If we were having coffee for the first time to discuss your college and career plans, it would not be long before I’d draw a “V” on a napkin and begin to ask about your “Life Wedge.” That is: “What are you passionate about?” And, “Do you sense that your commitments are helping to get you where you hope to go?” Okay, and then the big question: “Where is your life headed?” Like a wedge for chopping wood, I’d note that the sharper and narrower your Life Wedge, the more successful you’ll be in reaching your goals. “Do you know the top five time commitments that mainly fill up your Life Wedge?” I’d ask. We’d then jot them in the “V,” and then I’d say, “If you continue to do these, will you reach your goal?” If not, “What changes do you think you need to make?”
Yeah, you might look at me a little bit funny, especially when you thought we were just going to chat about your class schedule, roommate, or home situation—the typical talk with a new professor. Oftentimes students immediately note that they do not have a main goal or a “purpose” that could serve right now as a target for their Wedge—ah, and that’s a great beginning. In the book ahead, we’ll look at your Life Wedge in that context, and within a few chapters, we will have a clearer understanding of where your Wedge is headed. Likewise, we’ll look at the types of commitments you need inside your Wedge to reach your goal or fulfill what you might consider your life purpose.
Through the years, many students have e-mailed or called me to share something like, “Hey Professor, let me tell you about my Life Wedge!” or “Dr. P., I know I graduated years ago, but could we meet to talk about my Life Wedge?” Usually, the latter type of conversation is about a major job decision or an opportunity that will take the person’s life in a different direction (i.e., point his or her Wedge in a slightly different direction—oftentimes, closer to the cause he or she really wanted to pursue from the early days of college).
Before we’d leave the table, I’d share the following mantra: “The dream needs to be stronger than the struggle.” Although a clear Life Wedge and reasonably aligned activities are important, ultimately it is our passion for the purpose or target of our Wedge that sustains us—no matter how well we plan. We all have our struggles, and obstacles can range from the mundane to all-encompassing scenarios. Having a well-conceived dream and Life Wedge, one that is attached to noble ends, will lead to a more fulfilling life and, in the process, a more successful college career.
I would be remiss not to share the beginning stages of this book, before you begin to read it in earnest. As I have traveled the country, providing workshops for colleges large and small on the subject of “student success” and “student motivation,” I came to realize that more than 90 percent of the more than 400 colleges I surveyed focused very little on the types of things I just mentioned. Many had robust programs that indeed were necessary and very helpful, but they focused more on keeping students satisfied with their college experience rather than on identifying and pursuing students’ life purposes or goals. They focused on the external instead of the internal. Most colleges provide rather important help in the areas of student support, such as note taking, time management, and reading skills, but these areas are often detached from any semblance of the students’ Life Wedges. It is not an either/or proposition, that is, a focus on skills or on life purpose. Rather, we need to give attention to both. We need to begin with questions about your life purpose—what will eventually motivate you to succeed, while simultaneously building your skills and talents to reach those goals.
A few months after drafting some of the key chapters of this book came the horrendous morning of 9/11.
Most people born before 1992 have rather clear memories of where they were when they learned of the terrorist strikes. Whether people were 10 or 100 years old, they likely have vivid memories of seeing the terrible images for the first time or watching the second building collapse on live television. For me, the day after was also memorable—and it relates directly to one of the chapters in this book. I stood before my class of nearly 200 new students to give a lecture printed weeks earlier in the syllabus schedule: “September 12, 2001: Heroes and Noble Causes.”
As you might imagine, this day was indeed different, but the topic could not have been timelier. The room was packed with visitors, from concerned friends of those enrolled to various media personnel. I was still as stunned as my students about what had happened, and yet we found ourselves together for a scheduled teaching moment. Life went on, even when many lives had just been lost and others were still trapped beneath the New York rubble. It was surrealistic. Professors and teachers across the world were trying to find connections with their scheduled lectures, even though the life lessons, sorrow, and concern were sometimes overwhelming.
In that crowded room, we unpacked the basic differences between noble and ignoble causes, how to come to choices about such matters, and the motivational value of attaching our best energies to worthwhile causes about which we are passionate. By looking at heroes’ beliefs and decisions, we were able to frame the discussion and begin to chart some common characteristics among the causes we selected as noble, as well as common character traits of our heroes. The key lesson had a direct application to students’ college experience: If you are passionate about a cause, you are likely to be motivated. And students who develop an overriding passion for a cause are more likely to succeed than those without such interests.
We were able to use a simple Life Wedge diagram to explain this point and to chart our heroes’ actions and pursuits along with our own. If we think of our commitments in terms of a Life Wedge, such that those that are most important drive toward a target, then it is easier to keep our priorities in perspective. In fact, it can prove invaluable in striving for goals.
During our next class, we discussed the “Crossroads Principle,” or when events cross our lives’ paths, and how such encounters help shape our views and give us direction. Although many of these intersections might seem uneventful at the time, they provide reference points recalled years later. Others, like 9/11, are shared intersections held in common for generations. Almost unanswerable questions emerged on that particular day—“How would you have reacted if you were at the World Trade Center on 9/11?” and “How will your life be different having had such a catastrophic event intersect with your world?” Events like 9/11 cross our paths without any decision on our part. Others can be much more intentional or for positive reasons. We will look more closely at these events in the chapters ahead.
Of course, the tough part about motivation is staying motivated. We can get distracted by more than the big obstacles. We also can be distracted by experiencing a sort of “vertigo” or imbalance. We will consider the different ways we become more easily distracted, as well as a plan for ways to remain aware of these encounters. There is a way to be proactive instead of reactive.
Throughout the text, you’ll be asked to write down your reflections, moving from the “Big Picture” to your picture, gleaning insights from a larger discussion to inform your Life Wedge. One of the toughest aspects of college can be finding connections between a current assignment and your future. Sometimes it might be a stretch to see any connection, but usually we can find them. Some of the assignments will be especially helpful with this aspect.
The Purpose-Guided Student is about you, and it’s about a purpose of your choosing … a purpose that will guide you, motivate you, and, if all goes well, a purpose that will benefit from you. Education in its purest form is never just about the learners but about the learners’ contribution to something greater than themselves.
2010