Norton: some quick tips for students of all ages

Recently, a former colleague of mine encouraged her daughter, who is a sophomore pre-med student, to contact me and ask me the question, “What is the best advice you would give to a student?” When I received this request, I thought about it for a long time. While writing these answers for her, I was reminded that these tips apply to all of us when we stop and think about them. I hope there is a post here that applies to you as well – so please take a look at my answers as follows:

Never settle in life. You’re committed to med school and that’s great, we need brighter, more compassionate doctors. Never settle for less than you want or deserve in school, in life, in your quest for the right job when you graduate, and never settle for romance (these are words I preached to my own daughters).

A lesson from Sandler that I learned a long time ago was about “equal stature.” Even if you are in your second year, your knowledge and wisdom can make you wiser than your years. I share this because sometimes in school and at work, people don’t respect young students or new employees enough. Carry yourself with confidence. There are three keys to success: trust, trust and trust. Trust in yourself, trust in your knowledge and skills, and trust in your heart and compassion. It will never let you down.

Always be curious. The smartest person in the room is not the one who talks or teaches. The smartest person in the room is the one who asks the best questions. It works at school, at work, and in social settings. Too often people talk/bragging about themselves, and that’s usually a dump, don’t you agree? But the person who asks big questions seems to command more respect. It’s good not to have the answers, and it’s even better when you have the courage to ask the questions.

Keep your head and your heart. We can be, do and have anything we want in this world. Unfortunately there is a lot of noise. People try to pressure others into their beliefs. So watch what information you allow into your head and heart. Our sources of support are essential to the success of life. This also goes for the people in our lives. Are they toxic? Negative? Do they drain our energy? These are the people you need to avoid, and if they are already in your life, take the time to walk away, no matter how hard it may seem.

Finally, create your word bank. You probably haven’t done this in a long time or even heard the expression in a while. Too often people are not ready or equipped for confrontation, conflict or disagreement. When we’re not ready, if we haven’t built our mental model of how we would react instead of reacting, and if we don’t have our keywords in mind and in our hearts, we can miss opportunities. to diffuse situations.

On the positive side, when we have our word bank visible and in mind, we tend to lean into the words, and they bring joy to our day and to every interaction we have with anyone around us. People like positive people. Some of the words in my word bank include love, forgiveness, grace, kindness, beauty, humility, generosity, abundance, encouragement, hope (that’s a big word me), gentleness, compassion, patience, endurance, determination and confidence.

Thanks for the opportunity to connect. If you ever want to talk about this advice, please let me or your mom know, and I’d be happy to jump on a call because I live by this philosophy I learned from Zig Ziglar, “You can have everything in life you want if you help enough other people get what they want If you want, next time we can talk about goals and accountability/accountability partners.

You probably have even more and possibly better advice to offer, and I’d love to know what that would be at gotonorton@gmail.com. And when we never settle, we’re always curious, we keep what’s going on in our hearts and minds, and we have our bank of positive words ready to go, it really will be a better than good life. .

Michael Norton is an author, personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encouragement and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations in multiple industries.