Finish what you start

We've developed a malady in this country that involves quitting before we're finished and it's especially bad among young people. They're so accustomed to instant gratification that when something tends to be tedious or too detail oriented, they quit and go on to something more fun and exciting. The thrilling element partly explains the interest young people have in playing video games. They don't get bored while they're doing it because every game is different.

We see the same kind of attitude from them when they go off to college. There are more people starting college and not finishing today than ever before. If it looks too hard and seems to take too long, it tends to be something we're not interested in because we've become accustomed to short-term rewards.

But where college is concerned, we're messing up when we quit because it's been proven that some college isn't always better than no college. A generation ago when there were more good jobs available than applicants to fill them, that wasn't the case. A person with some college was always preferred over someone with none. But more people per capita are attending college today than ever before and, because of that, the unemployment lines are full of people who have college degrees.

If young people don't come from rich families that can pick up the tab for their education or if they're not smart or talented enough to secure scholarships, most young people have to depend on student loans when they go to college. So when they drop out, they not only didn't finish a degree program, they often have a mountain of debt hung around their necks as well that they have to pay off. And it's hard to pay it off without a job.

Another factor that encourages one to finish what they start is something I've been telling my students for many years. I ask them what they think the worst grade they can get in a class is and most of them say an 'F' because that signifies failure but I tell them they're wrong. The worst grade they can get is a 'W' because it indicates they quit the job in mid-stream. They didn't finish. They didn't complete their task. And that always draws the attention of potential employers much quicker than an 'F' does because if they fail the course, they at least tried. But if they dropped the course, it suggests that they're a quitter, that they didn't see things through, that they dropped out at the first sign of difficulty and these aren't traits employers want in their employees. They're often going to spend a considerable amount of time and money training a new hire in their new job and they don't want to make that investment only to see that person quit a few days or a few weeks later.

And the same logic holds true for people who drop out of college. The data indicates that even those who have dropped out before and came back are more likely to drop out again than those students who have never dropped out. That sends the same message to a potential employer that withdrawing from a class does. You didn't see the job through to the end and consequently you're a risky hire.

So the message is clear: Stay the course and finish what you started. If you do, you'll be rewarded.

If you don't, not so much.