjoy life as much as possible while it’s still relatively care-free. Of course, that means you will not be attending Harvard, much less graduating first in the class from there, but last time I checked, there was nothing wrong with graduating first in the class from a state school, or even a smaller private school. Even though it may not have the name recognition as “Harvard” or “Yale”, that doesn’t really matter. If a person is that ambitious and determined to succeed in life, then it should not matter where the person goes. As a matter of fact, it could be argued that even attending college derails the truly ambitious from being as successful as they otherwise could be, a la Bill Gates, etc.

Sadly, most kids foster the delusion that the only way to success and happiness is through the gates of the Ivy League. On the contrary, it can be very successfully argued that while such a path might lead to a better life, ultimately, there are better and more productive ventures a person can undertake that will lead to the successful and happy life that person seeks.

Read for yourself:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aMRZeRiiVKHk&refer=home

Me, too! Thanks so much for posting this wonderful blog. Just what I need to read!