| Successful Students | Struggling Students |
|---|---|
| Accept PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, seeing themselves as the primary cause of their outcomes and experiences. | See themselves as Victims, believing that what happens to them is determined primarily by external forces such as fate, luck, and powerful others. |
| Discover SELF MOTIVATION, finding purpose in their lives by discovering personally meaningful goals and dreams. | Have difficulty sustaining motivation, often feeling depressed, frustrated, and/or resentful about a lack of direction in their lives. |
| Master SELF MANAGEMENT, consistently planning and taking purposeful actions in pursuit of their goals and dreams. | Seldom identify specific actions needed to accomplish a desired outcome. And when they do, they tend to procrastinate. |
| Employ INTERDEPENDENCE, building mutually supportive relationships that help them achieve their goals and dreams (while helping others do the same). | Are solitary, seldom requesting, even rejecting, offers of assistance from those who could help. |
| Gain SELF-AWARENESS, consciously employing behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes that keep them on course. | Make important choices unconsciously, being directed by self-sabotaging habits and outdated life scripts. |
| Adopt LIFE-LONG LEARNING, finding valuable lessons and wisdom in nearly every experience they have. | Resist learning new ideas and skills, viewing learning as fearful or boring rather than as mental play. |
| Develop EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, effectively managing their emotions in support of their goals and dreams. | Live at the mercy of strong emotions such as anger depression, anxiety, or a need for instant gratification. |
| BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES, seeing themselves capable, lovable and unconditionally worthy human beings. | Doubt their competence and personal value, feeling inadequate to create their personal outcomes and experiences. |
From Skip Downing, On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life. Houghton Mifflin.