I’m currently reading Samuel Adams: A Life, by Ira Stoll. The biography of one of America’s Founding Fathers chronicles the role that Samuel Adams played in declaring America’s independence from Britain and the leadership role that he played during the Revolutionary War and the post-war period that followed.
Although I’ve just started the book, it reminds me of a very important principle.
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In the previous post titled “Determinig your Acts of Initiative- Part III” we looked at developing your leadership ability through being willing to increase your flexibility when faced or requested to do an univiting task in answer to Question #4. , which is part of a discussion on increasing your odds of winning admission to the Air Force Academy by increasing your initiative.
This post is part of a series called “Determining your Acts of Initiative ,” which is part of a discussion on increasing your odds of winning admission to the Air Force Academy by increasing your initiative.
Throughout these posts, I’ve asked you a series of 5 questions to help you to discover 5 acts of initiative that you have taken within the past year. I’ve also shared with you in this series of post thoughts on why your answers to the questions that I’ve posed could be considered to be acts of initiative.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then please visit a post that I wrote, titled “Have you been exercising initiative lately?”, and then check out the post “In what ways have you been exercising your initiative lately? ”
Even if you’ve come up with your 5 acts of initiative on your own, you’ll probably want to review the “Determining your Acts of Initiative” as well as “Determining your Acts of Initiative - Part II” , and “Determining your Acts of Initiative - Part III” post so that you can catch up to where we are now. No worries; this post will still be here when you get done reading.
Let’s discover another act of initiative by looking at Question #5 ……..
5. Do you remember a time during the past year when you were a bit apprehensive or unsure about trying something new, but you went ahead and tried it anyway? Maybe it was trying a new sport or learning a new skill, or helping someone else? What happened and what were the results?
No one likes to look foolish. But at times it seems as though there are a lot of opportunities out there to look exactly that way, doesn’t it?
Maybe you were the first one to volunteer in the classroom to present the results of a difficult problem, but your presentation didn’t go quite as well as you had hoped.
Maybe you were trying out for a new sport, or trying out a new drill in a sport that you already play, but your performance didn’t go as well as you had hoped.
If you’ve been there, I’m sure that you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Or maybe everything went great. You did something that you were uncomfortable with, maybe even a little bit scarred, and it went much better than you thought that it would.
Whether that situation went as you hoped that it would or whether you instead feel as though you came up short, there’s something that I want you to know.
You won.
I’m not saying that you necessarily won at this attempt.
You won because you decided to surrender yourself to the process that provides for success.
When you see someone else achieve a big success, all that you typically see is the end result. What you typically don’t see is the anywhere from 1 to 15 or more years that it typically takes to acheive a substantial level of success.
Between the time of that first effort when most people are trying to achieve something and the success that finally comes, there is typically some failure, a some improvement and then probably some more failure, and then maybe a long span of time where it doesn’t seem like much is happening.
But staying committed to going through that process and focusing on actions that you can take to improve your peformance are your keys to success.
If you feel like things aren’t happening fast enough or are still a touch worried about trying something new, you may want to think of your path to success as if you were a beginning golfer.
You probably know a golfer. If not, then you’ve likely seen one on TV, or you’ve at least seen one as you passed by a nearby golf course. What you may not know is the process that golfers have to go through to be assigned a handicap.
Whether they take some lessons, watch some videos, or get some pointers from a friend, most beginning golfers spend many hours on the driving range before they ever play their first round of golf.
A lot of times, a golfer will play several rounds without scoring at all so that they can focus on technique without getting frustrated by the score.
To be assigned a handicap, a golfer must have at least 10 scorecards that are signed by both the golfer, and by someone who has him or her on that round.
Why am I telling you this?
Well, look at it this way. As I just said, a golfer needs to have someone accompany him or her on at least 10 rounds of golf. A round of golf is 18 holes. Let’s say that each one of those holes is Par 3. (”Par” is the number of strokes that you should need to put the ball in the hole.)
That’s 10×18x3 =540. That beginning golfer will likely have a minimum of 540 times for things to “not go as well as he hoped” in front of someone else.
And since beginning golfers are highly unlikely to make Par on every hole, that number will likely be a lot higher.
Yet in spite of that reality, I see golfers as I drive past various courses all the time.
Your success is a process. Keep focused on staying with and improving within that process. Any few ungraceful moments that you may experience are just part of the game.
Success is usually looking at things from a long term perspective and taking daily action to improve. That’s a good answer that you can carry with you to your Air Force Academy interviews, and it’s a great idea to put into practice in all areas of your life.
For more tips and strategies on how you can increase your odds of winning admission to the Air Force Academy, order a copy of the e-manual Zoomie to Be: How to Win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy right now by visiting www.airforceacademyappointment.com .
You can also get the manual in paperback at www.lulu.com/content/364596.
Until next time, use your initiative, get out there, and seize the day!
To Your Success,
Elizabeth
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In the previous post titled “Determinig your Acts of Initiative- Part II” we looked at developing your leadership ability through volunteering to take on additional leadership and administrative responsibilities in answer to Question #3, which is part of a discussion on increasing your odds of winning admission to the Air Force Academy by increasing your initiative.
In another previous post titled “Determining your Acts of Initiative,” I asked you a series of 5 questions to help you to discover 5 acts of initiative that you have taken within the past year. I shared with you in that post thoughts on why your answers to Questions #1 and #2 are acts of initiative.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then please visit a post that I wrote, titled “Have you been exercising initiative lately?”, and then check out the post “In what ways have you been exercising your initiative lately? ”
Even if you’ve come up with your 5 acts of initiative on your own, you’ll probably want to review the “Determining your Acts of Initiative” and the “Determining your Acts of Initiative - Part II” post so that you can catch up to where we are now. No worries; this post will still be here when you get done reading.
Let’s discover another act of initiative by looking at Question #4 ……..
4. Do you remember a time during the past year when you didn’t want to do something, because you didn’t feel as though you “had to,” or you just didn’t want to do the task in the same manner that you were being told to do it? Maybe you just didn’t like the current system that was in place, and you felt as though it was cutting into something that was important to you?
Did you then change your mind and complete the task, and realize that it wasn’t so bad after all?
Doing tasks that are less than thrilling are going to be a part of life, no matter what.
Sometimes you will have to do these less than thrilling tasks simply because they are a part of your job. Sometimes you will create these less than thrilling tasks becuase of actions you take, or perhaps, fail to take. And sometimes these less than thrilling tasks are created by others or by your environment.
If you have read Zoomie to Be: How to Win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy and are working hard to implement the necessary strategies so that you can win admission to the Air Force Academy, then my bet is that you have a very full and busy life right now.
You’re working hard to do well in school. You’re working hard to do well outside of school.
So while you’re cranking along getting all of this important stuff done in your life, all of a sudden, one of these tasks comes along that is - you guessed it- less than thrilling!
Maybe someone asked you to do something, and you didn’t realy want to do what you were requested to do. Maybe you disliked the thought of doing the task so much that you tried to convince yourself that you didn’t “have to” do whatever it was.
Maybe you’re pushed for time. Maybe you don’t feel as though you’ve received the proper recognition (or at least, the proper thanks) from the one who is assigning you the task. Maybe you’re convinced that you have a better way of completing the task than the way that you’re being told to do it.
In other words, in terms of your personal growth, doing this task just gets in your way, right?
Well, maybe it’s time to try a new strategy. In order for you to develop your own leadership capabilities in this situation, maybe it’s time to consider that having to do the task isn’t really the point of your new found “challenge.”
Please note that I didn’t say not to do the task that you were assigned, because getting the task done is precisely the point for whoever it was that assigned it to you. And not getting it done as quickly and as effectively as possible could make you experience a not-so-pleasant confrontation that you would probably want to avoid.
What I’m talking about is looking at completion of your assigned task as an opportunity to increase your own flexibility.
If you hop on over to www.merriam-webster.com and look up the word “flexible,” you’ll find a definition of flexible as being “characterized by a ready capability to adapt to new, different, or changing requirements.”
You will likely find that as you go the Air Force Academy Admissions process that your flexibility is going to be tested. Forms have to be completed, tests have to be taken, and any deficiencies that you may have will have to be overcome.
Flexibility will likely be one of the most valuable traits that you can posess as a leader. So whatever task you may be avoiding, make a commitment to yourself that you will take action now and record the results. You may find that the task wasn’t so bad, or that the method that you had to use to complete the task wasn’t so bad after all.
In any event, you’ll have something to write down or to talk about when someone asks you to talk about a time when you face a challenging situation with a co-worker, teammate, or boss, and how you handled the challenge.
And if you are going to be applying to the Air Force Academy, that is a question that you should be prepared to answer.
For more tips and strategies on how you can increase your odds of winning admission to the Air Force Academy, order a copy of the e-manual Zoomie to Be: How to Win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy right now by visiting www.airforceacademyappointment.com .
You can also get the manual in paperback at www.lulu.com/content/364596.
Until next time, use your initiative, get out there, and seize the day!
To Your Success,
Elizabeth
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In the previous post titled “Determining your Acts of Initiative,” I asked you a series of 5 questions to help you to discover 5 acts of initiative that you have taken within the past year. I’ve shared with you the thoughts on why your answers to Questions #1 and #2 are acts of initiative.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then please visit a post that I wrote, titled “Have you been exercising initiative lately?”, and then check out the post “In what ways have you been exercising your initiative lately? ”
Even if you’ve come up with your 5 acts of initiative on your own, you’ll probably want to review the “Determining your Acts of Initiative” post so that you can catch up to where we are now. No worries; this post will still be here when you get done reading.
Let’s discover another act of initiative by looking at Question #3 ……..
3. Do you remember a time during the past year when you volunteered to do something, maybe at your church or place of worship, or with a club or a sports team? Maybe with a local community group? What did you do, and what were the results?
Organizations, particularly volunteer organizations, are always in need of those who are willing to show initiative and get results.
Here’s something to think about. When you get involved in any activity, whether it is a sport, a volunteer organization, or your first job, there are three levels at which you can develop yourself.
A. You can do only what is required of you, and nothing more.
B. You can do more than what is required in order to excel at the job that you perform in that organization.
C. You can do more than what is required of you not only to excel at the job that you perform in that organization, but also to develop valuable leadership, organizational, and managerial skills to use in other areas of your life, even years later!
I’ll touch briefly on point “A.” right now………
In any activity you are involved in, you may choose to do only what is requested of you, and nothing more. You can do the drills that your coach tells you to do while giving your all. You can do the things required of a member of your club or local community group.
While doing things that are required of you are important, it won’t do a lot for you in terms of expanding your initiative.
Remember, the definition of initiative is energy or aptitude displayed in initiation of action. There is only so much that you can do to develop your initiative (or “initiation of action”) while performing actions that someone else has told you to perform.
Now let’s talk about point “B.“, which is doing more than what is required in order to excel at the job that you perform in that organization.
I’ll give you a couple of examples. Are you on the soccer team? If you play any sport at all, I’m sure that there are drills that you can practice on your own to improve yourself, outside of your regular practices with your team.
Are you involved with a local community group? Then I’m sure that there are extra tasks that need to be done to help keep everything running smoothly, which you can volunteer to do. Even if it is paperwork.
I realize that paperwork isn’t glamorous, but the truth is that much of what gets accomplished in this country happens with a certain amount of paperwork involved.
For example, a bridge that you may drive across on a regular basis didn’t just magically appear. It took the work of a lot of construction workers, but their work was preceded by a lot of paperwork, including architectural plans, material lists, budgets, estimated time of completion data, and so on. These are just a few of the things that have to be done before the bridge can be built.
In other words, by volunteering to do things that may be outside your job description or outside of the role that you play, you’ll likely not only perform your own job better, but you will help the organization that you are involved with to run more smoothly. You’ll also be developing your initiative.
Let’s now look at point “C“, which is doing more than what is required of you not only to excel at the job that you perform in that organization, but also to develop valuable leadership, organizational, and managerial skills to use in other areas of your life.
You can also view your participation in sports, clubs, or local community groups as a way to gain skills that will carry over into other activities in life. In other words, you should definitely work to excel in everything that you choose to do. But you should also take a look at what you can take with you that will help you to excel in other areas of your life.
For example, let’s say that you are on a soccer team. You work hard in practices, and you even practice on your own time. You’re a positive person, and you may have even been chosen as the team Captain. Or maybe you weren’t chosen as the team Captain. In terms of showing initiative, your position really doesn’t matter.
No matter what your position or status on the team, here is a great opportunity to develop your initiative and your leadership skills, which is something that the Air Force Academy admissions department looks for when you apply!
How, you may ask?
Well, let’s say that there are some weaker players on your team. If you have worked hard to develop a positive relationship with these players, you may find that a couple of them want to do additional work to improve their own playing abilities.
You could literally develop a “practice outside of the main team practice” in order to show these not as skilled players different drills and techniques. You could make out a written chart of where each of these players is in terms of skills (passing, dribbling, indirect kicks, etc.) and then work with each one to improve these areas. And you could also keep track of where each player is by keeping a special log book to write down what you are doing to improve each player, and any problems that you are experiencing and what you are doing to overcome them.
If you were to do something like this, you would likely improve your communication skills by mentoring the players that you were working with and instructing them. You would also likely improve your written organization and planning skills by sketching out what you plan to accomplish in advance of your sessions with the players. After all, you can’t “wing” your training sessions with them, otherwise both you and they are going to lose interest pretty quickly.
I’ve got more to say about this, so I think that I will continue on this same topic in my next post.
For more information on tips and strategies that can help you win admission to the Air Force Academy, get your official copy of Zoomie to Be: How to Win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy right now.
You can get a copy of Zoomie to Be in electronic format by going to www.airforceacademyappointment.com or in paperback by going to www.lulu.com/content/364596 .
Until next time, use your initiative, get out there, and seize the day!
To Your Success,
Elizabeth
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Okay, so if you are reading this post, I guess that you had a little bit of trouble coming up with 5 acts of initiative that you have taken within the past year. So let me ask you a few questions to prompt you….
1. Do you remember one time during the past year when you did something around the house without being asked to by one of your parents? What did you do and when did this happen?
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2. Do you remember a time during the past year when you learned something that was not required by your school, but you read and learned something because you wanted to know more? What did you learn and when did this happen?
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3. Do you remember a time during the past year when you volunteered to do something, maybe at your church or place of worship, or with a club or a sports team? Maybe with a local community group? What did you do, and what were the results?
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4. Do you remember a time during the past year when you didn’t want to do something, because you didn’t feel as though you “had to,” or you just didn’t want to do the task in the same manner that you were being told to do it? Maybe you just didn’t like the current system that was in place, and you felt as though it was cutting into something that was important to you?
Did you then change your mind and complete the task, and realize that it wasn’t so bad after all? Write down the circumstances and explain why you changed your mind below:
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5. Do you remember a time during the past year when you were a bit apprehensive or unsure about trying something new, but you went ahead and tried it anyway? Maybe it was trying a new sport or learning a new skill, or helping someone else? What happened and what were the results?
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If you have been able to come up with answers for the questions above, then congratulations, because you have just created your list of the 5 acts of initiative that you have taken within the past year.
Below I repeat the five questions, and I give you my thoughts on why these are all acts of initiative, at least in a sense….
1. Do you remember one time during the past year when you did something around the house without being asked to by one of your parents? What did you do and when did this happen?
Performing daily maintenance activities (such as chores around the house) isn’t necessarily going to be fun, and it may be a tad boring and mundane. But you will have to perform these activities at the Air Force Academy, as well as during your adult life.
When you look out for your own well-being and the well-being of your family by performing household tasks before being asked to do so, you are showing responsibility. And that’s what a leader does, even with tasks that are a tad boring and mundane.
2. Do you remember a time during the past year when you learned something that was not required by your school, but you read and learned something because you wanted to know more? What did you learn and when did this happen?
Think of reaching all of the goals that you have set in your life as if you were planning and building a house with a crawl space underneath.
Think of the crawl space as consisting of everything that you are required to do in your life. You are required to go to school, at least until you reach a certain age. As part of going to school, you are required to do homework. If you participate in other activities such as sports, you may be required to do other thing, such as attending and participating in practices.
So think of those “requirements” in your life as the crawl space underneath the house that you are trying to build. A crawl space gets the house off the ground. It’s very important and vital, but if you want to build a house, just having the crawl space isn’t enough.
You’re going to be mighty cold if all that you are left with is a crawl space created from the “requirements” in your life.
You need to add a frame. You’ll want to finish the house. You’ll even want to probably throw in some furniture, and a flat-panel TV! You’re going to get these things through the work and actions that you take outside of meeting all of the “requirements” in your life.
If this sounds like a bit of cold harsh reality, that’s because it is. I’m sure that there are times when many of us would like to believe that simply doing required tasks-and not pushing ourselves to learn more, to accomplish more, and to be more effective - will bring us all of the success and good things that we want in life. But it just doesn’t work that way, whether in school, in work, or in the way that you spend your free time.
So if you learned something new this past year on your own time, good for you! If not, then I encourage you to run to your local public library to find a book on a subject that interests you, or go to a local community center to sign up for a class or to take part in an event.
One final thought. Make that new thing that you learn something that will challenge you intellectually, physically, or spiritually. Learning how to play a new video game doesn’t count!
This is getting to be a sizeable blog entry, so I think that I’ll continue on with Question #3 in the next post.
Until then, use your initiative, and get out there and seize the day!
To Your Success,
Elizabeth
P.S. For more information, pick up a copy of the book Zoomie to Be: How to Win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy. You can get it in electronic format by going to www.airforceacademyappointment.com or in paperback by going to www.lulu.com/content/364596 .
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In a previous post entitled “Have you been exercising initiative lately?” I wrote about how it was crucial to develop your ability to take initiative in order to develop your leadership abilities. The Air Force Academy admissions department is looking for those who are consistently working to improve their leadership abilities.
Notice that I have the words “consistently working to improve” italicized and in bold face type above. In other words, it’s not enough to work on improving your leadership abilities once in a while. You must work to consistently improve your leadership skills on a weekly basis.
But here’s a couple of questions that I would like for you to think about:
I’m sure that at first glance, these may appear to be very simple questions, and you may be tempted to either answer them quickly or just gloss over them altogether. Resist that temptation.
If you reflect upon these questions and find yourself feeling uncomfortable, that’s expected. You should have to seriously question your own beliefs and dig into your own memory banks.
If you don’t experience the slightest bit of discomfort, then you probably aren’t getting the maximum benefit from this exercise. You wouldn’t go to the gym and not expect to feel a little bit of discomfort, would you? No, if you are still reading this entry, you want to develop your full potential. Go back and give these questions another try.
Whether you’ve quickly come up with an answer or have struggled to discover one, you may still be feeling a bit uncertain.
If that’s the case, Congratulations! Because you can’t come up with and put into action new and better solutions without a bit of uncertainty about the way that you are currently doing things.
Right now, though, it’s time to do a brief checkup on what you’ve done so far in the area of initiative.
So print out this blog entry, and fill in on the lines below 5 acts of initiative you’ve taken within the past year.
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If you can list out 5 acts of initiative that you have taken within the past year, that’s great! Hang on to this list, because as you’ll find out in future blog posts, you’re going to need it!
If not, no worries, because in the next blog post, you’re going to brainstorm and figure out new actions that you can take to fix this deficiency!
Now seize the day, have fun, and make a difference!
To Your Success,
Elizabeth
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I’m sure that if you are applying to the Air Force Academy this year, you have been working on getting yourself in shape. You’re either going to the gym or working out on a track or other arena indoors or out. Hopefully you have a consistent exercise plan and are following through on that. This also goes for those of you who will be applying to the Academy in a couple of years.
But today I want to talk to you about something else, and that is about exercising your own initiative.
If you hop briefly over to www.merriam-webster.com and type “initiative” into the online dictionary, you’ll see a few definitions. I know that you may already know what initiative means, but check it out anyway, because there is something that I want to make sure that you see for yourself.
Let’s focus on the following definition:
Notice how at the end of this online definition, Webster’s refers you to another word as well. The word is Enterprise.
Click on Enterprise, and you’ll find another usage that I want to focus on……..
When you start a project that no one has asked you to do, and you see it through to completion, you are using your initiative.
When you lend a hand to help someone if he or she hasn’t asked for help, you are showing initiative.
When you have an idea or a goal, and you work on it consistently to make it come true, you are showing initiative.
These aren’t the only ways that you can show initiative, and I hope that you can list out some examples of how you have shown initiative in your own life.
Do you see how showing initiative takes courage, though? Look at the definition for enterprise: readiness to engage in daring or difficult action.
Engaging in daring or difficult action doesn’t have to be as heroic as saving someone’s life; it can be as small as being the first one to volunteer to present when you are given a difficult assignment in a class at school. Or doing something that you have never tried before, especially if it is something that is way outside your comfort zone.
When you show initiative in these ways, it takes guts, because no one wants to make himself or herself look foolish, or do something and have it not work out.
But that’s the way that meaningful progress will happen in your life.
So I encourage you to build enterprise within yourself by looking for ways to exercise your initiative within the next few weeks. As you take action and push yourself in ways that may make you uncomfortable, you’ll be setting yourself up to conquer even greater challenges in the future.
The Air Force Academy admissions department is looking for those who have leadership qualities, and you can develop your leadership skills by exercising initiative on a regular basis. So get to it!
For more tips and strategies on how you can increase your odds of winning admission to the Air Force Academy, order a copy of the e-manual Zoomie to Be: How to Win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy right now by visiting www.airforceacademyappointment.com . You can also get the manual in paperback at www.lulu.com/content/364596.
To your Success,
Elizabeth
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Happy New Year!
I hope that you had an enjoyable Holiday Season, and I hope that 2007 is your best year ever!
Did you make any resolutions for the New Year? No matter what your answer is to this question, I wanted to give you a couple of things that you can take action upon during this New Year, starting right now.
One of my commitments, of course, is to give you the best possible chance to help you win admission to the Air Force Academy, and to succeed in life. So I want you to think about the following three ideas, and think about making these your commitments for your best year ever!
Your academic performance is going to factor heavily into the Air Force Academy’s admissions process. Sixty percent of your admissions that the Air Force Academy is going to assign to your application is going to be made up of your “academic composite score.” That’s made up of your G.P.A., your grades, and your standardized test scores.
Because academics is going to play the biggest role in the admissions process, doesn’t it make sense to make the best grades that you can possibly make?
So renew your commitment to yourself that you are going to make the best grades that you can possibly make in 2007. And to make the best grades that you can possibly make, you are going to have to renew this commitment every single day.
You will have to pass a physical fitness test to win admission to the Air Force Academy. The test includes a mixture of running, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and a couple of other events.
If you have never taken up running before, now is the time to start. Many communities have listings of running, bicycling, and multi-sport events available online. In Charlotte, it’s Active Zach http://www.activezach.com/ . If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, check out www.pctrailruns.com for trail running events.
No matter where you live in the United States, there should be an online forum listing of events near you. Cool running, http://www.coolrunning.com/, is a useful resource for finding out about some races in your state, and the website also has training suggestions and tips. Make sure that you check with your doctor before starting up a new exercise program.
But whatever you do, commit to getting in the best physical shape that you have ever been in this year. You’ll be better prepared for the Candidate Fitness Assessment, and you’ll be better prepared to handle everyday stress in life as well.
You can’t help but feel good about yourself if you know that you have contributed to someone else’s life. Whether it is as simple as donating blood or as involved as teaching someone to read, you’ll feel great knowing that you have made a difference.
As a first step, make a list of your interests and skills. You may want to start off by volunteering in a way that closely matches your own interests. For example, if you are interested in sports, you can volunteer to be a coach for a youth sports team at your local community center.
If this sounds like too much for your schedule right now, that’s OK. Just make sure to make 2007 a year of giving back, even if it is in a few small ways. You’ll be glad that you did.
If you have purchased my manual, Zoomie to Be: How to Win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy, you should quickly see how these commitments fit into your overall plan for winning admission to the Air Force Academy.
If you haven’t purchased the manual yet, make that your first step right now. Hop on over to www.airforceacademyappointment.com . You can also buy the manual in paperback at www.lulu.com/content/364596 . Get your copy right away.
To your Success,
Elizabeth
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I recently gave a two-hour seminar based upon the manual that I wrote: Zoomie to Be: How to Win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy. It was very well received by both the participating students and their parents.
One of the first things that I did during the seminar is that I had each student fill out a questionnaire. Here are some of the questions that I asked:
Some of the participants had absolutely no idea how to answer these questions. They had no idea what their G.P.A. is, no idea about what their class rank is, and no idea what the average high school G.P.A. of the entering Air Force Academy Cadet is.
How will they get into the Air Force Academy, you ask?
I have no idea.
Just kidding. The whole reason that I had each student fill out the questionnaire was to see how clear each one of them was on what he or she had to do to win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy.
In the process, I also had to make them look at some hard truths about themselves, which isn’t always easy. It’s tough for us to look at our own faults sometimes, but it is also a very necessary step toward getting where you want to go. You can only create the right solution to achieve a goal when you correctly assess your current situation.
When you want to reach a goal, it is all about having clarity. For every major success that I’ve had in my life, it was because I had total clarity.
And for every single time that I’ve failed to reach a goal, although there may have been other factors involved that were beyond my control, lack of clarity or fading clarity on my part usually showed up too.
And that’s what I wanted to show my students. Getting into the Air Force Academy is long and complicated process. And it’s all about having clarity.
How clear are you in terms of where you stand in your own Air Force Academy admissions pursuit? Do you have a written, workable plan in place to get yourself admitted to the Academy?
You owe it to yourself to take a hard look at those two questions that I’ve just asked you, and to keep taking action upon them until you have total clarity about where you are now, and how you are going to get yourself into the Academy.
If you would like more tips and strategies, please check out my manual, Zoomie to Be: How to Win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy available in downloadable format at www.airforceacademyappointment.com or in paperback at www.lulu.com/content/364596.
To your success,
Elizabeth