GROWTH HACK – Assess your Environment…

Surround yourself with likeminded people – Some personal lessons from the Semester founders direct to you….

“Surround yourself with people you can always learn something from. Always work with people that are better at their craft than you are.”

Tony Vincent

‘Surround yourself with likeminded people’, is a phrase commonly thrown around within the personal development field, and although it may seem quite cliché, there is most certainly value in this common message.

Over the last eight weeks, we have experienced the value of this saying first-hand. We have been involved in something called “the Teesside Launchpad FUEL programme“, which has essentially been an intense business program, taking us through our paces and challenging us in new ways. It is this programme that has now offered us the opportunity to directly impact your future personal growth and wellbeing as we now have sufficient funding to deliver the first Semester Student Planner in January 2021.

Quick Tip: If you have ever had your own business idea, many other universities have similar programme. So stop holding back on your great ideas and see whether there is a launchpad of your own where you could start building your dream idea!

During this time, we have been fortunate to speak to other businesses owners, both new and existing. This has been valuable for us in getting around other likeminded and driven people. It has led to networking opportunities, as well as allowed us to get creative ideas from other talented people, it has allowed us to learn from others experiences and receive valuable lessons at the start of our journey. We have received valuable mentorship from the leaders on the program who have helped other business owners to significant success previously.

This is where we have seen first-hand the value in the motto ‘Surround yourself with likeminded people’.

Recognising the importance of your environment is enormous in your own journey of personal development, going from stressed and overwhelmed student to one of success and fulfilment.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

Jim Rohn

“Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future”

Dan Pena

These are just some of quotes which we have heard in the past. Again, to many they may just seem like typical cliché quotes that don’t really apply to real life…but we have certainly experienced the transformative effect that spending time with people operating towards similar ambitious goals.

And the key message in all of this is…SO CAN YOU!

As a student, if you want to achieve your optimum grades and personal goals, spend time with students who are after the same goals.  We do not know your own personal goals; however, our advice would be to find people who have already achieved something similar. Spend time with these people, reach out to them. The great thing about our modern world is everything is much more accessible now more than an ever. There are forums, communities, we can message people at the click of a button…Today we challenge you to assess your environment, who is in it? Are there people who can push you towards your goals? If not, can you start to seek out these people?

So…take the time right now to do the following…

• Get clear on what your main goals are for the year, Semester or month ahead (if you need help with setting goals read our previous blog here) Once you are clear, write them down on a piece of paper.
• Now, think about the type of person you will need to become in order to reach these goals. If it helps write a future “persona” of the person you will be once you achieve these goals.
• Next, probably the most important part of this…write down all of the people or groups that you know who have either achieved similar or are on a path towards those goals.
• Equally as important…write down a list right next to that of all the people you currently surround yourself with who are the complete opposite.

This is a quick and easy assessment that you can do on regular intervals. It will create direction in your life and will absolutely lead to more success in your life.

To continue our personal and business growth we will be reaching out to more business owners for advice on our own journey. This will mean that we can deliver our vision for the students of the future much quicker than we could on our own.

As well as this, do not be afraid to reach out to us. There is huge value in community which is why we created our slogan #LetsGrowTogether. We want to build a band of like-minded students, so be sure to share your journey with us and the wider Semester community! 

If you found this article useful, please let us know in the comments below! Or share it with your friends! Additionally feel free to follow us on our social platforms below where you will find more content like this to support you on your academic personal growth journey.