As you get comfortable with the start of school, I hope you’ll remember three things on your path to a successful year. These three things are the 3 P’s—people, passion, and perseverance. They will be the keys to success in your endeavors.
People
No matter what you do in life, your ability to succeed will be largely dependent on your ability to work with people. I urge you to check in with yourself to be sure that the people you’re surrounding yourself with can in fact lift you to achieve more than you could on your own.
As you move up the ladder and have positions of greater responsibility and leadership, remember to spend the majority of your time on people issues—motivating, directing, and inspiring. No matter how talented you are, bright you might be, or how hard you’re willing to work, your ultimate success or failure will largely be determined by how you get along with other people.
Passion
We are all interested in many things but have few things that we are really passionate about. Focus on the things that make you excited, that you enjoy thinking about and talking about. And stay curious about those topics.
Perseverance
Everyone will have bumps in the road, but how you are able to get to the other side will make you stronger.
During the school year and beyond, I hope you’ll remember these key attributes—the 3 P’s—and constantly reassess your lives and your choices based on them. Be sure you’re surrounding yourself with the best team of people, you’re passionate about whatever path you choose, and you have the perseverance to stick with it through the tough times, so you can be there when you finally succeed.
