If you feel stuck and overwhelmed with deciding on what you want to do, I’m here to tell you: begin with something.
4 steps to build your post-secondary plan the right way
Although this video is non-college oriented, having a backup plan in case you realize academics isn’t worthwhile for you is beneficial. Also, side income doesn’t hurt.
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Courtesy to my College Counselor and Work Based Learning Coordinator at my school for encouraging me to make this video and providing me with feedback.
Adolescence = High School which also = time, a unique time we won’t get back. I don’t want to see my fellow peers unhappy and stuck. I don’t want to hear about the next generation feeling stuck.
Please take advantage of your high school career by:
Removing limiting beliefs. Many of us grew up (and are growing up) thinking that certain things aren’t possible for us. Whether family put ideas in our head, or certain ideas are not promoted in the areas we live in, we might assume that certain things simply aren’t meant for us.
Expanding your range of possibilities. Now take it a step further. You’re upbringing might have affected the way you view success, but now that you see what else is possible, open your mind and be open to using this time to gain skills that will help you in the real world.
Knowing how to research (and doing it). This is the #1. So many people miss out on great opportunities, early opportunities, cheaper opportunities, and paid opportunities, simply because they “didn’t know.” Why? Because they don’t look things up.
You also don’t want to be that 12th grader that is sure about their future plan but can’t answer basic questions about the profession. Researching is super important. Not only does it help you realize if you actually want to do something, but it can potentially give you a head start towards that career.
Analyzing the aspects you want in a career. When you start to look into planning your post-secondary life, you’ll need to think about the aspects that are driving your decisions.
Passion: You may love to draw. You may love to take pictures; but will that make you enough of a profit to live off of? Is it going to fit your lifestyle? Will it give you financial freedom, and most importantly time freedom? These are factors to consider when choosing your career path.
If you have interests, you’ve probably thought about involving them in your future in some way. That’s amazing but rethink it to see if it will fit your goals. Sometimes having a passion for something, no matter how strong it is, won’t be enough to hold you down. Keeping that present, especially towards the last years of high school, will remind you to always be on the lookout for opportunities.
Self-discipline: Many successful people agree that self-discipline is the key to success. Think about yourself. Do you have a strong work ethic? Doing something that you know has to be done can be easier when you’re getting something out of it, like getting paid. Other times self-discipline alone cannot guarantee success.
If you’re someone who is automatically thinking “college” and your work ethic in high school is poor, start looking for a plan b ole buddy. It’s necessary to be able to say to yourself, “I’m doing this now and will be able to do this for the years to come” rather than, “I’m not doing this now but when I have to do it later, then I’ll do it.” Remember a poor academic performance can lead to missed opportunities.
Motivation: That energy that gives us drive is motivation. It improves productivity, positivity, and enhances performance. The trick is to find what your career path is going to need the most. It may not be passion, self-discipline, or motivation but the point is that you need to know what you’re setting yourself up for.
Not waiting to look for exposure. One of my classmates once told me, “If you don’t support yourself no one else will.” If there’s any skill that you have, any talent that you have, any interest that you have, (and let it be appropriate) bring it up in conversations with people. Show your skill off asap, especially around people that can help you take things to the next level: staff members, counselors, college prep advisors etc.
Taking advice from the right people. You always know who you’re talking to. If you know that expressing your dreams to said people it’s going to receive unsupportive comments, spare yourself share your happiness with the right crowd.
Okay maybe these 6 things weren’t so small, they have to do with opening your mind and doing what you can to prepare yourself to be an awesome adult in the real world. Even if you don’t care about it right now, remember that anything can happen.
There’s necessary support anyone who’s born into a family should receive, like love, acceptance, and sacrifices. Then there’s (what what will be debated here) ‘unnecessary support,’ like accompanying each other to basketball games and events.
A question comes up every time my family and I bump heads is How much do they really have to do for me? As the black sheep of the family, I often go back and forth between 2 options.
Side A: When your interests and styles are incompatible with there’s, they don’t need to care. If you already know that your mom and dad are not into ice skating, do you want to bring them with you? If you’re someone who likes things to be fast and spontaneous, but your sister likes to sit and take her time, is that someone you want to spend your vacation with? Even if you really want to share an experience with someone, if they’re not the right fit, you wouldn’t even want to spend it with them.
Side B: Even when your interests and styles aren’t compatible with there’s, they should still make the effort to make yours important to them. An important aspect of a family dynamic is making sacrifices and sometimes you might feel like you need someone who’s close to you to be there; not a friend, but family.
For example, Kelly’s been wanting to watch a new comedy movie that has recently come out. Her sister, who isn’t a fan of comedy movies, still joins her to make her feel loved and acknowledged.
Not everyone is lucky to feel seen by the people in their household. If that’s you, listen to this.
On an episode of The Neighborhood, (S2 E7) Tina wanted to renew her vows with Calvin, while he didn’t see the need to. Later on while Dave was talking to Calvin he said, “Well sometimes the things that are unnecessary are the things that matter the most.”
That’s true. When you love something so much and it fulfills you, it becomes important, thus making it feel necessary.
In that case, how much support should family give too each other?
What do you think?
What do you use? Spotify, SoundCloud, I Tunes, YouTube Music, Apple Music? If it isn’t one of those four, come on now.
Okay, but seriously. I don’t understand music love… and I soon might need a ‘music’ synonym.
Here are the 5 things I do not feel nor understand when it comes to music, but that others do.
1. They can listen to music at any time. How can a person always be in the mood!? Every time you pass by them: ° ♬ · ♪. In public, I constantly hear beats in people’s earphones and I wonder how they do it. I just can’t enjoy playing music in public places while people are walking everywhere and with different things happening all around me.
2. They get their tunes on WHILE WORKING. Since when can the brain read, write an essay, or do research while listening to music? Does music help you study? Who knows how they do it, but I surely can’t. When I zone in on something, music just sounds like noise and I can’t concentrate.
3. It “helps them when they’re sad.” Under YouTube music videos, there are often comments about how much a song has helped the individual through a hard time AND IT WOULD BE THE SADDEST SONG, with the saddest, slowest beat. How is a sad song helping someone during sad time!?
4. Why earphones and not a speaker? Specifically in their homes. People don’t seem to get uncomfortable with loud audio going directly into their ear canal. No, it won’t kill them, but a speaker fills the room and can intensify the ambience. Isn’t the gap between the sound and the ears nicer?
5. Different genres in the same playlist. Because I order mine by genre, and don’t put all my favorite songs in one place, I can’t imagine myself finishing a UB40 song then the next song being one from Ozuna. It’s either all reggae or all Latin trap for me. Also, some people don’t even have playlists; they choose each song manually. Does it not get tiring?
So, there you have it. Who’s or what did you think about as you read this?
There are times when people give us advice and it just sounds like words, but there are times when people give us advice and we truly feel what they’re saying. What separates good advice from… not so good advice?
First off,
if you don’t understand the person’s situation, have been through something similar, or know of someone who went through the same thing, you’re just there to listen and there’s nothing wrong with that.
But if you do, let’s move on:
And lastlyyyyyy,
don’t invalidate their feelings. If their behavior is depending on the way they think others are perceiving them, and they’re mistaken, then they’re overreacting; tell them like it is.
But if their behavior is not depending on other people’s perceptions, then it’s something more serious; don’t just tell them to “stop worrying,” for example.
At one point in time, we’re going to have to show someone were care about some support.
Haha, I just noticed I’m giving YOU advice in how to give OTHERS advice. See how this all comes together? (◔‿◔)
Do you know about any other things that produce golden advice? I encourage you to leave a reply if you do.
You’re on your way to McDonald’s to buy some breakfast before school. You know you have to walk 15 minutes to get to school afterwards, so you want to be quick.
As you enter McDonald’s, you here a woman behind you snickering, “Kids these days don’t have any manners,” “Can’t hold the door for nobody.”
I was rushing, I don’t have the obligation to do anything for a stranger, she can do it herself, and I didn’t even see her behind me.
Well, when you hear people speaking about you in a negative demeanor, sometimes your initial reaction is to take in what they say, but I want you to truly think about what they say.
They make things about themselves. Like my real-life example from above, so many of the times people criticize others, it’s because they’re not getting what THEY want, or THEY’RE not okay with something, or THEY don’t like something. This simple realization makes it was easier to ignore the mean comments.
Track their attention span. If they spoke bad about you, observe them for the next few minutes (or not even) and you might see that they’re already talking about someone else. It’s like they fuel from negativity and hate on everything for the pleasure of it, so don’t think too much about what they said to you.
Create a foundation for confidence. To avoid letting a second of their negativity seep into your brain, take time to know and understand your situation. That way, when hate is thrown your way, you won’t feel insecure.
For example, you frequently buy meals from food joints. You understand that not everyone can afford to buy out as often as you do, but people still have and spend money. So if anyone critizes you on the way you spend your money, it won’t make you feel bad, and you’ll remind yourself that it’s not a crime to spend money.
Learning to not care what others think is a journey, not a destination. With time, you’ll stop caring about people’s negative comments. In turn, you’ll keep your peace.
Insecurities isecurities isecurities. I don’t mean to bring it up but
Insecurities.
Well, physical ones. They’re mentioned a ton in the real world and on the media. They’re especially tied with topics regarding a change of appearance, like surgeries, procedures, and working out.
You might say, ‘I’m doing this for myself’ or ‘I want to do this to make ME happy’ but is it truly JUST for you? ಠಿ_ಠ
Accompanying video:
Of course, there are things that we naturally like and don’t like, but there preferences we carry because we’ve unknowingly been influenced by common society.
To put things into perspective, think of something you’ve wanted to change about yourself. Now think about this:
If you were never made fun of for this, if this wasn’t looked down upon on social media, if that change wasn’t going to get you more attention, would you still change it?
Don’t base your decisions on appealing to a crowd. Every once it a while, well okay. But hopefully you still pause and think about where a thought is coming from to avoid becoming dependent on pleasing people’s eyes.
Yeah, yeah. I can trust you; you can trust me. I can be loyal to you, be honest with you, and you do the same with me. But in a year, I’ll still cut you off…or worse yet we break down until we fall off.
Why is it that the typical qualities that are supposed to hold people together aren’t always solid? Love, respect, patience, and loyalty. They’re great, but do they always fix everything?
Of course nothing fixes everything, but still, here’s my point.
I’ve come to realize that the most important things in a friendship are knowing each other and trusting that knowledge of each other. I, like many others, have heard about friendships ending because of silliness and misunderstandings.
‘But they loved each other.’ ‘And they cared for each other.’ Yeah, but they didn’t truly know each other. When you know someone, you don’t automatically judge them. Because you’ve picked up on their tendencies, you know that they probably didn’t mean it in a bad way, or their phone must’ve died, or they must’ve had a really good reason to cancel. It’s similar to being perceptive, but it’s more specific to that person’s habits.
Let’s set some examples.
1. Ashley and Tim are close friends. All week, Ashley has been mentioning that she wants to check out a new burger joint with him, but they haven’t had a chance do so. When they’re finally both free on Saturday, Tim spends his day with a group of friends at an aquarium. When he tells Ashley, she feels neglected and jealous. Although she can close herself off or call Tim out for not having her in mind, she knows that he couldn’t have had any intentions to offend her and doesn’t doubt it; and with that, Ashley lets it go.
2. Rease has a locker at school. His close friend, Jon, knows his lock code too. One day, Jon goes to his locker to get his bag of popcorn but discovers it missing. His immediate thought is that someone must’ve taken it. Jon must’ve taken it!… But wait. Rease knows, and is sure, that Jon always asks before taking something; he wouldn’t just steal. When Rease gets to class and takes his books out to get ready, he realizes the popcorn bag was in his backpack. Oops.
These aren’t the deepest of scenarios, but they show that the smallest of things can introduce bitterness and create distance between people over time.
Takeaways
As you see, simply knowing someone’s character can prevent things from going south as the troubled person tries to step back and analyze their situation without only focusing on their feelings, as well as thinking about the other person’s perspective.
It’s not about blindly defending the other person’s every move, but about trying to see things as they are.
As mentioned in the beginning, love, respect, patience, and loyalty are great, but when tied in with insight they remind us of the value that person and that relationship holds. When we truly know someone, and trust that knowledge, we can navigate even the toughest challenges with ease.
So, invest time in getting to know your friends so you can watch your friendships grow; not fall. ( ◜‿◝ )♡
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