Next level, a phrase that resonates with students, entrepreneurs, worker, creatives, basically a goal getter. For a student, it might mean the next class, for the business owner it might mean the next stage of growth or expansion for his/her business venture. For a working class it can mean a promotion, for a creative it can mean a bigger gig, and the list goes on and on.
Even to you my dear reader, it can mean increase, growth, upliftment, a better place etc. Politicians adopt it as their slogan for their campaigns too, the next level is the level that they want to take the masses to. Next level can also be associated to a place when talking about growth, like for example Nigeria seems to be moving towards the next level with the way her economy is picking up and growing. I am sure you might be angry about this particular example and even exclaim Lori iro!, Lol! we are still praying to God to take us to the next level. I am sure you are getting the picture now.
Next level according to the Cambridge Dictionary is a better, more advanced, or more successful situation than before. This meaning is really deep, I am beginning to see the phrase next level in different lights now, I hope you can too.
With this article you are reading now, I want you to see Next level as a result for not just hard work alone, but also smart work too. I know a lot of motivational speakers out there that you might have come across with will always say don’t work hard but work smart too, I can’t agree less with these guys. Hard work is good you know but smart work combined with hard work is the bomb. Let me give an analogy, Dolapo and Segun are both creatives in the creative writing industry, they are both great writers, but when the both of them are given gigs to work on and get paid, Segun always gets the work done first, mind you they are both on the same experience level. At the end of the day since Segun is able to get work done faster and get paid early, he then gets bigger deals even before Dolapo. What is Segun doing differently that Dolapo is not?. The answer is, I know you guessed right, Segun is working smartly, one thing for sure is that they are both hard workers, you and I know what it means to be a creative writer and to be getting gigs on a regular basis. Segun works with tools to make his writing easier and to get the job done faster, which makes him move to the next level even before Dolapo. I guess you can see how hard work and smart work combined played out in this analogy.
Also a business person that uses productivity tools to market and make sales and get customers and referrals and grow the business is being both an hard worker and a smart worker than someone who does not employ productivity tools and yet he is regarded as an hard worker, but he doesn’t get fast results compared to the business person making use of productivity tools.
Even as student, it is not only hard work alone that takes you to your next level, you also have to work smartly and also Grace still plays a part if you agree with me. How do you work smartly as a student, you can use productivity tools. For example, you using Google calendar can help you keep track of all your deadlines for assignments and projects. Even your alarm clock and stop watch is a productivity tool, at least I know for myself that it has helped me to keep to time. There are also productivity tools peculiar to every discipline too. Like in archaeology for example, archaeology wordsmith is an archaeology editor/writer providing solutions for busy archaeologists. Apart from working smartly with the use of productivity tools, you can also work smartly as a student by doing the right things at the right time, that is trying to strike a balance in all your activities. Create the right time to read, go for classes, sleep, pray, play, explore etc.
There is always time for everything, so make judicious use of it. Other ways that you can work smarter as a student include setting goals and target for yourself, make sure you don’t just set goals, map out how you are going to achieve the set goals and also work towards the goals daily. You can also work smarter by setting a not-to-do-list, this list will help you to discard activities that will not help you work smarter as a student, you can for example put a not go to club nights before examinations in your not-to-do-list. Setting shorter deadlines for yourself can also make you work smarter as a student and not just harder. When you have work to do and submit, set short deadlines for yourself, so that you will have more time to review your work well before submission. You can also clear the big tasks and important tasks first before smaller ones, I am a witness to this and it works so well. I am sure by now you are geared up now to work not just hard as a student but also smartly even as you are reading this piece, I myself need to gear up too. All these activities combined with hard work can make us to be rewarded with the next level even as students.
Achieving next level can also come with some hindrances like fear, procastination, being complacent, being lazy, listening to others opinions of you, giving up to early, not being strategic with your goals etc. You need to identify the hindrances that are peculiar to you, and work on those hindrances so as to be able to achieve moving to the next level. Failure to identify and work on removing these hindrances will make the hindrances a stumbling block to you in achieving your desired next level.
Apart from hard work and smart work, there are other habits that one needs to cultivate in moving to the next level, you need to let go of fear and believe in yourself that you are worthy of going to the next level. You need grit, discipline and determination, it might get tough when you are trailing on the next level path, so you need to set your eyes on the reward and keep moving steadily. You also need to forget about other people’s opinions when moving to the next level, people might discourage you and tell you that you are not fit to move to the next level, this is where your grit comes to play and you believing in yourself in order to help you conquer the negativity you get from people. Moving to the next level means you need to get uncomfortable with your current level. I should have put this as my first point actually, but here it goes anyways. When you get uncomfortable and unsatisfied with your current level, you will feel the need to push for the next level, because you have come to be aware that there is something better than the level that you are currently in.
You also need to surround yourself will people that have gone ahead of you, like the people that you think are already in the next level that you are aiming for. You don’t just surround yourself with this people, you reach out to them like talking to them, helping them to do great favours etc. Doing all these will make them ready to help in taking you to the next level. Above all, as I conclude, you need to pray for Grace to your maker in order for you to achieve the next level. So I believe you can see that the next level would require work if only you are ready to take on the work, I hope even as you have challenged yourself to get to the next level, you will get to the next level, and still put in the work.
AASA PRESS UI 