Most people have a list of life goals that include the phrase “to be successful at …” However, failures are an inevitable part of life; a part that cannot be avoided, and people must learn to plan for setbacks as well as working for triumphs. Although failures cannot be avoided, the chances of failing at specific tasks can be reduced through various strategies, including persistence, planning, and problem-solving.

Persistence

In order to be successful at anything, people need to understand that failure must not stop them from trying repeatedly. For example, if an individual has set a goal of learning to type, they must understand that the goal cannot be achieved in a single day or even two. Rather, persistent practice and the desire to succeed will allow the individual to master the required typing techniques, and in a short span of time.

Planning

Furthermore, in order to succeed, it’s important to always design a contingency plan so that the next best alternative can be adopted with relative ease if the initial plan is not successful. For example, if someone plans to give a speech to a large audience, they need to be aware that there’s a good chance that there will be a momentary distraction during the speech that can result in the that person forgetting where they are in the speech. This will require a contingency plan, not to prevent the distraction, but to compensate for it. It’s useful to have a short quote or phrase relevant to the speech, or a brief outline on a piece of paper, ready for referral if the speech is forgotten midway through. Moreover, chances of failure can be reduced by practicing the speech repeatedly before the big day in front of friends and family. This will ensure that the speech is delivered perfectly in spite of distractions.

Some might consider this kind of thinking as “planning to fail.” On the contrary, it’s planning to succeed. This strategy simply means that you go through the various possible outcomes (including failure) and work out how you will respond to each before the fact. Learning how to re-start a speech midway through is one such strategy, but there are many others.

Problem-Solving

An individual that aspires to be successful in everything and anything must be prepared to deal with all of the various scenarios that can arise during the actual execution of the plan. This does not only require contingency plans and practice, but rather also requires the confidence that success can be achieved despite the odds. It is important to believe that you are capable of carrying out a task, regardless of the many distractions or things that could go wrong, instead of thinking you cannot do it without even trying.

Having confidence in your ability and devising strategies beforehand can allow you to succeed at virtually any task that comes your way. It’s possible to do anything very well, from typing really fast to giving a speech without any anxiety, if you plan and practice for it.

Just take the time and figure out your plan of action before you start. You can be successful at anything you want, as long as you have planned in advance, and have also “planned to fail,” so don’t think that anything is out of reach for you. It’s possible to do anything we set our minds to – anything at all.

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It might be true that university life is nothing like it was 15 years ago. The Internet has overhauled how our academic life is now experienced; from Wikipedia to Massive Open Online Courses, our academic performance and potential are ever-growing. But as scientists and IT specialists delve deeper into how university students can make the most of their academic potential, new ideas in the form of apps and online platforms are coming into being, to make student life a bit easier and perhaps a lot more bearable.

Sumpto

As with any social group, some people tend to be more popular than others. The Sumpto developer, a 2011 graduate by the name of Kosinksi, conceptualized a way he could take advantage of university-level student popularity. Sumpto is fundamentally a point-collecting platform that allows students to collect rewards and ultimately have brands and other commercial companies shower them with free samples, discount promotions, deals and promotions on yet to be released products. Not too shabby, right?

Those students that gather certain amounts of rewards by connecting their Facebook, Twitter and other accounts with Sumpto are then given prizes in form of free promotions and exclusive deals. Similar social influence platforms already exist, but Sumpto is the first to solely target college students.

Sumpto is a digital tool which even though it steers away from the educational aspect of universities, it offers a great way of enjoying one’s popularity in a persistently tangible manner.

Ultimate Typing™

You write assignments and mid-term essays, you tweet and Facebook a lot, you text with your smartphone, all day and especially all night.

Students and younger adults tend to spend a lot of their time tapping on keys, be it on laptops, PCs or smartphones. This makes it very clear that poor typing skills can lead to extra hours in front of a laptop or computer. And if we are to be honest, university life is not meant solely for indoor activity.

Software like Ultimate Typing™ is designed to effortlessly and easily improve typing speed and accuracy, thus saving many typing hours for students. With a scientifically designed structure and a research-based approach informed by the latest methodology on efficient typing technologies, the software offers students the opportunity to get the skill of accurate, lightning fast typing.

Piazza.com

Forums and discussion boards are the most popular Q&A platforms students use to ask and answer questions, and learn information pertaining to their classes. Today one company is attempting to entirely replace these outdated Q&A platforms with a more streamlined and efficient platform: piazza.com.

Piazza.com is already used by renowned universities including MIT, Berkeley, and Stanford and its popularity is ever-growing as more people realize its usefulness in the educational realm. Piazza allows people to ask and explore different aspects of their classes, to ask or answer questions, and provide their own notes to help other students with their studying or assignments.

The platform functions like a forum where a class is created and then pertinent questions are asked. People have the chance to explore different replies, provide their own reactions, and overall contribute actively in the understanding  and dissemination of knowledge outside the class.

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Setting goals is relatively easy, while achieving them is sometimes quite difficult. This means that many of us fail to achieve most of our goals. Inability to achieve goals is often largely due to the fact that the goals set are unrealistic and unachievable in the given circumstances, or that we fail to take measurable steps in order to achieve the desired goals.

Setting goals involves a simple procedure that starts with initially identifying a motivation to achieve the goal. The goals you set must be specific and define what you aim to achieve. You must also decide the course of action that you will take in order to achieve the desired goal. Secondly, all goals must be measurable. Finally, you must initially start small rather than trying to achieve long term goals in a short span of time. This means that the goals you set must be achievable and realistic along with being time bounded.

For example, simply stating your goal as “losing weight” might not ultimately lead you to achieve your goal. You must break it into short term goals and identify a time period while also quantifying the goal. A more realistic goal will therefore be to “lose X pounds per week by exercising and dieting regularly.”

You must also try to enhance your accountability as this is likely to force you to work on habits that will ultimately help you in achieving your goals. Furthermore, you must learn to be lenient on yourself. So what if you have not been able to lose precisely the weight that you aimed for that week? Learn lessons from your failure and move forward to achieve better results next time. Keep remembering your source of motivation and this will push you towards achieving your goals.

Remember, goals are not made to be left unfulfilled. Your serious determination and hard work will allow you to achieve your goals in the stated time period.

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Focusing on delivering a “perfect” project usually results in cost overruns and missed deadlines. Designing and developing a perfect project requires perfect working environment – something which is seldom found within the complexities of the real world. A perfectionist is often unable to add value to the project, and instead can create stress and tension for co-workers and colleagues working on the same tasks.

Focusing on minute details from the beginning of the project often results in unnecessary delays which might be costly for you or your business. The key is to initially focus on completing the task at hand rather than ensuring that every tiny detail is perfect. Once the project is up and running and the main design is completed, the remaining time can easily be utilized to polish the work and make sure that there are no obvious mistakes. Over-obsession with perfection can prove to be dangerous for you as the task at hand might never get completed, and you might end up losing interest in that project altogether.

Perfectionists are usually obsessed with ensuring that no mistakes are made during the course of the task and a typist can be a perfect example of a perfectionist. If you’re a touch typist then you’re working without actually glancing at the keyboard, which means the slightest mistake you see on the screen might make you feel obliged to erase the data immediately and rewrite it, rather than continuing on with your typing. However, even if you don’t make lots of mistakes, it might be more efficient to wait until you’re finished, and then go back through and correct all the mistakes at the same time. This will give you the chance to review grammar and word choices as well. In addition, you can let the spelling and grammar checkers generally available in the word processing program help you with this task, rather than staying on the “perfectionist” side of the issue and believing that you have to do all the corrections yourself, without relying on outside help. Such a perfectionist attitude might actually result in more effort and time being expended during a task than would otherwise have been required.

This by no means indicates that “getting it done” is always better than striving for perfection. It simply means that the last few hours, minutes, or days of the project development cycle can be used to rectify mistakes, and the initial focus must be to lay the foundation and convert the ideas into action.

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We tend to associate music with going out, clubbing, restaurant background music, or a relaxing Sunday afternoon at home. We rarely associate music with work, as we tend to think of it as a distracting nuisance. However, this is far from truth: the right genre of music can actually boost productivity and even increase our momentum to work past our productivity plateau. That’s the magic of music.

Since in our minds music and pleasure are closely related, when we incorporate music into less pleasurable tasks (i.e. at the office, lab, or study room) we adopt the feel-good vibe music provides, which ultimately translates into a boost in productivity or a more refreshed approach towards an already tiring and tiresome task.

Music apparently allows us to transfer all the positive emotions and moods caused by listening to it, wherever and whenever the music plays. It doesn’t matter (much) whether you listen to your favorite jazz music at a retro jazz bistro, or at your desk, because the emotions it stirs in you will still be the same. While in the club you’d be dancing and moving to the rhythm, at your desk this energy translates from the physical to the mental, boosts your working pace, and lets you finish up a task much earlier! Music positively impacts our mood and emotional state, and fortunately this ability is transferable. It’s not only limited to specific situations (clubbing, hotel lounges, restaurants) but applies to almost any type of location or space we find ourselves in.

Numerous studies have shown how music is beneficial for work-related productivity. Should you or your manager use background music at the office, make sure to opt for instrumental music, as lyrics or the latest music hits tend to have the exact opposite effect on productivity and concentration.

The most significant benefits you can expect to gain from listening to background music while you work include the following:

• Your mood tends to become more positive. You’re more likely to gain a fresh and possibly even better perspective on the task at hand, or come up with solutions or better ways to tackling it.

• It boosts your morale and your confidence as it floods your brain with feel-good stimuli, making it much easier for you to tackle complicated tasks.

• Even if you have no substantial productivity boost, you will get to feel a bit happier, which is still pretty significant!

• Tasks such as touch typing or speed reading a report are done with an accelerated rhythm thanks to the boost music gives you.

• It pumps up your energy and motivation to finish a difficult task you’ve been avoiding and postponing that has been haunting you for some time now.

• Slow-tempo music near the closing of your work day will help you relax and provide a sense of serenity and fulfillment after a thoroughly productive day. It’s a self-rewarding kind of present you can give to yourself daily.

It’s free and easy. It’s one of the most efficient ways you can instantly boost your mood at work. It gives you a sense of pleasure and companionship, motivating you to work harder, or at least with not so much negativity!

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The analogy between time available and information awaiting our acknowledgement of them is disproportionate. However, we shouldn’t use this as an excuse for perpetuating our poor knowledge of the world surrounding us. The Internet no matter how many evils is accused of generating, it can be a quality resource of useful knowledge.

As more universities join the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) trend, the availability, sheer amount and quality of knowledge on offer will only improve. A few years back the knowledge available online was scarce and its quality unverifiable or uncertain. However, today we are fortunate enough to have free access to unprecedented amounts of information or knowledge pertaining to any possible matter, topic or field.

1.    Ted-ed Lessons Worth Sharing

TED is mostly known for its exquisitely interesting speakers and even more astonishing insights enriching the WWW. TED is now also providing lessons which also contribute to the mission of TED in spreading new ideas. TED offers curated videos of educational nature that are fun to watch as they’re created by top-notch educators and animation specialists

Apart from the video’s one gets to watch, TED-ed also allows users to create their own educational videos and have an impact on the learning community themselves.

2.     Class Central

Think of all the top university courses in a single website, that’s Class Central, an online course aggregator with lectures and lessons from Stanford, MIT, Harvard and many other top universities in the US and Europe. The online courses are completely free and one can simultaneously follow more than one course.

3.    Edx

A nonprofit company founded by MIT and Harvard University in a shared effort to provide interactive, free and high quality courses to learners from around the world. The courses on offer are particularly known for their interactivity, quality and learning experience that offer to learners.

The only profit the Edx makes is to collect data on how technology is in the process of overhauling the learning paradigm at an academic level and beyond.

4.    SkillShare: Learn Differently

SkillShare is one of its kind learning platform in which people get to share their skills with others in a common effort to spread their knowledge and so more people will acquire these skills. From branding, photography, entrepreneurship and design skills, you can literally find thousands of skills you could hone or master. It’s a skill teaching and sharing platform allowing people no matter their geographical location to have access to invaluable skills and knowledge. As SkillShare itself states, it’s about real people sharing real-world skills.

5.CreativeLIVE

This online learning platform focuses on creative disciplines and courses, mostly photography, video and design, software development and business startups. CreativeLIVE targets individuals in creative or artistic professions as well as those in entrepreneurial ones, its goal being the dissemination of creative knowledge and skills.

Its underlying mission is to provide valuable knowledge on channeling creativity in whichever field one specializes in and unveil the potential this newly found creativity offers. CreativeLIVE instructors are leading, awarded professors, authors and creative professionals from around the world.

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