Becoming a Laureate is no small task. If you want to become one, the first step is to DECIDE to become one. This step seems trivial, right? Well, no, it’s not enough. It’s not good enough to say that “I want to become a Laureate”. It’s not how it works. Every student who competes wants to become a Laureate, and I’m pretty sure every one of them have this target articulated in their mind.
So, what do you need to aim for, to stand out from the rest?
You’ve probably heard about this famous quote from Les Brown:
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
Unfortunately, this might not always be enough. If you want to become a Laureate, you might want to aim higher than “just the Moon”. In your case, as a student, shooting for the Moon means “Aiming to become a Laureate”. If you land on the Moon and succeed in becoming a Laureate, well done to you! However, if you miss, you won’t get that government scholarship. Sure, you might be among the “stars”, i.e., you might be among the ranked students, but, wouldn’t it be better if you had landed on the moon and got that scholarship? Of course, it would!
Therefore, in your quest to becoming a Laureate, you must make the following statement clear in your mind:
“There are NO stars. There is ONLY the Moon, and I NEED to land on the Moon, no matter what.”
So, what should you aim for, if you absolutely need to land on the Moon? The answer is simple:
Aim for the CENTER of the Moon.
In other words, if the moon was a target, you need to aim for the bullseye to maximise your chances of actually landing on the target.
Ask yourself this: What is the bullseye you need to aim for if you want to become a Laureate?
Hint: It needs to be something very definite.
You might tell yourself that you need to become a STATE OF MAURITIUS Laureate. Clearly, this is more specific than just the old “Becoming a Laureate” target. Indeed, the studies of State Laureates (as well as SSR and MCB FOUNDATION Laureates) are fully funded whereas those of additional Laureates are only partially funded.
But, is aiming to become a State of Mauritius Laureate good enough? The answer is a big NO. It is not even close enough.
You might go further than that and convince yourself that the bullseye is ranking first on your chosen side. Now, this is a better target because ranking first in a given side guarantee that the scholarship you are awarded will fully fund your studies.
Unfortunately, this is still not enough. So, one might go even further and aim to rank first overall in the country, across all sides. This, too, is still not enough. One might also target to rank first in each of their subjects, but this too is not high enough.
Both the targets presented in the previous paragraph are closer to the bullseye than the old, stale “I just want to become a Laureate” objective. However, they are not the bullseye. Both of them have one critical weakness, which can and will prove fatal to your dreams of becoming a Laureate. They both contain “rank” in their objectives. Your rank does not depend only on you but also depends on all your competitors. If you think only in terms of your “rank”, you will always be wasting your time, energy and focus comparing yourself with others. Instead, you should aim for something higher than merely “being ranked above everybody else”, something that is independent of your competitors.
So, what is it that you should aim for, that is high enough to be worthy of being called the bullseye of your quest of becoming a Laureate?
The answer is obvious:
You should aim to score FULL MARKS in all your subjects.
This is the ultimate bullseye that you should be aiming for!
This objective has the added benefit that it does not depend on what your competitors are doing. You do not need to keep comparing yourself to other students when you aim to score full marks in all your subjects. You can forget about competing with other students. Instead, you should focus ONLY on competing with yourself. Every day, you should make sure that you are inching closer to reaching full marks in all your subjects. Even a little bit of progress is better than no progress at all!
So, at the end of each day, ask yourself the following questions:
Did I move closer to scoring 100% in at least one of my subjects?
How far am I from the full marks target in each of my subjects?
These are the only things that matter. Where your friends and competitors are, in terms of ranking, is of absolutely no concern to you.
Therefore, your new motto should be:
Shoot for the centre of the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll still land on the moon.
Thus, the Key Takeaway is:
Aim for the highest possible target and don’t let anything stand in your way.
Do you have any questions or comments? Post them below!
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