4. Best advice from a movie...

"Don't ever let anyone tell you you can't be something - not even me. People can't do something, they want to make you think you can't do it. You got a dream, you need to protect it. You want something? Go get it. Period."

-advice given by Will Smith to his son in The Pursuit of Happyness

Bear with me here, for I know that Hollywood isn't the best of advisors, certainly not the best of Gradvisors... but I do have a good point to make.

Think back to all the times in your youth, or in your schooling when some authority figure told you to "be realistic," or to set your goals to a more "attainable height." Speaking from personal experience, nearly every aspiration that I ever expressed that somehow fell outside the realm of realistic, or normal was met with resistance by my so-called advisors: teachers, managers, parents, even peers. In nearly every case that "guidance" came from a person who was unhappy with their current situation, they were somehow dissatisfied with how their career or life turned out... perhaps not overtly dissatisfied, but somehow quietly disappointed by their life... they harbored a type of silent, secret misery.

Today, with the wisdom of hindsight, I can very clearly see why people do this... misery loves company. That is the only reason that people like this say negative things to disparage others from pursuing greatness, or happiness. If they can convince enough people in their social circle that it is hopeless to transcend "the average," then they don't have to worry about anyone they know making them feel inferior.

The truth is that no person is inferior to another person, and no person is more or less capable than another person. However, some people have the courage and the fortitude to pursue, with vigor and confidence, their lofty dreams. Others, for fear of failure, will not. Will Smith, in the above quote, was teaching his son the value of having the courage and fortitude to dream big, and execute.

Today, the Gradvisor encourages each of you to think long & hard about how you want your life to be... what do you want to do, how do you want to feel, what things do you want to experience, or see, or have? Engrain those things into the very fiber of your being. And then pursue them with all the strength you can muster.

There will be much more to follow on this topic.

-The Gradvisor