Today, I was given the opportunity to staff Super Saturday with the Ohio Association of Student Councils. This leadership and self growth based organization has been an integral part of my life for the last four years. I wanted to share some of the knowledge I gained from this event today.
We ended the five hour session discussing the malicious nature of procrastination. If you want to have a laugh, check out this TEDTalk. The speaker, Tim Urban, talks about the 'Instant Gratification Monkey' procrastinators have trapped in their minds. This monkey seeks the easy and the fun. The monkey's behavior is okay when the pleasure is deserved, but when play takes the place of hard work, people can experience self-hatred and guilt. We all have succumbed to these feelings. When working with a deadline, the 'Panic Monster' appears and attempts to combat the procrastination with adrenaline and an urge to quickly finish. It helps in situations like when you have a paper due the next day. The issue with procrastination, according to Urban, is that the 'Panic Monster' doesn't tend to appear with tasks that don't have a deadline. Activities like exercising, spending time with your family, and working on relationships don't have immediate negative consequences if you avoid them. There is no deadline, but the long term damage can be severe. Typically, the things in our lives without deadlines matter more than the things with deadlines.
Along with most of society, I have succumbed to procrastination. Whether it's pushing off studying off a test until the day before or neglecting to run and exercise, I've been there. I feel motivated to fight back by using my time wisely and productively.
Connie Miley, the Middle Level Coordinator of OASC gave us an example of somebody who didn't procrastinate on his dream. Patrick Klein founded the iBELIEVE Foundation which pays for students to attend leadership training events. Patrick started small at first, funding around 30 kids to come to Summer Workshop (one of OASC's most coveted events). Now he sends hundreds upon hundreds of kids to events. If Patrick had held off on his vision and simply waited, countless high school students would be deprived of this life-changing experience.
So thank you Connie Miley and the other adult staff for facilitating this awesome event today! Thank you to Patrick for being one of my biggest role models and for encouraging me to pay it forward.
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| My group for today's event. |
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| Our keynote speaker, Kent Julian. |
If you're interested in learning more about OASC and The iBELIEVE Foundation, please feel free to ask me or check out their websites.
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