Adopting the Creator Mindset
You have to ask yourself if you think as a Victim or you want to be a Creator. If you think like a Victim you will not reach your goals. If someone wanted to become a Creator, he will achieve his goals; therefore, he should find a solution to overcome obstacles and be a Creator, because success comes with knowing and identifying yourself to be either a Victim or a Creator. A Victim is the one who can’t feel he controls what happens and he will do nothing about it. A Creator feels he can control what happens and resolves to achieve it. Thinking as a Creator will make everyone successful in his school as well as in his life.
In his teaching blog, Professor Merman talks about two different students. The first student chose to be a Victim by finding excuses and blaming it on others. “It wasn’t my fault, it was the bookstore’s fault” (Mirman’s Article). The other student chose to be a Creator by overcoming the obstacles and trying multiple ways till he reached his goal. He didn’t ask “Whose fault is it I don’t have the book?” but instead asked “What can I do to get the text I need?” (Mirman’s Article).
I myself have played a victim role when I continuously remained in my trashy job for more than a year. A job that I hated, a job that didn’t take me anywhere better than I was. That job was holding me back from what I wanted to be. I knew I could find a better job, but I didn’t do anything about it. I didn’t initiate to find a way to change that. I could search and apply to as many as I could till I found one, but still I didn’t do anything about it. I kept telling myself I cannot find a better job without a degree from The United States. No one will hire me. I don’t have work experience here in the States. And partially maybe because I had a low self-confidence as I was new to this country. Rather than searching for a job, I was waiting for the job to come to me! I constantly used excuses. Not enough time, I am tired, next week will try, or maybe I was just afraid of changes. I am still stuck with the same job.
I should have learned to be a Creator from one of my friends. Back in 2003, during the Operation Iraqi Freedom, I went to Baghdad to work for a friend of mine. At that time, there was no Internet and no international calls. The Iraqi regime, didn’t allow any contact with the outside world. After the fall of the regime my friend had that idea to bring an Internet system. The idea was like an economy revolution. There were many American troops who were stuck in Iraq without being able to contact their families. My friend opened an internet café, and many US soldiers started to show up, but it was unsafe for them, and for us too to come to our location. My friend had another creative idea. He decided to open the Internet café inside the Army Bases, which is full of soldiers and safer of course. His business grew bigger so rapidly. The soldiers were willing to pay any amount of money so they just can get in touch with their families as they didn’t have any other ways to contact them. Only one year later he became so rich that he couldn’t count how much money he had!
My goal for now is to finish this semester with straight As. I have put my scale high so I can try harder. If I settle for less than A, I might do less study. As Dr. Downing said: the Creator asks “What can I do to achieve my goal?” In order to be able to achieve that, I have to have good time management and stay focused. I have used Studygs.net time management tool. I have cut my work hours short. Now I have more time for study, rest and taking care of my other life requirements. I scheduled my days in most favorable way possible. I work four days full time, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. I go to school for two days, Tuesday and Thursday, and I have one day off, Friday, to rest and get my homework done. I have visited the library multiple times. I have decided to give priority to study first then work and other stuff in life. I interacted with my fellow students in a better way to stay updated if I missed something and also to ask for their help if I misunderstood something.
Now that we are half way through the semester, I find myself not exactly on track, but fairly close enough. The time management I used, was effective in my study, but I need to make more rooms for attending seminars. I shifted my mind away from all issues and distraction in my life into focusing solely on the study. I am researching thoroughly now when I do my homework. And use more online helpful tools for checking and proofreading my writings. That helped me improve my grades and do better in upcoming assignments. In general, I have organized my time more effectively, and set my mind to Creator mode.
Works Cited
Downing, Skip. On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2014. 42. Print.
Mirman, David. "Do You Think like a Victim or a Creator?" You Are the Prime Mover. 2 Jan. 2012. Web. 10 Sept. 2015. <http://youaretheprimemover.com/2012/do-you-think-like-a-victim-or-a-creator>.