Copy Right -Understanding the art of learning from others -Part 14

Set your priorities Right.

Have you ever witnessed a dispute between students over their performance, especially when one thinks he should have a better result or grade than another student? Have you ever felt you could not learn from another person because of some of the errors or mistakes they have made? Have you ever thought that you deserve more, and another person should have had less? You are not alone; many share similar experiences in our world today.

It is interesting how life works, and also how many people are ignorant of how things work. One of the vital school lessons is the understanding of the grading system. It is an insight into the method of assessment for the course you have chosen to study. The information is provided as early as possible before any action -right or wrong, is assessed to ensure everyone is starting from the same fresh slate with the same opportunities. It usually states courses and their level of importance, with some compulsory, some electives and in some cases some do not even have any score, they are just for information. They also explain how each score translates to a final grade. It helps students to prepare and prioritise their actions, but many people neglect, trivialise or reject this to suffer the consequences afterwards.

There are different grading systems used around the world, but there is something similar to most if not all of them. It is the fact that a range of marks represents a grade. For instance, in the UK, you will be awarded the highest possible class, if you have a score of between 70 and 100 inclusive. Typically, 60 to 69 form a lower grade, followed by scores from 50 to 59. The scores 40 to 49 represent the next lower category. The scores below this score bracket represent a fail. Any score within the range has the same grade, and one score below the minimum drops you to a lower class. A score of 69 could be a second class while 70, 71, 99 or 100 is still a first-class. You may understand the feeling of a student that lost a higher grade by one score and another that could not improve his class even though he has nine scores above the minimum required.

It also implies that the best student in a particular discipline does not need to score 100 to be in the best group. He does not need to know everything; he does not need to be perfect. He needs to know at least 70% of the relevant things to be graded as such. Those that failed may have a better knowledge of so many others things and probably do well in many other things, but they are graded as failures because they do not have the relevant marks as required by the course of study to be in the category of those that have passed. The system rewards only those whose priorities match those set by the institution. If the compulsory course is not vital to you, no matter how brilliant you are in every other subject, a failure in the mandatory will automatically make you a failure by the grading system.

It is a vital lesson in life. The best student in the class does not mean the best student in everything or the best student in the world or every area of life. It is the student that best aligns his/her priorities with that of the course. A professor of sciences does not mean he knows everything about sciences but enough to earn a degree to practice in the field. He still has faults; he is not an expert in everything. He may have so many things he can teach others about sciences, but probably there are some other areas of life that he does not have a clue. It is surprising how many people depend on those that could not help them. A mechanic that has done a professional work on your car is not the best person for your toothache. A good man that is respected and loved may not be able to help you when you are in crisis, because he may not have what you need.

Many people excel and become experts by getting their priorities right and focusing on what is critical to achieve their goal. If you know the core part of the course and devote the necessary time and focus, you can earn a good grade. It implies that you may have neglected some other things to achieve this one goal. It all depends on what is important to you. Some other people may have different or more priorities and would have done well in many of those areas, instead of doing excellently in one at the expense of so many others. A couple with children may not be willing to sacrifice family time to achieve only one goal, but manage their priorities to ensure they do not achieve one great success which will then adversely affect their family. We often neglect this factor when we compare or copy others. We may not have the same priorities, or we may not understand the grading systems well enough to do what is required to excel.

Many cannot come to terms with the success of some people. They have done what is required to excel in their field. Some may focus on their weakness, but they have done well regardless of that. They understood the system and aligned their priorities accordingly. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg left Harvard to focus on something more vital to them. The degree was not the most important to them but a future they are capable of building. They have opened the world to great opportunities because they have done what is most important to them, and they excelled. Sometimes some people neglect one thing so that they can achieve another, it may seem they have failed in one, but it is because it was less important to them compared to some others.

You may have wondered why a Manufacturer will be happy to lose when a customer is not happy with a purchase. They prefer to replace the item at a loss to the company. It is because the satisfaction of the customer is more important and to protect the name or brand is a higher priority. It may not be the best economic strategy for maximising profits, but something is more important than profit that the Manufacturer would prefer to succeed in.

Many have succeeded in one area of life at the expense of so many other areas of their life. Some have done well professionally while their health, social life, relationships, family or some other areas that could affect their lives have suffered adversely. A few have focused so much on making money but neglected the well being and development of their children. They succeed in one aspect, but the failure in one neglected area robbed the joy out of the other. Some have made financial fortunes by taking advantage of the vulnerable; gain was more important, but they failed to realise that they have sown an evil seed that will yield corresponding fruits.

It is good practice to evaluate your priorities and ensure they reflect what you desire to achieve. Ask yourself sincere questions before you decide to do what others are doing; What is the most important thing to me, and what do I need to do to fulfil it? Will I neglect my priorities by doing this? Is this in line with what I consider vital? Will this cost me by damaging what I value? Does this reflect my values? Will I achieve this at the detriment of something critical to my future or that of others? Be sincere and truthful. Choose right. The people you desire to follow may be behaving the way they are because of what is uppermost on their list. Set yours, look for what you need, do not focus on others, stick to what is most important to you.

To be continued next week, don’t miss it.

I hope you have found this post valuable, please leave a comment below and share with others. Send in your questions or contributions as well if you have any, I will be glad to hear from you.

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