We are about thirty days into this new year and I am wondering how many people who put forth a new year’s resolution to go back to school and earn their degree have actually started that journey. I actually posted several times during the holiday season on this very topic. Here are three ”gut-checks” to consider:
1. The Idea Of Online Education Is Sexy — Execution On the Idea Is Not: Sitting around the table with your spouse or friend, sipping on a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee (my favorite) for 30 - 60 minutes, coming up with all the right reasons why earning your degree online is a good idea is EASY. In fact, it’s fun and energizing with absolutely no commitment. But overcoming those obstacles and objections that most face in this pursuit, and laying out a step by step plan that’s chock-full of hard deadlines, in my twenty years of experience in distance education, is where most fall short.
2. We Have A Warped Sense Of Time: We continue to be fooled with the notion that we will have more time next month or next year than we do today. And then guess what — when next month or next year roll around our calendars are just as packed as ever.
3. Consume Rather Than Produce: It is much easier and less risky to consume rather than produce. You can consume all the information on the pros/cons of study through an online vs. a traditional school but never produce one thing. Why is that? Because there are some that are too risk averse. You see, it is risky to produce a college application. It is risky to produce an application for financial aid. It is risky to produce an enrollment in that first class.