Success in high school doesn’t always result in success in college. College may be just another learning environment in your view, but there are considerable differences. Here’s how to succeed in college in four simple words: Have good, consistent habits. Sounds pretty simple, right? Maybe a little too simple? After all, what defines “good”? Many people achieve college success by paying attention to what works for other students. Yet, that’s not always a guaranteed method. Some students do well in spite of their bad habits, which can make it hard to sort out what will actually work for you. Thankfully, plenty of time-tested advice exists to help you out.

Whether you’re starting college right after high school or pursuing a degree, these tips will help you.

1. Attend class regularly.

You may not have studied in high school, but you will need to in college. Being a successful student only happens by being present. Missing classes can mean missing out on important information and good opportunities for improving your understanding of the material being taught. Your class attendance also has a big impact on the impression you leave on your professors. Even in large classes, they notice. They will be much more willing to give you support when you need it if you demonstrate your commitment by showing up consistently. Also, professors emphasize the most important information in class. You also might catch a break on your grade if your attendance has been excellent. Ensure that you’re participating, too. Asking one intelligent question per day will ensure that you’re making a good impression on the professor.

2. Make friends and get involved.

You have a new life now with new people. Get involved in campus life so you feel at home. A few activities and friends will make you feel more at home. Increased comfort will make it easier to concentrate on your studies.

3. Ask for help before you’re in trouble.

All professors and teaching assistants have office hours. Make good use of them. Larger universities also have tutoring available, often for free. The sooner you ask for help, the less help you’ll need. You’ll also minimize your stress.

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Creativity is the ability to make something new or to develop new ideas. Developing your creativity can benefit your education, relationships and hobbies. Although young children love to be creative, most teenagers have less motivation to create new things, mainly due to the fear of rejection, failure or judgement. Listed below are some of the most common barriers to creativity. You can always stack the deck in your favour by dealing intelligently with these barriers.

1. Fear of ridicule

As they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. No matter what you do, someone will provide criticism. You can never please everyone. Some will love you and some won’t, irrespective of what you do! So you must learn to ignore the naysayers and let your creativity shine.

2. Fear of failure

Remember! Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn. All you have to do is to learn how to ‘fail forward’. As long as you can view your failure as a learning opportunity, take the lesson and move on, it’s worth it! Even a simple thing such as walking is mastered only when a toddler fails to stand on his/her feet and balance the body weight multiple times. Imagine if a toddler gives up his/her desire to stand and walk because he/she is failing! Will he/she ever learn to walk? Never! You’ve already failed thousands of times in one way or another and you’ve survived. So why be afraid of failing now? Just take it as an opportunity to grow and move on.

3. Interruptions

Time and space energize creativity. It’s more challenging to come up with a brilliant idea if you are constantly hooked onto social media websites and your phone is chirping at you every 30 seconds. Schedule your creative time to minimize as many interruptions as possible. Early in the morning and later in the evening can be the best options for many.

4. Distractions

A distraction is an interruption you give yourself. Ask yourself, “How do I commonly waste time?” Remove those distractions from your immediate environment. Put your cell phone on mute and throw it in the drawer. Turn off the TV. Focus 100% on your creative activity. All distractions are controllable, provided you have the ability to discipline yourself and manage your time to match your priorities.

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Influence is the power and the ability to personally affect others’ actions, decisions, opinions or thinking. It allows you to get things done and achieve desired outcomes thus making it an extremely important skill to possess. After all, you can do far more with the help of others than you can ever accomplish alone! Luckily, the ability to influence others isn’t just an innate ability that you are born with; it is a skill that you can learn. Here are a few easy tips to increase your influence on others

1. Enhance your communication skills.

Influential people have great communication skills. Become better at addressing large groups, small groups and individuals. Learn how to get your point across and how to captivate others. Remember to communicate using both non-verbal and verbal cues. Listen carefully to what others have to say, and over-communicate in new ways to ensure the content of the conversation sticks with the person in front of you.

2. Be more passionate.

Most people are just dragging along, hoping to survive another day. Passionate people can change the world. They have a big advantage when it comes to influencing others. Live your life doing things that you’re passionate about

3. Be more confident.

Those who lack confidence have a hard time convincing anyone of anything. If you want to influence others, it’s important to be confident. There are plenty of books and free advice on how to enhance your self-confidence. Invest in your personal growth and increase your confidence.

4. Build your charisma.

It may seem like some people are born likeable, but everyone is capable of developing charisma. No matter your personality, there are certain traits you can practise and apply to your own behaviour that can possibly make you seem more magnetic, trustworthy and influential. Charisma is all about being present and genuinely interested in the person in front of you. Your subconscious, social cues, physical expression, and the way you treat others all play a part in developing your charisma.

5. Build your social network.

Influencers know many people. And it’s not just how many people you know, it’s the kind of people you know. Seek out the important people in your desired field and make contact. Social media has made it increasingly easy to connect with industry influencers. Get in touch with them, comment on their posts and blogs. Build a personal connection with them.

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How you sound can be as important as what you say. A pleasant voice brings your words to life and may put more money in your pockets.

A Duke University study found that CEOs with lower-pitched voices ran larger companies, earned more money, and held onto their jobs longer. No wonder business executives and celebrities often work with vocal coaches.

Even if your time and funds are limited, you can turn your voice into an asset. Take a look at these simple practices to help you polish your speech.

Caring for your voice

1. Breathe deeply.
Breathing from your diaphragm instead of your chest will help you to project your voice and give you more confidence. At the same time, relaxing your mouth and throat gives you greater control.

2. Develop resonance.
Humming is an easy way to warm up your voice. The lower you go into your chest, the more powerful you’ll sound.

3. Avoid strain.
Swallowing is gentler than coughing when you need to clear your throat. Keep irritants like alcohol, smoke and dairy products to a minimum. Rest your voice if you find that you’ve overdone it by talking too long or too loudly.

4. Pace yourself.
Rapid speech is great if you’re a race track announcer. Otherwise, try breaking your thoughts down into phrases just long enough so that you can say them comfortably with a single breath.

PLUS!

• Connecting with your audience
• More tips for dynamic speaking

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Are you too hard on yourself? Do you beat yourself down for your mistakes and errors in judgments? Don’t worry! You are not alone. We all tend to hold onto our shortcomings and conveniently forget our successes and positive qualities.

While we find it easy to love others, it’s much more challenging to appreciate and love ourselves. We allow others to take advantage of us. We tolerate unhealthy relationships. We overeat. We waste our valuable time. We set goals that are far beneath our capabilities, thus creating an unhappy mediocre life for us. You see, we can never outperform our own self-image. If we see ourselves as a 2 the world will not raise our value to a 10. So, if we really want to transform our life we must raise our self-image. And to do that we must give ourselves the love we deserve!

Here are some quick and easy ways to love yourself more and build your self-image:

1. Know that you matter.

Understand that you matter to the world. Your opinions matter. Your work matters. Your mere presence matters. Know that you have already touched numerous lives in a positive way even though you may not be fully aware of your contribution.

2. Be aware that your mistakes don’t define you.

Your mistakes may have influenced your life, but they don’t define your life or you. It doesn’t matter how many mistakes you have made as long as you have learnt your lessons and moved on.

3. Forgive those who have hurt you.

Forgiving doesn’t mean that you have to let them back into your life or give them another chance. It just means that you are not going to spend any more time or mental energy holding onto your anger. Be good to yourself and let it go. You will not only impress yourself with your inner strength but also enjoy the relief that forgiveness brings. Remember! Not forgiving people and holding onto the anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

4. Bask in the compliments that you have received.

The most meaningful compliments are those that ring true in the depths of your soul. It’s exciting when someone else recognizes the best that we have to offer the world.

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Anger is “an emotional state that varies in intensity from mild irritation to intense fury and rage,” according to Charles Spielberger, PhD, a psychologist who specializes in the study of anger. Like other emotions, it is accompanied by physiological and biological changes; when you get angry, your heart rate and blood pressure go up, as do the levels of your energy hormones, adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Anger can be caused by both external and internal events. You could be angry at a specific person or event or your anger could be caused by worrying or brooding about your personal problems. Memories of traumatic or enraging events can also trigger angry feelings.

Anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human emotion. It is a natural, adaptive response to threat and allows us to fight and to defend ourselves when we are attacked. A certain amount of anger, therefore, is necessary to our survival. But when it gets out of control and turns destructive, it can lead to problems — in your personal relationships and in the overall quality of your life. And it can make you feel as though you’re at the mercy of an unpredictable and powerful emotion because it disengages the part of your brain that’s used to make rational decisions. We often do and say things when we’re angry, that we regret later. How many times do you wish you could take back something you said when you were angry? It only takes a few seconds to cause a lot of damage and pain. Avoiding this type of situation is a good enough reason to work on your anger management skills.

The ability to manage your emotional states is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your lifetime.

Practise these anger management strategies to become a master of your unhealthy emotions:

1 Monitor your mental state. Notice when you’re starting to feel agitated. Anger is much easier to control if caught early. Once you’re in the middle of an episode of full-blown rage, it becomes more challenging. Keep a check on your negative emotions. They’re all easier to manage when they first appear. As they gain strength, the tools available to manage them become less effective.

2 Learn to let go and avoid holding a grudge. Grudges are a great way to keep yourself primed to feel angry with little provocation. Let go of your anger and forgive. You’ll feel better and life will be more enjoyable. You’re only hurting yourself when you hold on to a grudge.

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Everyone has a mental picture in their minds of who they are, what they are capable of, and where they are going in life. If you suffer from low self-confidence, it means that you have a negative view of these things in your mind. You probably feel that you are not worth much and that whatever you try will result either in mediocrity or failure. If you want to increase your self-esteem and build your self-confidence, you have to work on your self-perception.

To start the process of improving your self-esteem, you need to incorporate these daily habits into your life.

Change your self-talk

Self-talk is the act of talking to oneself, either mentally or aloud. It is any thought that pops into your head in reaction to an external stimulus. The way that you feel about situations depends on what you tell yourself.

If you think about a situation negatively, it will lead to negative emotions like irritation or anxiety. Thinking about the situation positively will lead to positive feelings like excitement or happiness. When you are working on increasing your self-esteem, you become more aware of the constant self-talk that leads to negative feelings, and you can replace it with positive self-talk that encourages higher levels of self-esteem.

For example, if you are always telling yourself that you are fat every time you look in the mirror, stop and replace these thoughts with words of encouragement. You have trained yourself to look at areas of your body that make you insecure and reinforce your insecurity by saying “I’m fat.” Teach yourself to appreciate your body or focus on an area that you feel good about. Over time, this will shift your self-image and confidence.

Practise affirmations

Affirmations are simple, positive statements that you can write about yourself to change negative thinking patterns. They help to improve self-esteem by implanting new beliefs to replace beliefs that cause low self-esteem. With enough repetition, affirmations will become implanted into your subconscious mind.

Here are a few starters. Write these out before you sleep — 21 times each for 21 days continuously. If you skip a day, start again.

• I love and accept myself unconditionally.
• I am peaceful with all my emotions. I love and approve of myself.
• I create a life filled with rewards.

Stop comparisons

Recognize that you are unique. Realize that you never get the full story and that everyone puts on a front in an attempt to disguise their insecurities. When you compare yourself to others, you are merely comparing yourself to the façade others are presenting to the world. Everyone has thoughts, doubts, insecurities, judgements and other inner battles that they deal with in their minds.

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Did you know that your subconscious is most active during sleep and when you’re slightly distracted? Consider how many brilliant ideas you’ve had while taking a shower or a walk. But unfortunately very few people take advantage of this powerful resource. Imagine having such a powerful ally working for you 24/7. You’d be unstoppable!

In fact, your subconscious is active day and night. But during the day, your conscious mind is making too much noise, making it difficult for you to hear the voice of your own subconscious. But when you’re alone, relaxed and somewhat occupied, your subconscious can shine, because your conscious mind is occupied enough for your subconscious to speak to you.

Your subconscious is a bit like a savant. It’s brilliant in some ways, but not too bright in others. Think of it as a computer with a vast store of information. It wants to help you, but it needs some instructions.

You can use this simple step-by-step process to make your subconscious mind work for you and your dreams:

Step 1: Make a clear request to your subconscious mind.

While lying in bed at night, tell your subconscious what you want. Write it down. There’s something more concrete when you take pen to paper. It also engages your brain at a higher level.

For example: Let’s say you want to find three easy, creative and effective ways to get through entrance examinations and interviews of your most desired college. So this is what you will need to do:

• Write down your request five times.
• Read the written request aloud five times and then turn off the light.

Step 2: Creative visualization before you sleep.

Imagine that you have already received your desired outcome; you have got admission in your desired college and are now living a life of your dreams.

Continuing with the example above, how will you feel when you find and implement those three creative ideas? How will your life change? What would your life look like once you join the college of your choice? How will it impact the kind of job you will get? What impact will that have on your life ahead?

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I am sure you would agree that even though personal growth and self-development is a journey we all want to make, more often than not, we don’t even know where to begin. In fact, the mere thought of personal growth is enough to make many of us feel discouraged because it is hard to make meaningful changes. But if you want to make a real difference in the world, or even just your own life, you’ll have to learn to get comfortable with trying out new things.

Now you can stimulate your personal growth and attain a new level of success with these simple strategies:

1. Meet new people.

When you spend most of your time with the same group of people, you miss out on being exposed to new thoughts, ideas, and/or conversations. Hence, you must continuously put yourself in new environments and groups to a get a fresh perspective on things, people and situations in life and open your mind to new possibilities.

2. Read at least 10 pages of a good non-fiction book every day.

Reading is a great way to understand and learn about the mindsets of successful people from across the world. It allows you to even connect with people whom you may never ever get a chance to meet in this lifetime! There’s more information available than you’re likely to ever need. Why reinvent the wheel when someone else has probably already walked the path that interests you? Investigate what’s available to you and learn from those who have already been successful.

3. Act on your ideas.

Ever had the experience of being excited for a moment about a new idea, only to talk yourself out of it within the first 15 minutes? The key is to take action before you give yourself a chance to think about it. Act on your ideas and learn from your experiences. Remember! No experience in life ever goes waste if you are willing to learn from it and grow!

4. Learn to embrace discomfort.

One of the characteristics of successful people is that they don’t allow discomfort to derail their efforts. On the other hand, underachievers are easily discouraged by discomfort. If you really want to change your life for the better you will need to learn how to get comfortable with the journey between where you are today and where you actually want to be. You will have to be at peace with the uncertainty of what the future may hold for you. You will have to get comfortable with the idea of continuously being outside of your comfort zone.

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The quality of our thoughts determines the quality of our life! Positive and empowering thoughts, emotions, and feelings create energy in our body that makes us happy and joyous. They create a spring in our steps and stimulate us to move in a positive direction. Negative and disempowering thoughts, on the other hand, create inertia and force us to stay stuck.

Our thoughts manifest in physical reality through the actions we take. Which means that if we wish to change our physical reality, we must begin by changing how we think. The good news is that our minds are fully equipped and willing to adopt any changes that we may bring about in our thinking patterns. A simple change in perspective can make a world of difference.

You don’t need to force yourself to make deep inner changes. You can choose to change your thoughts, beliefs and perspective to something more useful that empowers you.

Here’s how you can give a positive direction to your life:

1. Examine your current beliefs. Are your current beliefs holding you back? Are you certain that the things that you believe are true? Are you aggressively and enthusiastically pursuing your goals each day? Everyone has limiting beliefs. What are yours?

Remember! Your beliefs are like your software. If your software is faulty, you aren’t operating efficiently. Examine each belief you have and determine if it is serving you or holding you back. Look at your behaviour for clues regarding your internal thought processes. What must you believe to be behaving the way you do?

2. Choose beliefs that help you create the results you desire. When you change your thoughts and beliefs, your habits will change, too. When the things you do each day are altered, your results are bound to be altered.

For example, if you believe that you are an average student, you will take actions based on your imagined potential and create the results to match that. Poor results will further fuel your belief that you are an average student. And the cycle will repeat itself.

On the other hand, if you believe that you are a bright student, your actions will reflect your beliefs and you will create the results to match that belief. And your results will continue to move you in a positive direction.

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