Parents and students, I would like for you to look at education from a different standpoint. Think of yourselves as and your education and translate these experiences as a business. You are a company, and in order for your company to operate successfully you have to invest quality time for your company to do well. You will need strong advisers who are the stakeholders that will help to develop a mission and vision statement which help to keep your company on the straight and narrow. Your input is invaluable. You need to be held accountable for your efforts in giving the competitive edge that you will need to succeed now and in the future. What can possibly keep you as the owner of your company from doing well? We first must figure out what is your competition, better known as your distracters? What is keeping you from being focused? Are your distracters vices or virtues? Let's see what some of the distracters might be, (the opposite sex, cell phones, FaceBook, television, texting). Remember, what you value is where you will spend your time.
In order to run a successful company or a business, I want you to consider creating a business plan which will give you direction of where you are and how to get to your next objective. Life without direction is like a car without wheels. How far do you think you will go? I'll let you answer that question. Now, I want you to become familiar with the acronym SWOT, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This will really be a guide that you can use for the rest of your life. Ask yourself what are my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Albert Einstein always asked questions and by asking questions it propels you to find the answers, only if you're curious enough.
Choosing to invest in yourself is the greatest gift that you could ever imagine. Your profits will be insurmountable and your losses few. Your business portfolio shows your progress and as a successful businessperson will show profits and avoids losses. The discipline that goes into protecting your profits takes a great deal of sacrifice. Your valuable time and effort must be implemented and executed by doing those things that will carry you to the top where you belong. For example, managing your time wisely to study, asking questions that will promote learning, reading, spending time going to the library and using other resources are good practices to model. These experiences can continue throughout your life. These are good habits. In addition, don't forget to merry up with friends who are like-minded. If there is pressure for going astray, then there should be greater pressure for you to stay on course and go the distance. Now you're operating in the black! What are the advantages of operating in the black and showing profits? Good grades, transferable skills, higher order of thinking, college entry, and job advancement.
If you are not at the top of your game your company will plummet. A downward spiral will not be avoided if you slack off from continuing to stay on top of your game. As a student or business person if you decline from studying, your grades begin to suffer, you develop potential behavioral problems, you become rooted, you have no drive and no ambition, you are operating in the red and you and your life now becomes a liability. Your company has tanked because you did not choose to reassess and reevaluate your weaknesses and threats. However, you can turn your weaknesses and threats into opportunities! How? Change your attitude. Failure does not belong in your vocabulary. In order to have a strong healthy company, you have to keep your finger on the pulse of your academic progress and you do not have to do it alone. The stakeholders are the ones who have a vested interest in your overall academic success and well being. Those who invested in you are your parents, teachers, administrators and your mentors. Most importantly you are a stakeholder too, invest in yourself!
Your partner for success,
Ghetto Grannie (GG)
