Career Motivators: Do what you love but don’t let your career choices jeopardize anyone you love. Including...

... Yourself.

CAREER PATH MOTIVATOR

#10

Do what you love but don’t let your career choices jeopardize anyone you love.  Including yourself.  Translation: Take care of others but don’t forget to take care of yourself, sometimes before others.  Listen to our airline flight attendants: “Put your own oxygen mask on first before assisting others with their masks.”

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Do what you love but don’t jeopardize anyone you love.  Including yourself.

Recognize and assess the risks in every major decision you make, and how they affect those around you.

When I left the full-time practice of law to teach, I was single and had no children.   Would I have made such a career transition if I had a spouse and two kids at the time?  I’d like to think so because in the end, career satisfaction is one key to personal fulfillment.  Some opportunities are rare and don’t come around often.  The difficult part is learning whether to jump at or pass on an adventure when your responsibilities require the support of those around you, and dictate a closer look at the risk and reward.

This story is the basis for Motivator #10

99 Motivators for College Success book (2012)

College Motivator #12: Figure out if you are a “structure” person or...

 ...someone who can self-motivate at any given time.

CAREER PATH MOTIVATOR

#12

Figure out if you want predictable structured working hours, or if you are motivated to work until the job gets done.  Also, figure out whether you are willing to work during hours when most people play.  (such as a real estate agent or someone in the hospitality field)

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Figure out if you are a “structure” person or someone who can self-motivate at any given time.

Years ago, I briefly did freelance work full-time and found it difficult to motivate myself day in and day out.  In that environment, you have to create a regimen and stick to it with discipline. 

I like some structure in my daily routine, but not too much.  Classes bring that framework

to my work life.  For me, just knowing that I need to be at a certain place on time brings me certainty, clarity, and anticipation.

This story is the basis for Motivator #12

99 Motivators for College Success

College Motivator #73: Live Life with No Regrets, but...

COLLEGE LIFE MOTIVATOR

#73

Live life with no regrets but understand the consequences of your decisions.  Your professors should understand that you need to miss class to attend a job interview.  However, you will still be responsible for getting class notes and making up any required work.

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Know the consequences of no regrets.

I had a student who said there was a “pie in the sky” casting call for some production, but it meant getting in line and waiting for hours at a downtown hotel.  And missing my class.

I simply told her that she could go, but was responsible for getting class notes from a fellow student.  I believe in going after opportunities, even when it means sometimes doing the irresponsible thing, like telling a professor that you need to ditch class for a pipe dream of a chance at something big.

I learned that lesson as a law student, when I was clerking at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  A movie was being filmed downtown starring Robert Redford, and they needed extras to fill up an old minor league baseball stadium.  Instead of playing on green grass, I did the responsible thing by going to work that day.

Years later, every time I see The Natural, I say to myself: “If only I called in sick that day.”  Thankfully, this is a minor regret.  It serves as a lesson to me about risk taking and understanding the consequences.  Be a risk taker in your college life, but know where to draw the foul line.

99 Motivators for College Success in Patch

Book Gives Tips for College Success

Johns Creek resident and GSU professor Perry Binder says he wants to see students succeed, and that's why he's written a second book. 

"The jump from high school to college is a huge adjustment, and that's where my book comes in," he says. "99 Motivators for College Success gives bite-sized tips and quotes on how to succeed in the college classroom, in picking a major, and in adjusting to college life. The book also offers guidance on how to study for multiple choice exams and write model essay exam answers"

Binder adds, "It is also for the parents of students to better understand what’s expected of children in college, and the pressures they face from professors, peers, and family members." 

Continue reading at:  
http://johnscreek.patch.com/articles/book-gives-tips-for-college-success

Never crush anyone’s career dreams (Excerpt, 99 Motivators for College Success)

CAREER PATH MOTIVATOR

#4

Don’t let anyone crush your dreams.  However, the riskier your dream, the better your backup plan must be.

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Never crush anyone’s dreams.

When I was a little kid, I dreamed about playing professional basketball.  In third grade, we had to write an essay on what we wanted to be when we grew up.  I wrote that I wanted to be 6’10” and play in Madison Square Garden.  When the teacher handed back my paper, she laughed out loud and said: “You can’t do that!”

That was the first time someone had crushed my professional dream.  The teacher may have been right about the 6’10” part, but this molder of young minds lacked the understanding of what negative reinforcement can do to little kids.  She also lacked the understanding that height isn’t everything for a basketball player.  Teachers, especially in the impressionable K-12 years, are my personal heroes.  Yet they need to be dream builders, not dream destroyers.  It’s healthy to discuss rational backup career plans, but why spoil youthful exuberance which could flower into the unexpected?

            Postscript:  When I was 25 years old, I got to play one-on-one with 7’4” center Mark Eaton of the Utah Jazz, that year’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year.  I’ll leave the game results to your active imagination.

This story is the basis for Motivator #4

99 Motivators™ for College Success

© 2012 Perry Binder, LLC

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