Going the Distance in Life

Going the Distance in Life

Creating Something Bigger than Yourself

There are a number of ways to accomplish things. Before the task is done, there are a few steps. You have to figure out what you want to do, have a plan to do it, determine any materials necessary to complete the task, start the process, modify when necessary and then complete the process. There may be some other steps but I think you get the idea. The big question is “What is the benefit?” The benefit part always has some type of reward. It can be material gain, avoidance of discomfort and/or pain or just for the joy of it.

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When thinking about a career, we often look at the material gain part. How much will it pay? What is the benefit package? What type of working environment is it in? All of these are based on certain conditions and considered “Conditional Motivations.” In looking into careers, these conditional motivations are one of the elements of choosing a career and what type of preparation we are going to make to be successful.

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Conditional Motivation is great in the short run. Yet when challenges come or the process becomes difficult or boring, there has to be some additional motivation or we crash and burn. “Crash and burn” comes in various ways, underproduction or burnout being two obvious results.

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The alternative is an internal motivation for a purpose larger than you, that larger purpose being something that you find fulfilling and worth the effort. Many people choose pretty difficult tasks in nasty circumstances yet they complete them and in the end enjoy the results. That type of motivation is considered “Intrinsic Motivation.” Conditional Motivation is good for short-term rewards along the way. The benefit is lost once received and spent. Intrinsic motivation is a stronger motivation tool because the benefit is never used up. It can be a strong memory or seeing the results played out on an ongoing basis.

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Action Time.

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If you are a student, take some time to consider your source of motivation. Grades on a test or in a class are short term rewards and fade after received. They are great “Conditional Motivators.” They help along the way. Try thinking about the long-term reason for your studies and preparation.

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Look for the big long-term purpose. For the visual types, try making a picture of the results and post it in an obvious place where you see it every day. For the auditory type, try making a short recording, put it to music and listen to it on a regular basis. For the hands on learner, make some physical object you can hold to remind you of the end you are going after.

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When challenged, revisit your Intrinsic Motivator to help go the distance. I would look forward to hearing what your motivators are and what tools you use to remind you of where you are going.

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Come over to our website specifically designed for college preparation.

www.lifeprepcollegeplanning.com

To Jump Starting Your College Life!

Coach Rossitto

 

 

 

 

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor.  Member FINRA/SIPC

The LPL Financial Registered Representative associated with this site may only discuss and/or transact securities business with residents of the following states: AZ, CA, MD, NY. TX

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How to Appeal a College’s Financial Aid to Receive More

How to Appeal a College’s Financial Aid to Receive More

Dealing with a Low Ball Offer

This month, we have been going over various types of grants. The last part of this series is perhaps the most important. It has to do with getting schools to compete for you after they have sent a formal offer. The bottom line is you can appeal to the school for more money. This can happen in a couple of different ways. The first is due to hardship. If your family has experienced some financial hardship in the last year that makes the Free Application for Student AID (FAFSA) unrepresentative of your current circumstances, you can appeal to the financial aid officer and present your case. Bear in mind that these have to be legitimate family issues; a parent that was recently laid off their job, a sickness in the family, or some other valid reason. Vet bills for your favorite horse probably don’t apply. Financial officers have the ability and discression to adjust expenses due to out of the ordinary new circumstances. They are people too and have a heart.

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The second appeal is to simply ask for more dollars. Schools can and do low ball their first offers. There is information available that estimates the average percentage of “need” that a college will provide. If the figure you receive is significantly below that average for you as a student, the school is attempting to low ball you. In this case, you can go back to the college and indicate that their offer is below what you believe you can afford and thus ask them to sweeten the pot. If you are a student they want to fill their seats, they are often willing to do so. It never hurts to ask.

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The last appeal is based on competition. If you have a school that wants you and you want to go there but another school is offering a better package, tell the lower bidder. Explain the situation. Express the fact that you would like to go to their school but have other offers from other quality schools that are more cost effective. Provide the low bidder the details of the offer and ask them to meet it. If they want you and the offer is truly competitive, you may be surprised to see how the low bidder will work to get you into their school. Worst case is they won’t do it. Best case is they can up the grant and save you significant dollars.

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Action time.

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College education is a business, a big one. It works like a business in its dealings. While not quite the same as the corner used car lot, there are issues to be considered in reducing your costs and trying to obtain the best deal and still receive a quality education. I would look forward to working with you to help you receive the best value for your education dollar. Feel free to email me of give my office a call for an initial consultation.

Come over to our website specifically designed for college preparation.

www.lifeprepcollegeplanning.com

To Jump Starting Your College Life!

Coach Rossitto

 

 

 

 

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor.  Member FINRA/SIPC

The LPL Financial Registered Representative associated with this site may only discuss and/or transact securities business with residents of the following states: AZ, CA, MD, NY. TX

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Get your Professional and Personal MOJO

Get your Professional and Personal MOJO

If you want to learn how to fish, watch and learn form a great fisherman. If you want to get better in a sport, you learn and practice under a good coach. Concept is learning from and emulating the habits of pros.

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I recently had to opportunity to read MOJO by Marshall Goldsmith. Marshall is recognized as one of the best executive coaches in the market place. This is a concise little book that covers a lot of territory in a few pages. There are lots of great ideas and you can pick up some of them from his site, www.mojothebook.com .

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There is one I would have you consider. Here is his chart (well, it is my chart with his stuff!).

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Professional MOJO                                     Personal MOJO

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M         K         A          C         A          T          H         R         M         L          G         T

o          n          b          o          u          o          a          e          e          e          r           o

t           o          i           n          t           t           p          w         a          a          a          t

i           w         l           f           h          a          p          a          n          n          t           a

v          l           i           i           e          l           i           r           i           i           i           l

a          e          t           d          n                      n          d          n          n          t

t           d          y          e          t                       e          s          g          g          u

i           g                      n          i                       s                                               d

o          e                      c          c                                                                       e

n                                  e          i

                                                t

                                                y

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So, what do you do with it? Well, every day, list out the activities when you do them. Then, grade yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 (Be honest as you are the only one that is going to see it.). Try doing this for a few days or a couple of weeks. I am betting you will see a pattern in both the activities and the grade you give yourself.

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Action Time.

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So, here’s the deal. Check out the activities and your grade. Are the activities something that benefits you in the short run? How do they impact you or others in the long run? If they are of benefit in both the long and short run, yet you score low, what are some ways that you can increase your scores? If they benefit you in the short run but not in the long run, are there better uses of your time that are more satisfying and help you reach more important goals? What steps are you going to take to change your scores or the activities? Try making a list in your journal and sharing them with a few close friends. Post them someplace you can see them to remind yourself. Now, put a date on your calendar to revisit what you wanted to accomplish. On that date, write me a note and let me know what has happened and your good success. If you want a coach to help you flesh these out and keep you accountable, we can do that too. I would look forward to hearing from you.

Come over to our website specifically designed for college preparation.

www.lifeprepcollegeplanning.com

To Jump Starting Your College Life!

Coach Rossitto

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The opinions voiced in this material are for general information and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor.  Member FINRA/SIPC

The LPL Financial Registered Representative associated with this site may only discuss and/or transact securities business with residents of the following states: AZ, CA, MD, NY. TX

 

Power through Storytelling

The Power of Great Storytelling

How you can you recreate your message using storytelling?

That had been a long day. Many patients had come to see Dr. Jess. One had a leg all swollen up, another had a fever, some had eye problems, and that lady, well, we never knew her problem. The line seemed like it would never end but it did. Dr. Jess dealt with each one, prescribing just the right remedy, taking care of them right there and then. It was amazing to see him at work and the smile on their faces when they left.

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We all needed a break after that day. It had been a long week. Pete, a fisherman, had a small sail boat docked down at the lake. Jim had a cabin on the other side of the lake. The whole office, even Dr. Jess (he often went on short vacations with us, you know), climbed in and off we went.

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All was well, at first. The lake was quiet and the wind just right.  We should have been there in a couple of hours. Dr. Jess sat toward the back of the boat and fell asleep, fast asleep. He must have been really drained.

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We started joking and laughing, sort of loud, loosening up after a hard day.  He, Dr. Jess, I mean, he was really out. He usually joked and teased with the best of us and always had stories of his own to tell. But tonight, for him, lights out. He just sort of sat there, leaning on the side of the boat, lost in sleep, his body rolling gently with the waves.

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Then it hit. A wind from the south came like a blast; the lake, it became foaming walls of water, driving the boat like a leaf in a hurricane. Water came in from all directions. We were all drenched. A couple of us quickly tried to row, others tried bailing water, all were panicked, except Dr. Jess. I got a glimpse of him. He was soaked from head to toe, water splashing on him all the time but he was still asleep, I mean hard asleep. I couldn’t believe it. Wind roaring, water flying, boat pitching. How could he sleep through all this?

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Pete and John (they’re some of the physicians’ assistants, you know) started shaking him, I mean really shaking him, panic kind of shaking. I couldn’t hear what they said, I can only imagine. He was standing now. His look wasn’t panicked though. It was sort of calm. Then I saw his mouth move. I couldn’t hear because of all the wind but I saw him say “Peace.” He no sooner moved his lips and roaring stopped. Then I heard him quiet but forceful like say, “Be Still.” He motioned to the waters with his hands. The lake turned to glass. I mean right that moment. Whenever I think about it, well it’s still hard to believe.

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That water was smooth, smooth as glass and the air, quiet peaceful like. It’s still hard to believe.

Dr. Jess received a call from his father and needed to go back and work on their family ranch. His father owns a construction company and wanted Dr Jess to work on some homes they had in mind for their staff. They’re generous that way. He left us to manage the office. We hired some more Physician Assistants and opened some more offices. It’s a pretty big operation now. We email Dr. Jess quite regular and he gets back to us. Sometimes it’s a bit delayed but he always gets back. It is always good to hear from him. Not quite the same as when he was here, though. I sure do remember that day, just like it was yesterday.

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I wanted to share with you my latest work from a current storytelling class.  It is true that one can more eloquently express a point or principle through the power of storytelling. Well? Does this story resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

Come over to our website specifically designed for college preparation.

www.lifeprepcollegeplanning.com

To Jump Starting Your College Life!

Coach Rossitto

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The opinions voiced in this material are for general information and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor.  Member FINRA/SIPC

The LPL Financial Registered Representative associated with this site may only discuss and/or transact securities business with residents of the following states: AZ, CA, MD, NY. TX

 

What You can Learn from a Toddler About Achieving a Goal

What You can Learn from a Toddler About Achieving a Goal

 

Have you ever noticed the issues involved with a baby learning to walk? I mean, really? Here are some things I observe. First, the distance down is relatively short. Second, they are fairly light so any downward impact is relatively small. Third, their body tissue is flexible and soft, less susceptible to any great damage. Next, they are surrounded with examples of successful walkers whom they observe constantly. Lastly, they are undaunted by the task. They try over and over again, making large mistakes at first while programming their hard drives with small bites of muscle memory.   Then the mistakes are less and less until they have mastered the whole process, one they will use for the rest of their life. All the while, they are enthusiastically and joyously pursuing the goal, usually with the smiling and loving support of walkers with varying levels of experience around them.

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Action Time!

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When you want to take on a new task, surround yourself with experience of all levels and watch. Focus on the process. Expect mistakes, usually big ones at first. Understand that the size of the mistakes will lessen over time. In the beginning, use material that can easily and inexpensively be replaced until you are ready for the finished product. Have people close at hand, who have experienced similar challenges, survived and will encourage you forward. Ignore the unwilling or those who only want to crawl or sit. Chase after it with gusto and choose not to give up. Enjoy the journey. What strides are next? I would look forward to hearing about your next stroll.

That was short and sweet! (The last blog was rather lengthy!)

Come over to our website specifically designed for college preparation.

www.lifeprepcollegeplanning.com

To Jump Starting Your College Life!

Coach Rossitto

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The opinions voiced in this material are for general information and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor.  Member FINRA/SIPC

The LPL Financial Registered Representative associated with this site may only discuss and/or transact securities business with residents of the following states: AZ, CA, MD, NY. TX