Changing and Modifying Goals

In times past, I used to get very upset with myself if I had to ever modify the completion date of a goal. I completed Marine Corps Recruit Training, almost the entire time having strep throat and pneumonia. The medical personnel would not let me in the pool for swim qualification the first day, so I had to sneak my way past them in order to qualify as a competent swimmer; this being required for me to graduate BT Camp on time. Throughout the rest of my 8.5 year career in the Marine Corps, I would kill myself to make goals happen [not kill myself literally, just work through or force the round peg into the square hole]. In part because of this, I had to leave the Marines earlier than I wanted to because the stress and health problems caught up with me.

Now that I am older, I choose to work smarter, not harder and part of that is because I am now more open to changing and/or modifying my goals. Having the ability to change your goals may depend greatly on if you complete that goal, or not. Do you remember the SMART goals? Just for a refresher, SMART goals are:

S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Relevant
T = Time-bound

What if you're working towards a goal and you realize it is unattainable? Of course you will have to modify that goal to make it attainable [such as you run into a law stating it is not legal to proceed as you had planned with a business, etc].

A goal can also cease to be relevant because you change your mind about your career, such as you had planned on getting your paralegal certification, but instead you change your mind and want to become a chef.  Those listed above are only a couple of examples, but you see my point.

What is a goal you are struggling with right now that might need to be modified? If you cannot afford a life coach, grab a coffee with a friend who cares about your goals and talk it out. The more you talk about your goals or write details about it in planning, the more likely you are to completing it.

Recently, I've had to roll back the time frame in which I will complete my Master's degree in Business Administration because the full time course load was getting to be too much for me. It will get done, but it will take about six months longer than I had expected it to, unfortunately. Ultimately, this will help the quality of my work and I will get more out of the education I am receiving, but it was still a little bit of a let-down.

If you struggle for too long trying to accomplish a goal; do yourself a favor and modify it. Not doing so will add undue stress to your life, but a modified goal is like getting your second wind in a race; you start doubting if you can maintain your pace until the end, but then you get that extra boost of a second wind and you power through even faster. If you are currently struggling with a goal, please do yourself a favor and give yourself that second wind.

I Pulled an MBA All-Nighter!

10/17/13

I am done with my stupid mini-flu. Boy, that really took a lot out of me; made me weak as a kitten and brought me low. I went from Powerful McPowerfulson to zero energy, zero stamina. When you or I or anyone is sick, it's easy to get down mentally as well as physically and I have to be honest in saying that I did get down psychologically. I did realize, however, it would pass and when I recovered, I would have to rebuild to the level of power and stamina that I held for most of the summer.

During my business financial management class from mid-October to mid-November, I routinely pulled all-nighters on assignments because late at night and in the wee hours of the morning was the only time I could get into deep, focus, concentration mode which I would need to figure out complex financial formulas and have an understanding of how aspects of finance functioned.

All-nighters are not fun, but sometimes they are necessary to get the job done. I am highly motivated in regards to getting my Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) because it is going to be a big step in my career and my ticket to an even better life. What if I mess up in a class and fail or get a crumby grade? I can always retake a class if I need to. It IS a setback, but not the end of the world. Life isn't perfect and most people don't always get the grades they want. So many people seem to have an all or nothing mentality; but much of life doesn't work like that. Sometimes you have to keep chipping at a project with, at times, imperfect progress.

Please, readers: do not give up when you encounter great adversity, but on the other side of that coin, do not persist when your efforts are evidently futile. You may need to find a different way in doing something. If you know that you are intended to do a certain thing, yet you are sailing towards a storm on your way to do it; then sail right through the storm and accomplish that thing you are bound, set and intended to do. Be indomitable. When you are hit hard by the storms and trials of life and don't take the easy way out, you will come out the better for it. Your character will be built stronger for it.

And when you find that sweet, sweet solace when all is at peace, there is nothing important to do and you can relax; take the opportunity to rest on your laurels just briefly before going on to slay the next giant. If you stay lying on one spot for too long, you create an indentation or rut, rather and it make get you stuck in life. That is why I tell you to not rest on your laurels for too long. Keep learning, keep being driven, find new territory to conquer, but stop once in a while to rest.

Thank you all for reading my blog article today and I pray it inspires or helps you somehow. I hope you find peace and wisdom this Christmas season; remember, God owns peace and wisdom and He will give freely to those who truly seek him.

Any Questions?

Building Erudition

Erudition is a word that basically means the knowledge one gets from reading books. Keeping this definition in mind, an erudite individual would be one who possesses vast amounts of knowledge derived from delving into books with a voracious appetite and hunger to learn. If you'd like a dictionary definition of erudition, one can be found at Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary.

I think erudition is an important thing to possess. You not only learn the information that is in the books you read, but the books also teach you grammar, punctuation, spelling, syntax and word choice; among other such things. Book learning introduces you to the wonders of other civilizations, philosophy, science, history and basically anything you can think of. This may seem like a no-brainer, but reading quality books builds one's reading comprehension. In an education seminar I recently attended with my wife, one of the speakers told the audience "Three years from now, you will be the same, except for the people you meet and the books you read." I agree with this to a certain degree, but it does illustrate how extremely important it is to read.

Without further ado, I would like to talk about some of my favorite books and why I think they're worth reading. I have so many favorites, but these are the ones I saw first on my bookshelf and grabbed in order to write about:

The Holy Bible

                             

I have read the Bible from cover to cover and found it to be fascinating. Even if you're an unbeliever or 'skeptic', there is still much you can appreciate about it such as the wisdom found in the Psalms and Proverbs and the history that can be found throughout. Of course this book bears special significance to me, as I identify myself as a Christian, but I think anybody reading it would walk away a better and more learned person afterward. It's also important to become familiar with the Bible because it is the basis of belief for billions of people worldwide and you can likely become better at understanding people if you know what's in this book. 

One thing off the top of my head that I find exceedingly interesting in the Bible is the description of how Christianity was founded. First of all, Jesus picked His disciples from a group of men who seemed to be largely uneducated and in many cases, bumbling. The Bible doesn't paint a very flattering picture of the disciples, but Jesus used them to convey his message to the world. When Jesus was crucified, many of his disciples abandoned him; they were scared and confused. They thought he was going to be a great leader and overthrow Rome's control of the Jews. After Jesus was executed,  their hopes and dreams were crushed---they thought the party was over. Even one of his closest friends/disciples, Peter, denied ever knowing Him the night of Jesus' trial because he was ashamed. Yet when Jesus had risen from the dead on the third day, it started a process where the disciples were so emboldened, they spread Jesus' message all over the world. How did the scared group of disciples before Jesus' resurrection become the bold, die-for-Jesus-fanatics they became after they saw him in the flesh after watching him previously being crucified and buried. I'm betting that the Bible is true and Jesus really did come back to life in light of this evidence. 

                                                  The Good Earth

Pearl S. Buck

I read The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck for pleasure reading when I was an upperclassman in high school. The setting of this book takes place in a China that Communism had not yet ensnared in its loathsome clutches, when the emperor still was in power. It follows the life of a Chinese farmer and it is what I believe to be an honest look at Chinese culture in the early part of the 20th century. I got attached to the characters and the book impacted me in a profound way, largely because it was a gritty and not-always-pleasant look of what Wang-Lung and his wife, O-Lan, had to go through on their journey in life.
I don't think I would have read it, had it not been for Grandma Mary, who bought me an exquisite hardback edition of the book for me. I remember in high school, my stringent, hard-nosed English teacher, Mr. H. required us to do show and tell. I tried to share the beautiful hardbound edition of The Good Earth my grandma had got me, but Mr. H. stopped me and made me sit down, saying "That's what book reports are for." I learned a lot from good ole Mr. H.
In any case, I strongly recommend The Good Earth as superior reading to build erudition. It's not for the faint of heart, but it's a strong story nonetheless. You will be glad you read it if you do.

Frank Peretti Books

I basically like anything Frank Peretti writes. In my personal library, these are the only books of his that I found at the moment: Piercing the Darkness and The Prophet. These two books came as a set along with a third, This Present Darkness, which was unfortunately borrowed by one of my Marine Corps buddies in Iraq and never returned. I'm sure it was not intentional. The books were sent to me while I was on my third deployment to Iraq by my wife's aunt and uncle. It was my parents, however, that got me hooked on Peretti's writing when I was just a boy; they bought me a set of The Cooper Kids Adventure series and I would stay up til' crazy early hours of the morning reading those books. Each one was so suspenseful, I couldn't put it down. 

Peretti is a skilled suspense-builder. He gets you so wrapped up in the story and with the characters that it's hard not to finish any of his books without doing so in one sitting. In his books, he writes about some pretty creepy stuff that I found fascinating. Peretti usually makes the villains in his book exceedingly evil; so evil in fact, that it's otherworldly.  If you decide to read any Peretti books, I suggest starting with This Present Darkness. I don't think you'll be disappointed when you finish. 

Pilgrim's Progress

John Bunyan

This confirmed classic by John Bunyan (Not to be confused with Paul Bunyan) is a rich allegory in which the pilgrim named 'Christian' is confronted by the obstacles encountered in the life of an actual Christian person on their journey/walk through this temporal world we live in. Part two of the book is about Christian's wife, Christiana's journey through life as a Christ-follower.

The book was very popular in its day and still remains popular over 300 years later. It is an unusual way to describe what the Christian encounters through life because it personifies adjectives of challenges and types of people a person will run into. I remember it being a captivating piece of literature; reading it for the first time as a child and the second time as an adolescent. I am due to read it again soon.

I also read a biography of the author of Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan, and it was fascinating.  I would suggest Pilgrim's Progress and a biography of John Bunyan to anyone. 

Contours of Christian Philosophy Series

Edited by C. Stephen Evans

This series of books were the required reading materials for the Philosophy 201 class I took at Liberty University while pursuing my baccalaureate. The philosophical content of these books blew my mind at first because it taught me to think a way I hadn't before. The books not only instruct the reader on Ethics, Metaphysics, Epistemology and Philosophy of Religion, but teaches the reader Christian Apologetics: How to defend the Christian Faith in philosophical discussions. It really opened up my eyes to the reasons of why I believe the way I do. Even if you're not a Christian, it's still an educational, informative read. Some of the concepts are harder to grasp for younger people and I would not recommend these books to children simply because of that fact. Philosophy 201 was one of the hardest classes I have ever taken, but I was able to get an 'A' because it was so interesting that I soaked up the knowledge contained in the course material like a sponge- much of it being in the "Contours of Christian Philosophy" series.

I had originally planned to write about more books and authors in this blog article, but that will have to be saved for a different time because this article is getting quite long. The important take-away for my readers is to be well-read. It will increase your critical thinking-ability as well as your level of erudition. In our society, it is very useful to be well-read; it helps a person know and understand history, to relate well with others and have a knowledge and understanding of important literature. All of these things contribute to the erudite individual living a better and more fulfilling life. 

What books have you read that have had an impact on your thinking and/or worldview? Which books from the ones I presented to you in this article look interesting? Please leave your comments in the section below.

What You Should Know About Going To College Part II

Part Two

What Degree Should I Pursue?

For a long time, I didn't know what I wanted to be when I 'grew up' in a manner of speaking. One of the many reasons why I joined the Marines was because I did not yet know what career I wanted to pursue or how to get there. I had some college credits through the local community college by taking advanced classes in high school when I first joined the Marines, and I had my military training, much of which was recommended for college credit by the American Council on Education (ACE). I began going to Central Texas College and started on a 'general studies' associates degree. I was within three classes of graduating when I decided I didn't really need an associates degree at the moment and transferred to Liberty University, which accepted all of my other previous credits, including my military training. Liberty is a full-fledged University accredited to award associates, bachelors, masters and doctoral-level degrees. I began to pursue my baccalaureate when I knew I was interested in psychology and helping people surmount obstacles to reach success in life. This decision was spurred by my becoming a Career Retention Specialist in the United States Marine Corps where I started helping Marines build a vision for their future and helping them accomplish goals. An interesting anecdote, at this point is that I wrote the Wikipedia page for Marine Corps Career Retention Specialist.

When you first start college and don't know what degree you want to end up getting, I suggest pursuing a degree in general studies or a related field so you make sure you get all the basic required classes completed that are relevant to most degrees. In almost every instance at a regionally accredited institution, you will be able to change your major. Most degree plans require a substantial amount of electives, which gives a student a chance to take classes they are interested in and see if they want to make a career out of one of the subjects of those classes. Another strategy to implement when trying to decide on a major is job shadow someone in the profession you are interested in. Many organizations, especially nonprofits, will jump at the opportunity to have another volunteer intern (This is also a good strategy for getting a job).

You do not usually need an associates degree in order to pursue your bachelors degree, however, you usually need a bachelors degree in order to pursue a masters-level degree and usually need a masters degree to go for a doctoral degree. There are many exceptions to these rules, though. The average time commitments for degrees with the student attending full time are as follows: associates, two years; bachelors, four years, masters, two to three years and doctoral-level, two to three more years. Exceptions to this, though, are always the rule and you will generally find that every school has different requirements. Keep in mind that masters and doctoral-level degrees tend to be more specialized and a bachelors degree most often has you complete a more varied education. ***Handy Note*** A bachelor's degree is often called a baccalaureate, pronounced 'backa-lore-et'. See Merriam-Webster's definition if you don't believe me :-)

If you are one of the few who know what they want to do right after high school, congratulations; you are on a set course and will hopefully be pursuing your life's work shortly after graduation. In my own personal experience, females more often than males know what degree and occupation they want to pursue right away. Do yourself a favor: don't pursue a degree just because of the money you will make if you complete it. Pick an area that you are interested in and a degree that you can foreseeably make a good income at, as well. It wouldn't make much sense to become an architect if you hated drafting in high school or pursue a medical degree if you're squeamish around bodily fluids. Follow your dreams and develop a good plan to get there.

Online, On Campus, Blended?

 Keep in mind that I am biased in favor of online education or blended formats because that is where the majority of my college education comes from. I have attended many on campus classes in such subjects as American Government, Writing 121,122 and 123, Introduction to Probability and Statistics, Introduction to Mass Communication, etc. I do enjoy on-campus classes, but I don't have the most time in the world, and I think I learn better in an online format.
With online classes, missing a lecture is irrelevant. You have all the material you need when you order your course material and the instructor or school adds the content of the course. I also don't like spending gas money to get to and from campus and having that block time commitment. I can do my online classes at 10:30 PM at my desk in my underwear. In addition to this, I am a working adult with a family so to have the extra time commitment of on-campus classes is not very realistic during this current stage of life.
The benefits of an on campus college education are many, however. Some people may view this as a detractor, but at an actual college campus you can have a complex and interesting social life and get to interact with students, staff and faculty from all walks of life. In addition to this, you can play sports at the campus and do scholastic activities. Some people collectively refer to this as 'the college experience.' It's something that, for the most part, I missed out on and replaced it with 'the Marine Corps experience', having to get my college here and there.
My point is, you can get a quality, accredited education in an online, on campus, or blended format. Different occupations require different formats of college courses, so do some research into occupations you are interested in before getting your heart set on a particular format. You may also want to ask a potential future employer to see if they prefer to hire candidates that graduate from online or brick and mortar institutions. Many times, it does not matter, but to some employers and in some professions, it does matter. An important thing to note is that most colleges do not specify if the degree was earned on campus or online on the actual diploma if they maintain both an online and brick and mortar campus.

Conclusion

I believe you, the reader, now have enough information to successfully pursue a college education. It's never too late to get more education. If you would like additional information, please leave a comment on my blog or shoot me a message. Anytime you notice errors on my blog, please let me know and I will investigate.

What You Should Know About Going to College Part One (U.S. Specific)

Part One

In my opinion, most people of average intelligence or greater should attend college and get a degree. There are many colleges out there, and you may see a lot of ads online and on billboards across your town advertising the advantages of attending a specific institution of higher education. With so many colleges vying for your attention, time, energy and money, there are a few things you should know before even contemplating the allocation of your resources towards post-secondary education:

Accreditation

Is the college you plan to attend accredited by a legitimate accrediting agency? There are a lot of phony accrediting agencies out there and phony colleges that pretend to be accredited, but the legitimate colleges and accrediting agencies are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. To learn about accreditation in the United States, click here.
Unfortunately, some people have found they have a worthless degree at the end of their college program at an unaccredited institution because the place they attended is not legitimate. If you are planning on attending a college, do your due diligence in making sure your short list of schools includes institutions that are all legitimately accredited. To see a listing of all legitimate accrediting agencies, go to U.S. Department of Education Recognized Accrediting Agencies

Nationally or Regionally Accredited?

If you know exactly what you want to do and are sure you will be doing it for a long time, then a Nationally Accredited Institution may be right for you. These places of learning are usually for technical or trade schools and often offer specialized training in specific vocations. You have probably seen many of these places advertised during daytime television for such things as medical billing, medical assisting, dental assisting, computer drafting, cyber security, criminal justice, etc. If you want to get into a specialized trade, then a Nationally Accredited school may be what you want. Degrees from these institutions, however, are not as prestigious or recognized equally in the academic world as compared with degrees from regionally accredited schools. You would almost think it would be the other way around, huh?
Regionally accredited institutions of higher learning usually offer a well-rounded education that gives you training in writing, history/social studies, mathematics, psychology, computer technology, literature, philosophy, arts, physical fitness, business and science in addition to the courses in your major. General requirements for each institution vary. Religious colleges will often require some classes in their particular set of religious beliefs. I personally recommend attending a regionally accredited institution, but I am biased. The college I attended for my baccalaureate, Liberty University, is accredited by SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) and the college I currently attend, Corban University, is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities; both of which are legitimate regional accrediting agencies.

 

Paying for College

If you live in the U.S. then the federal government can help you pay for school. Let's face it: most Americans do not save enough money for college or have the money to pay for it outright, so they must rely on grants and loans to pay for their education. You can get information about federal student aid at www.fafsa.gov where you can apply for a Pell Grant (money you do not have to pay back) or Stafford Loans (money you DO have to pay back). I suggest approaching loans with extreme caution: debt can be crushing and suffocating. For certain aid programs, like the Pell Grant, you will have to qualify financially.
There are a variety of other grants and loans you can apply for, also, but ensure you go through scrupulous agencies for these. Some places might try and trick you into a scam or high interest loan. I could go on and on about student aid, but it would take a long time.
Scholarships and grants can be found on such sites as www.fastweb.com. College 'ain't' cheap, but financial help can be had. Even your intended college can help find you grants and scholarships to pay for school at their institution.
As for me, I paid for college using the military benefits of active duty tuition assistance and the Post 9/11 (Chapter 33) GI Bill to pay for college, in addition to the Pell Grant for my undergrad. I have no student debt. Being in the military is a major commitment and requires a lot of sacrifice, but it does offer major benefits such as money for education.



To Be Continued...

This  blog post is becoming quite the novel and I need to move onto other things for now. I will be back later with part II, which will hopefully conclude today's blog about attending college. Readers, feel free to comment and leave suggestions. You can also ask me questions about education; I am quite knowledgeable :-)