Is there a difference between being a perfectionist and setting goals that are too high?
Should any goal ever be considered unattainable?
I'm asking myself these questions in light of my final grades for the semester that were posted yesterday. The last grades before graduation. They weren't the straight "A"s I had set my sights on. I got all "A"s in my program of study (meaning, all four of the performance-based classes I took) and "B"s in Abnormal Psychology and Macroeconomics (my electives). I am grateful for the "B" in economics because at one point in the semester I was overwhelmed and panicking, thinking that I was failing the course. If I could have just brought up my psychology grade I would have made Dean's List one more time, and my graduating GPA might have been a little bit higher.
What I'm trying to focus on is the same thoughts I coached myself with when I didn't get Distinguished Graduate. "I am not a failure." "This is not a measure of my success." "Look at all the real world progress I've made in my field." At some moments those mini pep talks work and at others they don't.
Something I took away from studying economics that applies to my current musings is the principle of opportunity cost. Could have I gotten an "A" in either of those "B" classes if I had worked harder? Probably. But could I have been as great a stage manager or performer if I had devoted more time and energy to doing other homework? Possibly not.
I was recommended for and got a temporary job at a big theatre downtown. The recommendation came from the director I stage managed Spring Awakening for (he currently works at the theatre). The aforementioned opportunity cost? Here it is in action: I'll be working for the next few weeks in their box office, and he's trying to recommend me to their resident production coordinator as a stage manager! I'm going to do my best to focus on walking through the open doors outside the classroom, and stop looking back on small disappointments.
1 comment:
I think your assessment that it would have cost too much to get As instead of Bs is dead-on and a very healthy way to deal with your own disappointment.
In the long run, the real world stuff is MUCH more important than grades. Honestly, you don't even put your GPA on your resume more than a year or two after graduation cause no one in the real world really cares about that.
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