Behind the Curtain - Writing Advice
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It's been a few years since I've been in school, but not so long that I can't remember an interesting phenomenon that I observed as people transitioned away from being students.
Being college is a great opportunity in that for possibly the first instance in a given person's life, their time and energies are primarily focused on bettering themselves, on acquiring the skills and abilities that will be necessary for them to succeed in their chosen profession. Before college, most people view learning as something they are forced to do. Teachers and parents conspire to ensure that large blocks of time are dedicated to a host of things that are viewed as being completely unnecessary.
There are exceptions to that rule of course, just like there are college students who chose to slide by with the absolute minimum of effort to pass, or even who let themselves flunk out. The great thing though is watching university students realize that, in the short term at least, they can do anything they want, but despite that they still want to better themselves.
My friends were generally pretty studious and it was amazing the sheer amount of time that I saw dedicated to learning. Jobs were a necessary evil, accepted and scheduled around the priority of school. The occasional weekend was sacrificed to studying, and an incredible amount of knowledge was absorbed and filed away for future use.
Once these same friends graduated they found themselves with an incredible amount of time on their hands, and generally they found a host of ways to fill it up. They picked up all kinds of hobbies, joined various groups and generally absorbed the time they'd spent studying with the things they'd sacrificed for four or more years.
Obviously a balance in our lives must be achieved, but more and more I'm coming to realize that the one resource granted to us is our time. As we choose the manner in which to spend that time we can reap all kinds of different benefits. Friendships, new skills, abilities, or simple relaxation.
The people who achieve greatness by and large I think understand this and they are generally found investing their time in ways that lead to their betterment. Mozart for instance was playing the piano at age 4, and composing by age 5.
As we look at our lives and find areas that aren't as we would have them, I think it prudent to analyze the ways in which a sustained, regular investment of our time or other resources might better those problems.
Very little which is worthwhile is achieved overnight, but with the decision to dedicate sufficient time to the task, most things become very much obtainable.
The key is that we invest our time in the things we truly want, that we pursue those skills that will allow us to achieve the type of greatness that we desire.