A professor friend of mine asked me to spend an hour with his honors leadership class. For college students, foundational concepts can be impactful - I shared several lessons I wished I learned sooner.
Students at UAB in Dr. Allen Gorman’s Honors Leadership Course
Map out what you actually want out of life - Create a list of goals and dreams for your life. This can help you make decisions on how you want to spend your time and invest in yourself. If you don’t know what you want you are only left with comparison.
Get to know your values - Values have been critical for me as a framework to make decisions through. As an example, one thing I have remembered recently is that freedom is one of my values, safety is not.
Address and heal from insecurities and traumas - Unfortunately these things don’t go away on their own, and they will be there waiting for you until you are ready to look at them. I promise that on the other side is a strength and fulfillment you didn’t think was possible. Some of your greatest gifts are likely a biproduct from these experiences.
Get comfortable giving and receiving feedback - The best and most compassionate thing we can do for one another is to be honest. Everyone has a lot to learn and learning this skill will compound overtime. Radical Candor is a great book on this topic.
Work for someone you admire at some point in college - It might be the most successful person in your hometown network, someone you meet at a career fair or a non-profit leader in your community. Whoever it is, it is powerful to be close to excellence. As a general rule, work with people you admire that also care about you.
Learn about your super powers and unique talents - Everyone has individual strengths and talents, pay attention to what you gravitate towards in your free time, what you are willing to do for free and take the feedback from friends + family. Most of our success comes from 20% of our skills, figure out what those are early and double down.
Start a hustle for no other reason than learning - If you eventually want to run a business, start a business on a small scale. If you want to solve homelessness, start a small food or clothing drive. Whatever it is that you are passionate about, put energy towards it and use the experiences to learn.
Invest in friends and mentors - Find people in your life where you feel comfortable sharing your full self with. Life can be really hard and you don’t have to go it alone.