Here’s Part II, enjoy!

PART TWO

Decision 2: Decide where you will go.

When I talk about the school year, I am not only talking about the time you are in the classroom. I am talking about from the first day of school until your last day of exams. This includes your weekends, evenings and holidays.

Where do you want to go this year?

Think about taking a road trip with some of your best friends. Maybe you could take a graduation trip to Europe or a spring break trip to a different city nearby. Why don’t you jump on the bus and go visit your grandparents in Chicago or uncle in Seattle. Get together with your friends one weekend, go stay in the city and volunteer for a group that builds houses for low-income families. Go to a state/provincial leadership conference to meet new people and get revved up for whatever club you belong to.

Decide to go somewhere.

It’s so important to get away during the school year. Taking a little weekend trip or spring break adventure can help rejuvenate you and help get you refocused on the things you are working towards. These trips can give you opportunities and experiences that you wouldn’t get anywhere else. Depending on where you go and what you do, it could be something you are able to flaunt on your resume or college application.

These trips have the potential to completely change your perspective.

Decide now, where you will go this year.

Decision 3: Decide what you will do.

Will you try out for the basketball team? Will you run for student council president? Are you going to study Spanish or enter the dance competition?

How will you leave your mark on this year?

School has so many opportunities for you to get involved. There is something for everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re quiet, loud, artistic, technical, creative or organized, there’s something for you to do, some way you can us your skills and passion to do something cool.

Push yourself to go outside of your comfort zone a little. If you are deathly afraid of public speaking, maybe running for student council president isn’t for you. But you could always volunteer for the prom committee, where you may have to present an idea to a small group of your peers.

Decide to do something.

So many people go through high school without contributing. And by not contributing to your school, community or your future you are robbing yourself of experiences that could change the path of your future.

Decision 4: Decide who you will be.

This is the most important decision you could make.

When I moved to Japan, I had the opportunity to be whoever I wanted to be. Nobody knew me. I could’ve walked in my office on day one and been as cool as Jay-Z, as loud as Dane Cook or as personable as Ellen. I got to decide who I would be and how I acted and that in turn would affect how I was treated and remembered.

This school year, you get to decide who you will be. It doesn’t matter if you weren’t a leader last year, you can be one this year. If you were introverted and quiet last year, you can be more outgoing this year. If you were rude and obnoxious, you can decide to be polite and helpful. You can be whoever you want to be. I am not telling you to be a fake, I am telling you to be who you want to be.

Every school year (actually, every minute of every day) you get to reinvent yourself as the person you want to be.

Decide now, who you will be this year, then, be that person.

Leaving the school year up to chance or destiny is lazy. The only way you are going to have a great year, is by deciding to have a great year. The only way you are going to get what you want, go where you want, do what you want and be who you want, is by deciding and cutting off every option until you do.

Decide now to make this year the best year possible. Don’t do it for me, do it for Neo.

Neo, any final thoughts?

My name is Neo

Umm thanks…

You were right. It was inevitable.

It’s never fun saying good-bye to summer. You had a great time. Maybe you went to the cottage, or maybe you traveled abroad. You probably had a family BBQ where you had to tell your grandma that you actually liked her potato salad even though she mistook onions for potatoes and mothballs for eggs.

Whatever you did this summer, chances are, it was a good one. Summer usually is.

That brings us here. September. Not only is it the month that Lil Wayne, Beyonce, Hilary Duff, Keanu Reeves and Dr. Phil were born in, it’s usually the month that school starts.

We all know Keanu Reeves as Neo in The Matrix Trilogy and since he was born in the month that school starts, I decided to ask Neo if he had any advice for this upcoming year.

Hey Neo, any advice for people starting a new school year?

I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid… afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin.

Wow, that’s deep. Isn’t that a quote from The Matrix?

I know kung fu.

That actually doesn’t make any sense at all.

Okey dokey… Free my mind. Right, no problem, free my mind, free my mind, no problem, right…

Ok, now you’re just quoting random lines from The Matrix and this isn’t working how I thought it would. Thanks for nothing Neo.

I’ll take it from here.

This year is your year. You get to decide what kind of year you are going to have. If you had a crappy year last year, you can make this one better. If you didn’t make many friends, you can change that now. If you weren’t as involved as you’d like to be, this year you can be as involved as you want.

There’s one thing you need to do to make this year the best year ever… decide.

Decide this year will be different. Decide that you will get involved. Decide that you will try-out for the team or audition for the lead role. Decide to volunteer for an awesome organization or decide to put your photography skills on display for the yearbook committee.

There are four decisions you can make, right now, that will help this year will be the most awesome school year of your life.

Decision 1: Decide what you will have

What do you want to have this year? Do you want 90% in your chemistry class? Do you want a new group of friends? Do you want a sick part-time job to help you pay for University?  Do you want the reputation of being a leader?

What are the physical and measureable things you want this year? Decide now. Don’t talk yourself out of the things you want. Don’t tell yourself that these things aren’t realistic. Set the bar high.

There’s no magic wand to wave to get the stuff that you want. There’s only decision. The decision to have something, the decision that it’s realistic to have and the decision to start now.

Once you’ve made the decision, stick to it. Cut off every other option until you have these things. Decide how you will stay focused. Decide what you will sacrifice to have these things. Decide that you will not lose focus until you have them.

Decide.

PART TWO COMING SOON…