What you need to do besides ace your exams to become successful

We sometimes forget that the grades we get in school are not the biggest determining factor of how successful we’ll be in the long run. Your grades are important obviously, but they aren’t going to get you that dream job of yours if you haven’t started working on polishing all the other aspects of yourself.

Improve your social skills

Your social skills are a lot more important than you think they are. One could argue that they’re just as or if not, even more important than your other qualifications. After all, having an impressive resume would seem a lot less impressive if you can’t even carry a conversation with your employer. Being able to get along and form relationships with the people you meet will open many doors for you as well. For all you know, trying to lighten the mood at a mundane office event by striking up a conversation with an intriguing stranger your boss introduced you to might lead a new and better job offer. Being liked by everyone you meet isn’t the ultimate goal here, it’s being able to form strong relationships with people that will be able to improve your quality of life.

Quit saying tomorrow

We can all relate to this one. Every single person who’s been given the privilege of being able to procrastinate has at some point in their life said they were going to do something tomorrow and when tomorrow came, decided to say tomorrow again. And then the ever familiar cycle of tomorrow coming and going would ensue and as always, nothing would ever get done. There’s an easy way to end this cycle, of course. By actually doing the thing. The next time you’re sprawled across your bed with your iPhone scrolling through Instagram and the realisation that you’ve yet to start an important assignment dawns, consider this; what will be different tomorrow? What’s going to change? You’re probably still not going to be in the mood to do the thing. Your Instagram feed is still going to seem more exciting. So why postpone it? Why not just do it now and get it over with? It’s easier said than done of course, but the trouble it takes to change your perspective on this will be worth it in the end.

Give a hundred percent effort in everything you do

If you want to succeed you’re going to have to put in effort in everything you do. Seems like a no-brainer huh. But the keyword here is everything. Not just the big and exciting projects that’ll kickstart your journey to greatness, but the little, odd, mundane tasks you have to do along the way that are just as important. You can’t only be productive when you feel like it, you’re going to have to put in a hundred percent of your effort a hundred percent of the time. It doesn’t matter if you’re not feeling the particular project you’re working on, you do it anyway. Nothing worth having comes easy. And hard work isn’t always going to be fun. But it’s what makes the success that comes after feel so good.

Embrace a growth mindset

There are two kinds of people in this world; those with a growth mindset and those with a fixed one. The latter believe that their abilities, talents and intelligence were predetermined at birth and will forever remain as fixed traits. They were dealt a certain amount of cards and that’s what they’ve got to live with. Why bother trying to improve themselves when they could just pretend to know what they’re doing so they could look smart all the time? A person who has a growth mindset, on the other hand, believes that their talents and abilities can be further developed through dedication and hard work. Their talents are just their starting point, and with the right attitude and enough effort, can be developed to help them achieve great things. Basically, they understand that no matter the hand you were dealt, you can work to win the game of life. Don’t hide your weaknesses, work to overcome them. Learn to expand your knowledge and skillsets. Don’t fall prey to confirmation biases. These are all practices of a person with a growth mindset and will undoubtedly help you on your journey to success.

As a student, you should focus on doing your best in school and work to get that perfect report card we all dream about, but know that getting good grades are not the be-all and end-all of your life. Growing up will teach you that working on your other traits will help guarantee you a successful and fulfilling life.