I’m sure that if you are applying to the Air Force Academy this year, you have been working on getting yourself in shape. You’re either going to the gym or working out on a track or other arena indoors or out. Hopefully you have a consistent exercise plan and are following through on that. This also goes for those of you who will be applying to the Academy in a couple of years.
But today I want to talk to you about something else, and that is about exercising your own initiative.
If you hop briefly over to www.merriam-webster.com and type “initiative” into the online dictionary, you’ll see a few definitions. I know that you may already know what initiative means, but check it out anyway, because there is something that I want to make sure that you see for yourself.
Let’s focus on the following definition:
- Initiative (n.) Energy or aptitude displayed in initiation of action.
Notice how at the end of this online definition, Webster’s refers you to another word as well. The word is Enterprise.
Click on Enterprise, and you’ll find another usage that I want to focus on……..
- Enterprise (n.) Readiness to engage in daring or difficult action.
When you start a project that no one has asked you to do, and you see it through to completion, you are using your initiative.
When you lend a hand to help someone if he or she hasn’t asked for help, you are showing initiative.
When you have an idea or a goal, and you work on it consistently to make it come true, you are showing initiative.
These aren’t the only ways that you can show initiative, and I hope that you can list out some examples of how you have shown initiative in your own life.
Do you see how showing initiative takes courage, though? Look at the definition for enterprise: readiness to engage in daring or difficult action.
Engaging in daring or difficult action doesn’t have to be as heroic as saving someone’s life; it can be as small as being the first one to volunteer to present when you are given a difficult assignment in a class at school. Or doing something that you have never tried before, especially if it is something that is way outside your comfort zone.
When you show initiative in these ways, it takes guts, because no one wants to make himself or herself look foolish, or do something and have it not work out.
But that’s the way that meaningful progress will happen in your life.
So I encourage you to build enterprise within yourself by looking for ways to exercise your initiative within the next few weeks. As you take action and push yourself in ways that may make you uncomfortable, you’ll be setting yourself up to conquer even greater challenges in the future.
The Air Force Academy admissions department is looking for those who have leadership qualities, and you can develop your leadership skills by exercising initiative on a regular basis. So get to it!
For more tips and strategies on how you can increase your odds of winning admission to the Air Force Academy, order a copy of the e-manual Zoomie to Be: How to Win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy right now by visiting www.airforceacademyappointment.com . You can also get the manual in paperback at www.lulu.com/content/364596.
To your Success,
Elizabeth