MOVE

D EVISE Y OUR G AME P LAN

“To be candid, a game plan is the roadmap to your
first class success. By planning, you develop a
Google map to take you from where you are to first
class.” – Olaniyi Evans

Graduate with first class or die trying. This was my mission,

my game plan. It spurred me on; I stuck to the library, even in
the face of the ever-present attractions and distractions of
movies, shopping, clubbing and social media sprees pandered
by family and friends. Much to my good fortune, the effort
and discipline yielded straight A’s. The tenacity brought forth
first class.

To be candid, a game plan is the roadmap to your first class

success. By planning, you develop a Google map to take you
from where you are to first class. As pointed out by Zig Ziglar,
“You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to
win, prepare to win, and expect to win” and scores of winners
would agree with him.

The Firstclass You requires your game plan to comprise the

three guiding principles:
  Mission Statement
 Strategic Action
 Reality Check

Y OUR M ISSION S TATEMENT

According to Stephen Covey, “One of the most powerful
methods to cultivate the passion of vision is to create and live
by a mission statement, philosophy, or creed. Such statements
capture what you want to be and do – what qualities you want
to develop, what you want to accomplish, what contributions
you want to make. Clarity on these issues is critical because it
affects everything else – the goals you set, the decisions you
make, the paradigms you hold, and the way you spend your
time.” It is thus important to give yourself considerable
momentum by defining your overall mission for the years (or
four years) of university study. Your vision of first class will
be put into words in a written statement called a "mission
statement." For example, Table 2.1 shows the mission
statements of seven amazing students.

Table 2.1 Mission Statements

Student Mission Statement

Zac Zaria To graduate as the best student ever by
Mathematics performing most extraordinarily.
Xandie Trump I think of every coursework as a
Economics challenge and set out to perform better
than anyone else.
 Ivy India To stay focused on what allows my
Biomedical grades to grow, and invest no time or
Engineering energy into distractions.
Ayomi Greatly It is my onus to graduate with first class.
Medicine
Xcel Olami To be one million steps ahead of the so-
Aerospace called best students by creating a mega-
Engineering enhanced version of their game plans
and studying habits.
Qi Qamar I rid myself of ‘B’ thinking and ‘C’ action.
Law I think ‘A’ and study for ‘A’.
Iremi Armani To score farther than my mates in any
Neuroscience course by studying ten times more than
any of them.

In the fashion of the students in Table 2.1, create your amazing

mission statement. To do this, you must decide first what
you’d like to accomplish. Then put together a statement to
define this vision. Your mission statement should spell out an
overall target that would enable you to reach first class. For
your mission statement to be empowering, it has to become a
living, breathing document. You must ponder it, memorize it,
review it, update it, and write it into your heart and mind.

For your mission statement to be empowering, it

has to become a living, breathing document. You
must ponder it, memorize it, review it, update it,
and write it into your heart and mind.
#TheFirstclassYou @OlaniyiEvans
S TRATEGIC A CTION
What do you need to accomplish in order to meet your
mission of getting first class? Come up with specifics for
achieving your goal. In order to do this, the Firstclass You
requires you to create both offensive and defensive strategies,
as portrayed in Table 2.2. For example, if you plan to devote
fifteen hours every day to studying (offensive strategy), a
sound strategy is to decide what else (e.g., movies, social
media) might interfere with that, and to plan around it
(defensive strategy).

Table 2.2 Offensive Strategies Vs Defensive Strategies

Offensive strategies Defensive strategies

I will commit fifteen hours to
I will avoid social media.
studying every single day.

I will be available, punctual I will not waste my time on

and prepared for all classes. late night movies.
I will do my assignments on
I will avoid unhelpful
time. friends.
The above nuggets are extracted from the book: The
Firstclass You. For more, you can download the book
at:
https://payhip.com/b/bupt

FIRSTCLASS TIP OF THE DAY

Learn a new tip every day about how to achieve first class.
Delivered free to your inbox.
Send ‘subscribe’ to TheFirstclassYou@hevanz.com.

FIRSTCLASS VIDEOS
Love first class? Need even more tips?
Subscribe to Youtube’s ultimate first class channel
and get thousands more tips – free.

The Firstclass You