STUDENT LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

If you’re like most people I encounter in my Success seminars across the country, you occasionally do what’s easiest before you do what’s really important.
Okay, does it happen more than once in a while? Well, take heart. You aren’t alone, and there is a fix to this.
It’s just a matter of acquiring a new habit. You need to make the conscious choice around how you spend your time.
First, you need to know what matters most to you, what your goals are, and your plans to achieve those goals.
So let’s say you know what you want and now, it’s time to get busy. Each day, you need clear direction on what will get you one step closer to your goal. Only you can determine if your actions are what I call “high-yield activities.”
Here’s an easy test: Are you getting your goodies? If not, you’ve either not fully appreciated what clear goals can do for you, or you don’t know the process for staying focused. If either is the case, go right now and look up “The Power of Purpose.”
Each day, act in ways that reflect your priorities. I suggest beginning each day with some action, however small, that takes you one step closer to your goals. You will be delighted at how quickly your momentum picks up when you start the day off with purposeful choices.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make non-traditional college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

TIME MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

Time management tip on studying smarter:

I devote an entire chapter of “College Success Your Way” to how to study smarter instead of harder because this is an FAQ to me from college students across the country.

So you’re in college now and you want to get good grades but you want to study smarter, not harder, and work less? Who could blame you?  I want you to know exactly how to do as well as you need to do in college to stay in, have fun, and get a great job when you’re done.

It’s all about time management! Trust me when I tell you that not prepping for class is a HUGE time waster!  IF you don’t read the material ahead of time, and briefly review what you’ve learned so far before you go to class you are giving up prime study time.

Prime study time allows you to put less into it and remember more.

To you, this means when you read the material before you go to class and review what you’ve learned so far on your walk to class, you are preparing your mind to more easily take in the new material.

And what does that mean to you?  Better grades, less effort.

Time management tip on not getting left behind:

Falling back in school work is the kiss of death. Do whatever you must to make sure this does NOT happen to you.  Even a slight lapse is bad news.

You may know from reading my other books that I’m a big believer in staying on top of all your reading and assignments.  If, for any reason, you are not prepared for class, GO ANYWAY.

It’s a rookie mistake to think because you haven’t finished reading your assignment that the best thing is to just skip class.  You’re far too smart to fall for that one and school stinks really fast if you start falling behind.

Look, you want to do well, to graduate on time, and to move right into that great job.  And for Pete’s sake, why not enjoy the whole journey while you’re at it?

Well, if you’re going to enjoy it, which you deserve to, you need to NOT get left behind. College students should always be thinking of ways to manage time better!

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

CAREER SUCCESS

Tip #1 Voice Your Values

Successful people know what matters most in the world to them and they make sure their life reflects those priorities.

You will be offered so many opportunities in your life it’s impossible to even fathom them all in this moment.

In order to live your life by design and not default and choice rather than chance, you need to clearly articulate what your values are.

Many people in my workshops will list values such as faith, family, health, contribution, abundance, etc.

The important point is, what do you value?

As you design your life, you’ll want to know first and foremost what you value most, so that every decision you make will be in keeping with those values.

Tip #2 State Your Purpose

I am humbled by the talent and potential I see in college students I meet as I deliver my “Cash in on College” programs across the United States .

I’m convinced that these students could change the world for the better with their contributions to society.

I’m saddened when I think of how often that potential goes untapped because these brilliant students never clearly articulate what they are on this earth to accomplish.

A Freshman in California once asked my “Don’t you think I’m a little young to be doing something as major as writing this statement of purpose you’re talking about?”

“Well,” I answered, “if not now, when?”
People without their own sense of direction follow whichever way the wind blows.

Or as I like to say, “People who don’t have goals work for people who do.”

The more clear you can be about what you’re here to accomplish, the more quickly you will be successful and enjoy the process.

Your ‘statement of purpose’ will help you harness all of that potential of yours with the focus of sunlight through a magnifying glass.  And you know the power of that.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make non-traditional college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

STUDENT LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

You are young and your entire life is ahead of you. You have more decisions facing you than you could ever fully appreciate. How to know what to say yes, no, and maybe to?

It’s not always easy to make a decision when you really have no way of knowing how it will all turn out. Sometimes you just have to be willing to examine all the information you have and then move forward.

You may find yourself stuck at a crossroads, not choosing one way or another just because you can’t see down either road. I read a wonderful quotation long ago that has helped me when I feel indecisive because of all the uncertainties. It read “Go as far as you can, and from there, you can see farther.”

You see, you simply need a method for choosing the best choice at the time, and once you embark on that journey, you will gather more and more information and you’ll be able to adjust accordingly.

To make your initial decision, do what Ben Franklin would do. Get a piece of paper and write your question at the top, then draw a line down the center. At the top of the left column, write “Pros”, at the top of the right, write “Cons”.

For example, let’s say you’ve been offered a terrific job upon graduation, but it’s out of state. At the top of your paper, write: Take the job, move to ____. On the left, write all the reasons for taking the job. On the left, write all the reasons for not taking the job. Then, begin to weigh the strengths in your “Pros” list against the strengths on your “Cons” list. Strike out those that carry equal weight. So, if you’ve got a “7” Pro reason to go and a “7” Con reason to stay, strike those out.

When you’re done, one list will be completely marked out and one will have a balance. That’s the side you take. It worked for Franklin , and it will work for you.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make non-traditional college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

STUDENT LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

I’ve had countless students tell me that they quit organizations in their schools just because there was so much back-biting within the team and the leaders did nothing to face it head on and stop it.

Sometimes people won’t get along, or a project will fall behind schedule, or money you’re expecting for funding just doesn’t come through.

Watch what you choose to fight for. Make sure you moderate your level of intensity no matter what the issue, because your team will notice if you stay in control or not.

William James, the father of modern psychology wrote that the art of being wise is “the art of knowing what to overlook.”

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to college students more successful, become strong leaders, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

NON TRADITIONAL

Ok, by groupie, I mean someone who groups like things together. This is one of the biggest time management saving tips you could use. And as we all know, many non-traditional students need all the time they can muster!

Here’s how it works. Do you need to call two of your professors to set up 20 minute appointments, call your boss to confirm next month’s days off, and call a contact your advisor passed on to you to set up an informational interview?

Excellent!  First off, don’t delay, secondly, make all these calls at one sitting.

Need to do some research for your English paper?  While you’re at the library, also look up that reference you needed for your History paper.

Going to the store to pick up pet food?  Well, get your weekly groceries now, Fluffy isn’t the only one who needs to eat.

Grouping like activities together can save the non-traditional student hours and hours a week.  Yes, it takes a little bit of time to plan. But we are talking an investment of minutes to get a return of hours.  And you don’t need to be an Econ major to know that’s just good ROI (return on investment.)

The next tip for the non-traditional student is about combining activities that go well together so more gets done with less effort.

For example, if you like to exercise, take a friend along.  You get fun time and your workout at the same time.  Hate to do housework? (Who doesn’t?) Mentally review your notes from today’s or yesterday’s class while you clean.  Your space will be straight before you know it and you’ll be reviewing without taking any extra time out of your already busy day.

Write your vocabulary words for French onto index cards and carry those cards. Next time you’re waiting on someone or something, you can use those 5 to 10 minutes to review.

When you combine activities that complement each other well, you get much more done in much less time.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make non-traditional college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

“Vision without execution is hallucination.” –Thomas Edison

CAREER SUCCESS

What a powerful thought. Perhaps a powerful mantra for you for the rest of the year might be: “Get it done.”

Enough spending so much time goal setting and planning.  Sure, there’s definitely a time and place for both of these.  However, once you’ve done that, perhaps it’s time to stop spending so much time “gettin’ ready to get ready.”

You are already ready.  It’s time to get a move on, or as Edison would suggest: execute.  So, in case you could use some tips for moving into action, here are three tips for moving from vision to execution:

Three tips to “get it done.”

1.      Know what “it” is.  Pretty basic place to start, yes?  And yet, if I were coaching you right now, and you said, “Crystal, I don’t have enough time to get everything done.” I would say, “You’ll never have enough time to do everything.  You’ll always have time to do something.  So, the only thing that matters is, what’s that something?”

2.      Know why you want to get it done.  Your whys and no one else’s.  You know how hard it is to stick to anything if you’re trying to do it because someone else tells you that you should do it.  It’s next to impossible to stick with any plan that you don’t have intrinsic motivation for.  The drive must come from within.

3.      Work quickly.  This means, do not check your email first thing in the morning!  Get down to it, and get it done! You will love how your new quickness energies you and keeps your momentum going.

And you know me, I like to over-deliver, so here’s your bonus point:

4.       Stay with that part of the project until that part is done.  Notice nobody is pretending you should expect to finish a big project all at once.  Just one part of the project.  So, hunker down, stay with that one little section and plan to reward yourself when you’re done.

When clients have asked about time management, it’s really about self-management, isn’t it?  Knowing what you want, why you want it, and being willing to just get going.

Because you may not have gotten started already because you’re afraid of making mistakes, simply look to your track record.  When you’ve made mistakes in the past, what did you do?  Of course, you learned what didn’t work, tried something different, and got on with life.

That formula you’ve been using all along still works, you know.  Keep using it, and you will be well-served.

Let me know how this works for you, yes?

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

NON TRADITIONAL

Ask Yourself the Ultimate Energy-Management Questions:

• 1. How can I get more done with less energy?
• 2. Was I involved in a high yield activity?

I see non-traditional college students who seem genuinely surprised and sometimes personally offended that their hours and hours of research do not automatically garner and “A” on their English paper. It doesn’t matter if you spent night after night revising it, giving up TV, dinners with friends, and even sack time. All that matters is that your teacher recognizes high quality results.

Traditional or non-traditional students, the bottom line is simple, the effort that went into these projects is inconsequential; all that matters is the result. Start shifting your focus to achieving high quality results. You’ll be amazed with how much faster you can accomplish things that you can be proud of.

Oftentimes the non-traditional students find that accomplishing things seem overwhelming. After all, they have so many more things in their lives to balance than the traditional student has to deal with. One thing non-traditional students can do to prevent feeling overwhelmed is to combine activities that go well together so more gets done with less effort.

For example, if you like to exercise, take a friend along. You get fun time and your workout at the same time. As an added bonus, if your friend is in the same class as you, why not do a little review while you are working out or driving to the gym?  The lives of the non-traditional student often mean they have a family and have to do housework. If you cannot seem to find the time or hate to do housework, (Who doesn’t?) mentally review your notes from today’s or yesterday’s class while you clean.  Your space will be straight before you know it and you’ll be reviewing without taking any extra time out of your already busy day.  Another example is to write vocabulary words for French onto index cards and carry those cards. Next time you’re waiting on someone or something, you can use those 5 to 10 minutes to review.

When you combine activities that complement each other well, you get much more done in much less time. Non-traditional students in particular must be sure to stay on track and do what matters most in the course of a day. First, know what you want to accomplish that day, and second ask yourself what I call the ultimate question “Was I involved in a high-yield activity?” High-yield activities are only those that get you closer to your goals.

Only you know the answer to this question. Be honest. Often at first, you will find the answer will be that it was not a high-yield activity. Not a problem, simply decide if you’d like to correct your course, and if you would, do so immediately.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

NON TRADITIONAL

Whether I’m giving a life management workshop to corporate America, or a stress management seminar to non traditional college students, I tell my audiences one of my signature phrases, “The Universe does not reward hard work, it rewards recognized results.”

I see non-traditional college students who seem genuinely surprised and sometimes personally offended that their hours and hours of research do not automatically garner and “A” on their English paper. It doesn’t matter if you spent night after night revising it, giving up TV, dinners with friends, and even sack time.
All that matters is that your teacher recognizes high quality results.

Bottom line, the effort that went into these projects is inconsequential, all that matters is the result. Start shifting your focus to achieving high quality results. You’ll be amazed with how much faster you can accomplish things that you can be proud of.
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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.
Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

CAREER SUCCESS

Now before you misunderstand my meaning, yes, I do want you to be positive.  However, I’m not a big fan of positive thinking because I fear it has been misunderstood and misapplied.

Right Thinking emphasizes the importance of using your mental power to direct your focus and energy on that which you do want.

Distinguished from positive thinking, right thinking is about staying focused on what you do want, which makes it positive, however, it extends to using that brilliance to create plans of actions, and the attitude that allows you to carry out those actions, and to hold yourself accountable for the results.

Here’s an example of the difference between the two thinking processes:

Positive thinking: “I will get a great job after graduation.”

Right thinking: “Since I plan to get a great job after graduation, what I need to be doing now and over the next years of my college experience is . . . (and your plan goes here.) And the way I’ll make sure I’m on track is . . . (And your accountability plan goes here.)

You should always consider using right thinking concepts before you set goals for yourself for your schooling and/or for your career choice.  And it is wise to do some background work first.

Success is a struggle to those who are pursuing someone else’s dream or who are trying to fit into the job they’re in by default rather than design. In other words, do not become a doctor because your family thinks you would be a good one, unless that really is what you want and know you’d excel at.

And you should not keep a job just because it’s easy to get and they’ll promote you to assistant manager after you finish your associate’s degree, unless, of course, that easy job is your dream job!  Right thinking rather than positive thinking is the smart way to go here for sure!

Do some quiet self-reflection to think about what your strengths are; what are you naturally good at?  If you could design your dream job, what would it be? If you’re stumped here, and often people are, ask some friends what they think you do well, and start to notice what skills you really enjoy using.  What comes easily to you that others find challenging?

Now, I’m not a big wake up at 4am every day, contemplate your belly button and write in your journal for hours kind of gal. However, since what you’re doing is the basis for designing your own extraordinary life, I’m sure you’ll agree you’re worthy of the time and thought that will go into identifying what your natural strengths are, right?

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

STUDENT SUCCESS PROGRAMS

There’s a ‘buddy movie’ that came out a while back called “Thelma and Louise” about two women taking a road trip together.

One of the women is always setting the bar really low for herself and not expecting much of anything to come her way.  Her friend keeps telling her, “you get what you settle for.”

Perhaps your most important student success tip is this:  You too get what you settle for! You’re investing a lot of time, energy and effort into this whole education thing, so why not make the most of it!

So just how do you know you have reached success as a student?   Answer: You must recognize that the world is your report card!

Lots of people tell me they aren’t quite sure if what they’re doing is working or not, and for Pete’s sake, how are you supposed to know anyway?

If you want to know how effective you are with your overall student success it’s easy to tell.  Whether you are tuning in or not, the world is keeping score for how effective your student success has been.  Think of your results in the world as your report card.

Are you making friends in school, making good grades, and moving forward in planning your future career? Tah Dah. What you’re doing is working.

Do you feel like a gerbil on one of those little wheels, exerting a lot of effort and getting absolutely nowhere?  Time to re-adjust your actions.

You see, there is a part of you that really does know if what you’re doing is contributing to your student success.

The only questions are, are you ready for that reality check, and what will you do to adjust your approach and move forward?

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more. Find out more about student success for college students.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

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TIME MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

Do you keep people waiting for you?  Do you show up even a couple of minutes late? Once in a while, you say?  Hardly ever happens?  Well, ok, then.  If it truly rarely happens, not a concern of yours.  Again, this is something only you can answer.

Being a couple of minutes late still sends the message that you don’t have your life in enough order to be where you need to be when you need to be there. Yikes!  Pretty tough language, isn’t it?  But look, you’re not reading this to read the same old stuff you’ve read before.

Someone needs to come face to face with you, or page to face with you and let you know that being late is NOT ok.  Remember that you’ll have the opportunity to make connections and form networks with people that you will probably never have the chance to be around again.  And what they think of you matters.

Be kind.  Be courteous.  Be on time, all the time.

Here’s one more time management tip for students:

You’re busy.  Sometimes so busy, you may wonder how you’ll ever get everything finished.

You may find yourself in Biology, thinking about how you’re going to finish that English paper.  Or in the library looking at your History book while you’re thinking about that fight you had with your best friend yesterday.

There’s an old saying and it goes like this “Where ever you are, be there.”

Kinda silly sounding, but when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense.  Any time you’re in one spot, thinking about something totally unrelated to what’s going on, in that moment, you are wasting your time, effort, and energy. Time management for all students is critical for success as well as for enjoying the college experience.

And these are precious commodities.  Apply your attention well and “be there.”



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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to improve time management for students, make school more enjoyable and help students be more successful.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

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STUDENT LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

What can you do to work with all kinds of difficult people? In general, people are motivated by the need to be right, the need to get the job done right, the need to be admired, and the need to be included. If these motivators aren’t satisfied, you’re likely to have a difficult conversation on your hands. In other words the reason that difficult people are, well, difficult, is simply because that person wants to do a good job and be recognized for it.

So, how are you expected to know what motivates difficult people? You guessed it. Listen to them. Within moments, you will know what drives people and you’ll be in a better position to help them be at their best. In the end, they will seem less difficult to deal with and everybody wins!

Most people never learn this, or learn it and don’t have the patience to apply the principle.  this gives you yet another chance for you to move onward and upward.

Difficult people can really suck up your time too. You can  be more productive if you just follow optimal times to put forth effort.

Your greatest resource isn’t your time, but your energy.  In addition to dealing with difficult people each day, you’re faced with innumerable opportunities to solve other people’s problems, obsess, procrastinate, and in general, goof off. It’s easy to do any of these. We know, because we’ve done them all.

To make sure you stay on track and do what matters most in the course of a day, you need to do a couple of things.

First, know what you want to accomplish that day, and second ask yourself what I call “the ultimate question.” Throughout the day, whenever the phone rings, ask yourself, “At this moment, was I involved in a high-yield activity?” High-yield activities are only those that get you closer to your goals.  Only you know the answer to this question. Be honest. Often at first, you will find the answer will be “No, that wasn’t a high-yield activity.” Not a problem, simply decide if you’d like to correct your course, and if you would, do so immediately.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more. Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

STUDENT SUCCESS PROGRAMS

Do you believe in free will?  You do if you believe there’s no one pulling your strings and causing you to behave in a certain way. In the hundreds of seminars I’ve given across the United States , I’ve never met a single person who does not believe in free will. Here’s the truth about free will.  If you honestly believe in it, you can’t blame others for your feelings.  So this means you can no longer say “You make me so mad.” True, you may be “so mad,” but think this through.  If you are mad, how long do you have to stay mad?  Do you have to stay mad until that person makes you “un-mad?”  Of course not, even the idea sounds ridiculous. Exactly. So if you’re mad, how long do you have to stay mad? That’s right, until you decide not to be. I’ll tell you something straight up. There are millions of full grown adults who have been in the work place since before you were born who still haven’t figured this out.  They are the ones carelessly choosing bad attitudes and blaming others for those negative attitudes. If you stop blaming others for your feelings, and start taking full responsibility, you will truly distinguish yourself among others. _________________________________________________________________

Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more. Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366. ____________________________________________________________

STUDENT LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

You’ve heard the 80/20 rule. Twenty percent of your people do eighty percent of the work, and there are countless other examples.

The way you can put the 80/20 rule to work for you is to remember that all team members won’t be shining stars, nor do they need to be. And as focused and ambitious as you may be yourself, not everyone has your drive.

You can be sure you’re directing your time, effort, and energy in its best place if you make sure you identify the top 20% who have the talent, drive, and interest in taking on more challenges.

Once you find them, foster their talent and let them shine. They will knock your socks off with what they can do for your team.

And remember that your greatest resource isn’t your time, but your energy.

Each day, you’re faced with innumerable opportunities to solve other people’s problems, obsess, procrastinate, and in general, goof off.

It’s easy to do any of these. We know, because we’ve done them all.  To make sure you stay on track and do what matters most in the course of a day, you need to do a couple of things.

First, know what you want to accomplish that day, and second ask yourself what I call “the ultimate question.” Throughout the day, whenever the phone rings, ask yourself, “At this moment, was I involved in a high-yield activity?”

High-yield activities are only those that get you closer to your goals.  Only you know the answer to this question. Be honest. Often at first, you will find the answer will be “No, that wasn’t a high-yield activity.” Not a problem, simply decide if you’d like to correct your course, and if you would, do so immediately.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

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Email Crystal Jonas |  (719) 291-0366  |  Back to home page

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TIME MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

Hey, I like a note that I can stick around my computer as much as the next guy, but here’s the problem.  Those things fall off.  Yes, they do. For one reason, you keep them on your computer for so long, they eventually just loose the desire to stick around.

They not only fall off, they become part of the background.  Like the light next to your computer, or that doodad that’s been sitting on your desk taking up space for so long. This is a problem because you lose track of what the notes said. Then, something that should have been done doesn’t get done.  And if you never needed to do it in the first place, why even write the note to begin with?

A much better time and frustration saver for you would be to have one little spiral notebook, buy them cheapo in the drug store.  Keep this notebook in one spot, like that little front pocket in your backpack or briefcase.  One more advantage is that if you like using post it notes as a checklist, the notebook can be carried with you without fear of anything falling off when you are not looking.

Every time you need to make a note of what you need to do, you have one place to capture that thought.  This will save you tons of time and keep you from missing important actions.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

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Email Crystal Jonas |  (719) 291-0366  |  Back to home page

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STUDENT SUCCESS PROGRAMS

Toss it in to a pot on high boil, and it’s gonna hop right out of there.

The frog in the first case is complacent, thinking in its own little frog way, “Well, it’s not really that bad.  I can handle it.” And then it reaches the point where it can no longer help itself.

The lives of many of us, including college students, tend to reach that intolerable high boil point slowly, starting on low simmer.  Not realizing that we are in a slow simmer situation, we put up with our situation, even though it’s ultimately not getting any closer to what we want to achieve because we are, you guessed it, ‘complacent frogs.’

Nick, a college student at a University in Arizona , sent me an e-mail after listening to my CD set “The Power of Purpose” where I go much further into depth on this topic.

He said that this was exactly what had happened to him as a student at the end of his first semester as a Sophomore. Nick  had overloaded his schedule, taking 5 classes, although one was a lab and required greater prep, he was working crazy graveyard shift hours to earn extra money, and was dating a girl he didn’t particularly like just because he felt he didn’t have the time to break up with her!

Wow!  Talk about being on a long slow simmer.  Nick’s point was that he learned his lesson after that semester.  He felt so stressed his grades took a dive and his health went with it.  He says he’s learned to take action right away to hop out of that slow simmer situation.

I’ll let Nick speak for himself “It (correcting your bad situation) will take some effort, but it’s better than getting cooked because you just put up with things you shouldn’t.”

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

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Email Crystal Jonas |  (719) 291-0366  |  Back to home page

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STUDENT LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

College students aren’t just worker bees; they have full lives of their own. Most people want to be successful; they just have no idea how to do it.

You could be the person to take a personal interest in what’s truly important to your team. Guide your students and encourage them to aspire to be who they are at their best.

In balancing their lives with personal growth and professional development, not only are they happy and fulfilled, they will be even more inspired to help you fulfill your vision for the team.

Always remember what’s important to them.

Funny how people think that others are so hard to figure out.

Most students in college will tell you precisely what you need to know to connect with them on a personal level. All you have to do is listen.

To be a really good listener, you pay attention not only to the words, but to the emotions behind the words. Ask then how they feel about what they’re talking about. Are they happy, excited, concerned?

Notice that this tip starts with “remember” what’s important to them.  The operative word is remember.

Okay, so you listen well, and the students open up to you. Can you remember it later so you can follow up with them on it? If your mind is sieve-like and you tend to immediately brain dump everything that’s not mission essential, you need to look at small talk in a new light.

What you learn during small talk actually is mission essential. If you know you’ll soon forget what you’ve just discussed, keep one of those little spiral notebooks so you can jot a note about the person you spoke with, when, and what you discussed.

Extra important is noting when you’d like to follow up with them on this matter. Students will appreciate your interest.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

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Email Crystal Jonas |  (719) 291-0366  |  Back to home page

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STUDENT SUCCESS PROGRAMS

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at times from all of your responsibilities as a college student.

Sometimes it seems that every professor you have is a different ‘boss.’ So you may have 4 different professors to please in a semester, plus, your real boss at work, plus, you have friends that expect you to save some time for them, and  you’re also involved in organized student activities.

When people feel overwhelmed, they frequently stop focusing on the quality of the activity they’re involved in and start to misdirect their energy to a high quantity of activity.

All too often, college students tend to fill their time with a bunch of easy stuff, because at least they’re doing something, and it makes them feel productive.

What might this ‘easy’ stuff be?  It will vary based on the person.

Some students might spend yet another hour in the library doing more research for a paper they really don’t want to write when they have all the material they need already.

Others will suddenly be overcome with a need to organize their desk just when they should be studying for the big final exam.

Be sure that you take care of your time and energy and only spend them on activities that will truly get you closer to what you want most.

And don’t confuse busy work with productive work.  Busy work wastes time and the “real” stuff still has to be dealt with when you’re done spinning your wheels from all that busy work

Get to the big stuff first.  Then take a well-deserved break when you’re done.  You’ll have time to spare because you haven’t wasted in on things that didn’t need to be done in the first place.

How smart are you?

Very.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

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Email Crystal Jonas |  (719) 291-0366  |  Back to home page

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STUDENT SUCCESS PROGRAMS

This is definitely a true statement. You are more likely to get more stuff done if you track what it is you want to accomplish.

Goodness knows, as a college student you’ve got a lot to keep track of. Each professor has his or her own syllabus and list of assignment and expectations. Oh, and let’s not forget, you also want to have a social life while you’re in school, and you’ve figured out by now that in order to do this and get the grades you want, you must have a balanced life.

So how in the world are you expected to stay on top of all of this?

Not easy, but here’s a tip to make your life as a college student  much more doable.

Keep track of what you need to accomplish in a day and make sure that you track this list so that you get it done. Study after study has proven that we stay on track much better when we know how far we’ve traveled on that track.

Ever run a race? I have. Every summer I hike up to Pikes Peak in Colorado as part of the “Pikes Peak Ascent” race. Please note that I hike it, not run it.

The Ascent is over 13 miles long and it goes from over 6,000 feet to over 14,000 feet. Whew! That’s strenuous! We ‘racers’ like knowing exactly where the goal is and how far we’ve gone.

You’ll find yourself much more productive when you start tracking your activities and what you accomplish each day. Think of it as your own personal score card and have some fun with it!

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

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Email Crystal Jonas | phone: (719) 291-0366 | Back to home page

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College Success Speaker's Programs

In spite of any horror stories you may have heard from friends in school, college teachers are only human. They want what you want; respect, attention, appreciation. No great surprises here, right?

Well, what you may not know is that these teachers and professors expect you to follow a few unwritten rules about how to be a good college student. I want you to know about these expectations now, before you go and make embarrassing blunders. So read and heed, and avoid making a bad impression and alienating a person who could be a huge help to your academic and professional careers.

Peruse these warnings, commit them to memory, and violate them at your own peril. If you take the risk and break these sacred rules anyway, don’t say I didn’t try to steer you down the right path.

Let your passion for come through. Let your professors know what you want in life. It’s been said that enthusiasm is contagious and if you’re genuinely excited about your goals , professors will much more likely take an interest in you.

Allow your actions to support the fact that you wholeheartedly stand behind your teacher. This will be crucial when the going. In college, life is exciting,challenging and exciting, but it’s not likely to be smooth sailing the whole way.

Your teacher needs to know that you are dedicated to seeing through the process of growing and achieving. Stay focused on the outcome and how to get there. Your professors often this determination in you and will be influenced by it in a positive way.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

TIME MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

To create a study ritual, find a couple of places where you will generally be studying. This could be at your desk in your room, a favorite secluded spot in the library no one knows about, or the cushy chair in your local coffee shop.  Doesn’t matter.  Just make it the same place as often as possible.

Take a few deep breaths and prepare your mind to take in and process quickly the information you’ll be learning.  As you sit down, sit up straight, see the goal, and begin.

Each time you go to study, think the same positive result thoughts, see yourself in your future career, which came about because you graduated from college, which happened because you enjoyed school and did well, and made a good grade on this test you’re studying for.

That’s your ritual that will help to mentally prepare you to take in info and retain it.

Have your materials ready by placing things where you need them.

There is nothing more frustrating for a person who wears reading glasses to have to spend 10 minutes looking for a pair of specs each time she sits down to read.

Have you ever sat down to study only to waste a good 10 to 15 minutes, or maybe more getting all of your stuff in order?

It’s time to play the “a place for everything” game.  That means that if you need a calculator, it’s in one place, all the time, and you can count on that.  When you’re done, you return it right there.

A big tip here, it’s worth it to you to have more than one of most smaller items you use all the time. You may even want to have a backpack, or briefcase that has a spot where you keep a second set of reading glasses, a calculator, blank CDs, whatever it is you know you’ll need.

As you walk to this study spot, picture your end result.  The A on your paper, the terrific score on your test, whatever.  Now, think back to what you need to do to put yourself into that position to get that desired result.This will save you so much time and aggravation; you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

TIME MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

Ok, by groupie, I mean someone who groups like things together.

Here’s how it works. Do you need to call two of your professors to set up 20 minute appointments, call your boss to confirm next month’s days off, and call a contact your advisor passed on to you to set up an informational interview*?

Excellent!  Make all these calls at one sitting.

Need to do some research for your English paper?  While you’re at the library, also look up that reference you needed for your History paper.

Going to the store to pick up pet food?  Well, get your weekly groceries now, Fluffy isn’t the only one who needs to eat.

Grouping like activities together can save you hours and hours a week.  Yes, it takes a few minutes to plan. But we are talking an investment of minutes to get a return of hours.  And you don’t need to be an Econ major to know that’s just good ROI (return on investment.)

* Informational interviews are a tip I give in “College Success” so you can get in front of high decision makers at the places you think you’d like to work.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

Read all the self-help books and communication guides you like and you will find time and again the fact that we get what we expect, from ourselves and from others.

Maintain laser-guided focus on what you do want to happen. Make your spoken and nonverbal language clearly convey that you have absolute faith and conviction that the positive outcome you’ve discussed as a team will come to pass.

When you need to correct your course, remind yourself of the goal, adjust your approach, and set your sails once again for the shore, positive in your expectation that you will reach the point you desire.

Remember Others for developing loyalty in people.

If you are in a student leadership position, you are probably overworked and certainly underpaid, right?

You will build trust and loyalty among your people if you remember them and get to know them as individuals and not just members of the SGA or the student newspaper.

When people do speak to you, you need to remember what they say, so you can build your relationship with them.

When you talk to people, listen carefully to what they say. People reveal more that you might imagine. They will open up and tell you exactly what’s important to them.

All you need to do to cultivate relationships with them is to listen and remember what they’ve told you, and reference it in future conversations.

You’ll be amazed at how flattered people are that you remember them and how much more loyal they will be to you.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

STUDENT SUCCESS PROGRAMS

One of this great statesmen of the United States was Ben Franklin.

When Ben was a young man, perhaps right around the age you are now, he started thinking about what he wanted to accomplish in his life. Then, he went on to write out a list of all the qualities he needed to cultivate in order to be the person he knew he could be.

When he’d written down these qualities, he went on to carefully define what each meant to him.

Throughout his life, Franklin cultivated those qualities.  He read through them on a regular basis and would track to make sure he was consistently behaving according to those values he’d defined for himself.

Think about what you’d like to accomplish with all that potential you have.

What qualities will you need to cultivate over your lifetime to make sure you are the person you need to be to live up to your potential?

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

STUDENT SUCCESS PROGRAMS

When you were a kid playing games with friends, maybe you had an agreement that there would be times when your kid sister got in the way when it was your turn to go, and you got another chance at it.

In the world of children, those are called “do overs.”

In the world of adults, we don’t usually get those “do overs.”

We’re held accountable now and suddenly, it seems as though everything counts.

It does.  Everything you do adds up to the results you get.

If you stay up later on video games, there will be a result.  If you take time to study the right way at the right times, like I talk about in my book “College Success Your Way” you get another result.

We all need to face the fact sooner or later that it’s a cause and effect world.

We reap what we sow.

Some people call this the “Law of the Harvest.” I like that.  When you plant tomatoes, you can’t expect that peas will pop up.

Want to know the truth? Most people never fully get this.  And if they do, they behave as though they don’t. People tend to believe that good things that happen to them come as a result of hard work and bad things that happen are bad luck.

Take a closer look.  It’s a cause and effect world. Ask yourself, “will this action bring the result I want?” Then, open your eyes, heart and mind and make the choice that’s best for you.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

TIME MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

George was pretty much the loser on Seinfeld.  He was always saying the wrong thing, and making the wrong decisions.  In one episode, he figures that if all his decisions are wrong, and he always gets lousy results, he should do everything the opposite way of how he normally would do it, hence, “Opposite George.”

Just how does this relate to time management? And how can you use this to your greatest advantage?  Look at your results. Are you getting the most out of your day?  Do you end up constantly getting less accomplished than you should?  It might be time to be “opposite George” or in your case, “opposite you.”

If you’ve tried studying with the TV on and find you bomb the test every time, it could be time to turn off the TV.

Now, you and I both  know that study groups can be a good idea, and you never seem to get anything from yours, do the opposite.  Tell them you’ll meet them for a snack after the study group, and you go to the library.

If whatever you’re doing isn’t working, change it.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful improve their time management, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

TIME MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

I read a great book that said there is enough time to do anything you want, there’s just not enough time to do everything you want.

Tough fact to face, but the sooner you get it, the sooner you can start looking at the way you use time as an investment or a waste.

When you are planning your week, you will end up with your plans, based on goals and values, and of course, a “to do” list.

I often see college students putting on their ‘to do’ lists about twice as many items down than they could actually do.  What’s the problem in this? Well, possibly nothing.  IF, you are honestly racking and stacking these in the order of priority.

Make sure no matter how long that list is, you are always taking care of that “one true thing” each day that gets you closer to what you value most.

Another student time management tip to improve success is to group your “to do” list.

Here’s how it works. Do you need to call two of your professors to set up 20 minute appointments, call your boss to confirm next month’s days off, and call a contact your advisor passed on to you to set up an informational interview*?

Excellent!  Make all these calls at one sitting.

Need to do some research for your English paper?  While you’re at the library, also look up that reference you needed for your History paper.

Going to the store to pick up pet food?  Well, get your weekly groceries now, Fluffy isn’t the only one who needs to eat.

Grouping like activities together can greatly improve your time management as a student.  Yes, it takes a few minutes to plan. But we are talking an investment of minutes to get a return of hours.  And you don’t need to be an Econ major to know that’s just good ROI (return on investment).

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to help with student time management, improve success, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

College Success Speaker's Programs

You’re in class, a student who usually not only sleeps but also snores through most of the period, raises his hand and begins, “This is probably a stupid question.”  For some reason, the teacher answers, “Now, there are no stupid questions.” And sure enough, here it comes, the most ridiculous question you’ve heard all year.

If you’re thinking there are such things as stupid questions, you’re right.  Only to soften the blow, let’s call them ill-advised questions, shall we?

Let’s go over some questions you don’t want to be caught dead asking.

Right off the bat, let me say that anytime you do not read the teacher’s assignment for the day, you may not ask questions.  Not trying to be a control freak here, just looking out for your best interest.

Why not ask if you haven’t read?  Quite simply, you can end up really looking silly if the question is already answered in the text.  It’s a big, black mark against you.  Makes you look not only ill-prepared, but lazy.  Your teacher is thinking, you didn’t do your part, now you want to use class time for something you should have done yourself.

Bad idea.  Also, if you have one of those teachers who like to rub it in when it’s obvious that a student hasn’t prepared, you may be in for some serious teasing throughout the term.

You can also forget getting others to be your partner on a group project.  Once other students know you don’t do your work, they won’t want to let you ride on their coattails.  And obviously, no body wants someone in a study group who won’t carry his own weight, either.

See?  Some questions are best left unasked.

Now that I’ve got some of you sufficiently paranoid, two important points:

1.  If you have prepared, yes, please do ask a question, if you need a point clarified.  Jump right in there.

2.  If you do ask a question in front of the teacher, DO NOT, under any circumstance, begin by saying, “This is probably as stupid question.” Be bold, it earns you more respect.

Why leave off the “stupid question” disclaimer?  Because it’s weak, and makes you look like you don’t have confidence in yourself.  You know, we teach people how to treat us.  We do this by how we treat them, and ourselves.  This includes how we talk about ourselves.  Saying we have a stupid question really undermines our own credibility.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

STUDENT SUCCESS PROGRAMS

It’s as though we have a steady stream of chatter going on inside our heads.  I guess those million, million brain cells have to have something to do!

True, you cannot control all your thoughts, but in order to improve your student success rate, you’ll need to watch the quality of those thoughts.

Psychologists, spiritual leaders, and even our moms have told us in one way or another that we become what we think about.

If our thoughts are negative, and we tell ourselves we can’t do well on essay tests, well, guess what, my friend, your behavior will not disappoint your word.

What you need to know is that when you have a thought, your brain actually creates a path between brain cells.  The more you have that same negative thought, the deeper that path becomes.

This means it becomes easier and easier for you to slip into that groove of negative thinking.

What’s a person to do?

To improve your student success , the answer to this is quite simple:

Create new pathways by imagining yourself making A’s on all those essay tests. The more emotion and excitement and strong feeling you put into these thoughts, the better.

See, your brain doesn’t know and frankly, doesn’t even care if this event is actually taking place or not. It simply stores the reaction you’re programming into it.

It will have no choice to respond to the more positive mind chatter and create the event you’ve programmed it for.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

TIME MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

Do you sit down at your desk or table to study, only to suddenly realize that, good grief!  This desk is really cluttered, I really need to clean it off.  And while I’m at it, I should really thin out the papers in the drawers, and would you look at the floor?  When’s the last time someone vacuumed around here?

Let’s admit something to each other.  If you’re suddenly overpowered by the feeling that you must clean everything in your surroundings, it’s quite possible that you are just putting off something big, (your “one true thing” perhaps?) that you really should be doing.

There’s a solution to this avoidance factor to help with your time management in college.

First, back away from the feather duster, housecleaning right now is a low level activity.  Just sit back, take a few deep breaths and ask yourself, “What one action could I do right now that would put me on the path to achieving my goals?”

Once you have that answer, you have your “one true thing.” And when, day by day, you keep doing your “one true thing,” success adds up pretty quickly.

When you see college as a golden opportunity to jump-start your career success, I trust that you will create a time management plan to maximize the return on your investment of time, money and energy.

Your “one true thing” is what I call that action you can take every day to move you one step closer to making that contact, cultivating that relationship, doing well in that internship or class.  Do something every day that is consistent with what your big goals are.

Only you know what those goals are, and only you can determine what that action, your “one true thing” is for today.  When you’re doing it, you’ll know.

And after you’ve done this, I hope that you will move consistently toward getting that dream job after you are finished with college.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, Crystal Jonas knows what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call Crystal at 719- 291-0366.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

If you have a “high-performance” team, then it’s even more important that the student leader gets their input into how to achieve these goals.

High-performance teams are made up of people who know their jobs well, and have a clear idea of what’s expected of them. They have a firm grasp about the task at hand, but are not necessarily the best students at school.

If you want your team to buy into your goals, then you’ll want to get them to buy in early. Do this by asking their opinions on the best way to accomplish the goal.

Naturally, a student leader must ask for other peoples opinions, so  if you’re asking, then you’re going to want to make sure that you are implementing their ideas as much as possible. This is where your flexibility comes in. You’ll want to be open to adding your team’s ideas to the mix, so you can’t go into the project thinking that there’s one way to do it and that’s your way. You’ve got to be willing to trust that you’re not the only one with great ideas on how to get things done.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

STUDENT SUCCESS

We know that if we’re going to keep improving, then we’re going to need to get some tough feedback from time to time and suck it up so that we can learn from it, improve and move onward and upward.  Student success demands that you look at continual improvement.

When people have integrity, they could be in a position to give good feedback.

However, what you need to be on the lookout for here is people who don’t have integrity who try to give you constructive criticism.

You’re right to think that not everyone has your best interest at heart and there may be people who give you cutting remarks in the guise of “helping you.”

These are not nice people.  They may even pretend to like you and then whammo!  Out of left field they hit you with a cutting comment to “help” you out.

I call these people “emotional snipers.”

Your job will be to tune in and see if you’ve heard those kinds of comments from others you do respect.  If you continue to get the same feedback, it’s time to start tweaking how you do things.

Here’s some age-old wisdom to help you out:  “If one person calls you a jackass, you can overlook it.  If ten people call you a jackass, saddle up!”

Your second student success tip on feedback is to always listen to feedback from people with integrity, even when it hurts!

We’re back to this continual improvement thing to help with student success.

Some people will love you enough to tell you the truth, even when it may hurt to hear it.

What you need to know is that although these people have hearts of gold and honestly really do want to help  you, it doesn’t mean that they have good communication skills.

Your best friend or trusted family member wants to let you know that maybe the reason why your grades are taking a nosedive is not because your school “only hires jerks as professors.” They could be trying to tell you that you’ve stopped studying and started partying a little too much.

That might not be so easy to hear.

When you work hard to go to school, and to have a job you probably feel that you deserve a break. And you do.  They’re just trying to help you get some balance around play and work.

You know yourself.  You’re smart.  Sooner or later you’re going to have a quiet moment to yourself and say, “you know, they’re right.  They might not say it beautifully, but the point is right and they care about me.”

You know that feeling that you eventually come to anyway that lets you know that you should at least open up to the input of good people who care about you?

Perhaps its time to listen to their feedback to speed up the learning curve and get you where you want to be a whole lot faster.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

TIME MANAGEMENT

I’ve heard it said that people can count on getting spending about 28% of their day getting interrupted.  Does that sound about right to you?

The problem is, once we’re interrupted, it can be hard to get back on task. Some people never do refocus once they’re distracted!

You cannot afford to be one of those people.  So, as soon as you’re able to extract yourself from that interruption you’ve got to ask yourself the following time management question:  “What’s the best use of my time right now?”

I trust that you will know exactly what the answer is, or where to find the answer, because you’ve written down your plan and you know exactly what your priorities are.

Look, no crime in getting interrupted.  It’s gonna happen.  The key to good time management is in how quickly you can get back on track!

Oh, by the way here is one more time management tip for you to consider.

As you work on your main plan, and you list the actions you’re going to take this week, make sure you’re tracking how that’s coming along for you.

I carry a little notebook and will check off the item as I complete it.  Not only can I tell at a glance how far I’ve come and how much more I need to do, I get a real kick out of checking things off that list.

I especially like checking things off the list because I know how important those things are to my reaching my goals.  Give this a try, I think you’ll enjoy it!

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP

There’s a philosophy that suggests that we cannot motivate others; they can only motivate themselves.  What we can do, though, is to see the diamond in the rough and to hold up a mirror to people in our team, reflecting what’s best in them.

Student leaders need to help others  be who they are at their best and the ability to motivate people who are working under you will yield tremendous results.

One way simple way that student leaders can motivate other students is to let them know that the leaders have confidence in the other students abilities.  Leaders must tell the students that they believe in the person and in their ability to bring their best to the table.

This means delegating as appropriate and getting out of their way while they do the work.

Student leaders must also ask for opinions and actually be willing to incorporate their ideas into the processes. Not many things make leaders lose credibility faster than asking for opinions they have no intention of using.

People who feel valued motivate themselves to be at their best. They need much less supervision from you. Tell them “I believe in you.”  “You can do it.”  “You’ve done well before, and you will do well again this time.” “Your best is good enough.”

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Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make student leaders more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP

SMART goals can be used  for anything from a long-term goal of graduating with a certain GPA, to a short-term goal like the best way to make your student leadership groups next fund-raiser a shining success. Specific – Precisely describe the goal. Remember, they must know exactly where the target is in order to hit it. Measurable – Quantify your goals. This inspires people to stay on track because they can readily see how far they’ve come, and how much further they have to go. Attainable – Aim high, but not so high that the objective is unreachable. If you want to stretch your group, ask their opinion, and get their agreement. Do reserve the right for you as a team to revisit the goals and set new objectives as necessary. Realistic – Has the objective been reached before? If not, you may want to take a second look. Time limit – Have a date when your goals will be met. The old saying is that goals without a deadline are just dreams. Along with developing SMART goals, Student Leadership Teams should collaborate and use it to their advantage. Hook up with others and brainstorm “best practices” together. Working together, you are much more powerful than when working alone. Putting your heads together allows you to share common concerns and learn from the mistakes of others. Also, you can run ideas by this group before presenting them to your own team. Combining collaboration along with SMART goals will help you troubleshoot and iron out all kinds of problems you might be facing. _________________________________________________________________

Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas, As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more. Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

FRESHMEN EXPERIENCE PROGRAMS

This is actually a common question which, on the surface, seems harmless enough. Aren’t you even quite responsible to follow up and ask to make sure you aren’t missing out on some crucial point in your education because you didn’t attend the last class?

Alas, dear student, in spite of your best intentions about making up for lost time in following up on any goodies missed, here’s what the professor hears, “Did you say anything I’ll be tested on?” or worse, “You don’t usually say anything important, was last Tuesday an exception?”

Sadly, either way, you don’t end up looking very good. And oh, by the way, you already missed class, so what’s up with that? I know, it cuts to the core to be misunderstood. What’s a well-meaning, conscientious student supposed to do when she misses class?

Ask for the notes of a couple of friends, and review them. As long as you have also read the material necessary for the class you missed, make an appointment to see the professor so you can make sure you have a clear understanding of what you see as the main concepts. Since you’re showing initiative, and will have great questions to ask, your professor will be much more receptive to helping you and filling in those missing pieces. Don’t expect a complete rehashing of the class, of course, but with your prep, this session could be enough to make up for the missed class.

By the way: there are only a few legitimate reasons for missing class.  If you go in for extra help after missing a class, make sure it falls within the “true emergency” category. If you’re reason doesn’t pass muster, (and sorry, an American Idol marathon doesn’t count) don’t even try to make an appointment with the prof for extra help.

You’ll just call attention to your absence even more. And who needs that?



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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

College Success Speaker's Programs

ONE MOVE DOES NOT A MESSAGE MAKE (NECESSARILY)

In my early days of consulting, one of the most requested seminars I offered was about body language. Although I stressed the importance of looking at the whole person, people would still ask ” What does it mean when someone crosses her arms when she’s talking to you?” Or, “Doesn’t it mean a person is dishonest if he doesn’t look at you when he’s talking?” How much easier life would be if we could look at the way people hold their arms, or cross their legs, or use eye contact, and instantly know what they are thinking! The Big, Bad Body Language Myth is the idea that if you know the secrets behind decoding body language, you can look at a person and know exactly what she’s thinking. Our thoughts are far more complicated than to think we can read another person solely by one movement.

BIG GENDER AND CULTURE DIFFERENCES

It has been said that crossing your arms suggests closed mindedness.  Keep an open mind about this, please. I notice in the dozens of programs I present to business men and women each year that women often cross their arms because they’re cold, or more comfortable like that, or merely out of habit.  Since I ask for evaluations after every program, I can tell they weren’t tuning me out, or worse, bored! Different cultures use eye contact differently. So, if you’ve read that you must look someone in the eye or be perceived as dishonest, you may misunderstand Asian cultures who consider bold eye contact to be disrespectful, especially if you are gazing into the eyes of your elder or someone who outranks you. If the big, bad myth is that one gesture is not enough to read a person, what’s the real message that will give us insight into what another person is thinking?

CHECK OUT THE BIGGER PICTURE

Rather than look for one gesture to understand a person, notice any sudden, more involved changes.  For example, if you approach someone who has his hands in his pockets and is jiggling change, don’t assume he’s cheap. (Yes, that has been a common assumption of this single gesture.) He could simply be feeling for his car keys, wondering if he has enough for the parking meter, or just jingling out of nervous habit.

WE HAVE NON-VERBAL ACCENTS

Each of us has our own body language idiosyncrasies, influenced by our upbringing, what part of the world we were raised in, even our cultural customs or religious beliefs.  So, our body language has unique patterns, a kind of non-verbal accent, so to speak. Is it possible to tell then, if we have lost the attention or goodwill of someone with whom we’re speaking if we can’t rely on a few movements here and there? Well, yes.  If you’ve been paying attention to that person’s nonverbal cues for several minutes.  Again, you’ll want to notice any sudden, major change. Uncrossing or crossing the arms or legs can do without your concern.  However, if people suddenly change their body position, turn their head, avert their eyes, and (the kiss of death for you) heave a heavy sigh, you’ll know that you’ve lost them.

BOTTOM LINE

Your take home messages: first, make sure you’re sharing the conversation as much as possible so others don’t suddenly zone out on you. Second, keep the body language message in context and people will reveal much more to you than your trying to force meaning on a single isolated action.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

STUDENT SUCCESS

This is true no matter how old you get, my friends.  Even after you leave the hallowed halls of higher education, you will be greatly influenced by the crowd you run with.

Who are your friends? Who are you hanging out with now?

Do they care about not just going to school but graduating?  Graduating on time?  Graduating on time and moving smoothly into a great job which they have prepared themselves well for?

Well, if they are, good for you.

Student success studies show that more than your level of education, or your religion, or whether you came from a two parent house, more than any other factor, your peer group will determine how successful you will be.

We become like those we hang with.

Picture your friends.  You are the average of the five people in your social circle you spend the most time with.

Scary prospect?

Consider joining a club that draws more of the people who want as much for themselves as you do.

Do you have the right friends?

Good, now you go be a good example for them, too.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to for student success and have them enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

NON TRADITIONAL

Non-traditional students, in many schools, make up over 70% of the population. Whether you’re a nontraditional college student (or a traditional student) with a busy life, you need to know that you will have many windows of opportunity to squeeze in some studying in the course of a day.

Go ahead; think of all the occasions your time is out of your control.  Stand in any kind of line lately?  Waited for someone else in the last 24 hours? Take control back and be ready to whip out those 3×5 cards containing your review notes and study whenever time permits.

It does not even matter if these gifts of time, as I think of them, are 5 minutes or 15. Because we remember what we studied first, and what we studied last, short study sessions can be an important part of learning what you need to learn while still having time for a life.  Keep in mind that the non-traditional student generally has less time to study than a traditional student.

In order to maximize time management, the non-traditional college student should write down their goals and their plans for achieving those goals. This includes everything from when you plan on studying  all the way to what you want to get out of college and the reason you are getting that college degree.

As you go through the day, track your progress.  That’s right, check off what you’ve accomplished, and at the end of the day, tell yourself the truth. Did you do those things that really matter? If the answer is yes, then you can sleep well.  If the answer is no, it really doesn’t matter how ‘busy’ you were that day because you weren’t busy doing the things you say matter the most.

All too often, non-traditional students are not as successful as they could be simply because they are not being true to themselves about what they accomplished that day.  So, make the best of it!  Show those traditional students that you’ve got what it takes to be a success!

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

STUDENT SUCCESS

Double whammy if you ask when the prof is on a roll, digressing on some protracted story that lost you 10 minutes ago.  Although it seems like an intelligent question at first, it drives teachers crazy.  Why?

Teachers generally have spent copious amounts of time researching to bring you the latest and greatest information about what they teach.  Most want to pass on to you their enthusiasm for the subject so you want to learn for the sake of learning itself. In the real world, you and I know everyone can’t love every single class.  In some courses you just want to know the bottom line, “Hey, will you ask me this on a test?”

Fair enough, from the perspective on your side of the desk.  Here’s what the teacher hears when you ask that question: “Do I need to listen now, or can I zone out again, since I’m bored beyond belief, and I’m only taking this class because there was no way out of it?” While it may be the case that you are barely able to remain conscious as you listen to the professor pontificate about the topic at hand, remember, diplomacy is paramount when dealing with your teachers.

And, to improve student success it is your job to figure out what might be tested by paying close enough attention so you can tell when points are being repeated and emphasized.  Your instructor isn’t generally going to be so blatant as to say, “And this is on the test.”  If he does, consider it a gift. _________________________________________________________________

Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas, As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes for student success, and have students enjoy school whole lot more. Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

NON TRADITIONAL

When I deliver a “Cashing in with College” workshop or seminar, I’m often asked to give a second program for adults going back to school, or non-traditional students as they are called.  This program is based on the chapter in my book “College Success Your Way” called Thinking Outside the Books: Non-traditional Solutions for Non-traditional Students.

I’m reminded in this audience of adults who return to school after an absence how much our past experiences can influence what we see ourselves as capable of today.

Most striking is how often past failures can lead us to believe that we can’t be successful in the present.

Often these Non-traditional students will tell me the biggest handicap they had to overcome when returning to school is letting go of the past.  Frequently, they weren’t stellar students the first go around, and that’s what kept them from returning to school sooner.

Remember this.  No matter what happened in the past, you are a different person now.  You’ve had new experiences, new trials, new lessons.

You may find it helpful to know that many of the world’s most successful people have had major league set backs, and were not considered to be  traditional.

Fortunately, they just keep on learning from the past and moving forward. As long as you keep learning, adjusting and pressing on, you will find the success you’re looking for.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

I highly recommend that you take the class as an elective, if it’s not required.  You’ll learn so much about yourself and others!

It’s true that self-image is important.  After all, if you don’t see yourself as worthy of going for more, you’ll never leave the block, much less win the race.

So, while self-image is importance, it’s not the most important factor in determining your level of success.

According to research by the American Psychological Association and reported in Marcus Buckingham’s book, “The One Thing You Need to Know” self-image determines whether you’ll go for more, but self-efficacy will determine whether you will actually be successful.

Self-efficacy is seeing yourself as able to act in ways that will bring about the desired results.

Think of self-efficacy as picking up where self-image leaves off.  Self-image sees that you’re worthy, and pretty much stays in thought.

Self-efficacy is your sense that you are capable of what it takes to bring about success.  This will allow you to focus on actions leading to high-quality results.

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Student Success Coach, Crystal Jonas

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366

Student Success Programs

Have you taken the “Intro to Psychology” course yet?  Most of the students I speak with in my college programs across the US say that that’s pretty much a class students take when they’re Sophomores.

I highly recommend that you take the class as an elective, if it’s not required.  You’ll learn so much about yourself and others!

It’s true that self-image is important.  After all, if you don’t see yourself as worthy of going for more, you’ll never leave the block, much less win the race.

So, while self-image is importance, it’s not the most important factor in determining your level of success.

According to research by the American Psychological Association and reported in Marcus Buckingham’s book, “The One Thing You Need to Know” self-image determines whether you’ll go for more, but self-efficacy will determine whether you will actually be successful.

Self-efficacy is seeing yourself as able to act in ways that will bring about the desired results.

Think of self-efficacy as picking up where self-image leaves off.  Self-image sees that you’re worthy, and pretty much stays in thought.

Self-efficacy is your sense that you are capable of what it takes to bring about success.  This will allow you to focus on actions leading to high-quality results.

If you don’t have a strong self-image, then you don’t believe in yourself, and your level of self- efficacy will suffer too.

Raise Your Expectations, raise your self-image, and raise your self efficacy!

We get what we expect of ourselves, so try something to raise your self-efficacy level.

For example, if you are a pre-med major and you know you’re going to have trouble with “Organic Chemistry” because everyone in your fraternity tells you that ‘friends don’t let friends take Organic Chemistry,’ well, guess what’s in store for you. Yeap. A bear of a semester with stress, worry, and uncertainty piled on top of an already maxed out schedule.

Try something. Imagine that whatever it is you are not looking forward to doing is your own personal Mount Everest . Yes, you really can do this. And it will be among the most  exhilarating things you have ever accomplished.

When you have finished and met your goal, you get bragging rights for the rest of your life. and your life will have improved. Above all, see yourself as succeeding and enjoying the journey.

So to recap…Improving your self-image you’ll raise your self-efficacy. By raising self-Efficacy you’ll improve success in the workplace, thus raising the image you have of yourself even more.

…And the cycle continues.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Student Time Management

Study Smarter, Study Less  Yeap-o.  You read that right.

Don’t study:

• Anything you already know. Why should students spend their time just to study material they know?  Don’t bother re-hashing old news!
• Anything you haven’t reviewed quickly first. Skim through your notes, text.etc. Research shows that when students quickly review within one hour, they retain what they learn even better.
• When the TV is on. Many say they can multi-task when they study, but MOST students just think they can!
• When your time is better spent napping. 20 minute power naps can do wonders to improve retention when you study.
• When you’re distracted. If you’ve got a lot on your mind, perhaps you should take care of that business, particularly if it can be resolved quickly.

Better to spend 15 minutes of time with focused studying, than 60 minutes when your mind is elsewhere.  Do not even think about wasting your time this way.

Clear your head.  Focus.  Study.  Review.  Be done.

Programs by Crystal Jonas

As far as college students who claim they don’t have time do study. People are pretty casual with the way they spend their time.  Many spend over 7 hours a day watching TV, and then complain about not having enough time.  Try something different, something most students don’t dare do.  Lose that TV!  At least while you’re in college.  You’ll be surprised just how you will end up spending your time!  The same goes for internet surfing, but, you’ll probably not want lose the computer just yet.

Think of time as money.  You have it, you spend it. When it’s gone, you’re SOL (So outta luck).  So, use time carefully and remember what Benjamin Franklin said, “Do not squander time, for that is the stuff Life is made of.”

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Programs by Crystal Jonas

There are three main reasons for this. First, you don’t have the time to do everything yourself. Second, you are not, nor do you need to be, great at everything. That’s what leadership is for. Find the best student who would be naturally perfect for the job and delegate the task to him or her. Third, when you delegate work to others, you show that you trust them to do well in that job.

Most students do not like to be micromanaged. You know what that’s like. Your boss gives you something to do and then hovers over you, asking questions about how it’s going every five minutes, giving you ideas on how best to do it.

So, once you do turn over the task to another student, get out of the way and don’t micromanage.

Your success rises and falls with your ability to lead people. As you follow this tip, make sure that you are choosing the right student for the job.  Allow your people to play to their strengths and to take on duties where they will naturally shine.

They will appreciate the faith you place in them and the respect you show them by asking them to take part in the project.

Play to Team’s Strengths!

When you delegate to fellow students, make sure you’re assigning tasks based on the strengths of your team.

Let’s say you’ve got a task that involves interacting with the local radio stations. Not a good idea to ask your biggest introvert to take this on, when clearly this is a job for your gregarious extrovert. Save that wonderful and quiet student for a behind the scenes role.

Make sure you listen to every student, watch, and pay attention to not only what each team member enjoys doing, to what she’s actually good at.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when choosing the right student for the right job. Does the job require

• Someone who works better with people or with paper?
• An idea generator or a maintainer?
• A short-term or a long-term commitment?
• A creative thinker or a literal thinker?
• A veteran or a newbie?

When you assign tasks to students, let them know that you thought of them for that job because you’ve seen how well they’ve done in similar responsibilities. Your belief in them will bolster their self-esteem and research has shown us that people tend to live up to our expectations of them.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Until Next Time,

Crystal Jonas

Visit College Success Speaker Website for more on student leadership.

Programs by Crystal Jonas

Be solution focused and you will be unique among your classmates and in the corporate world. Too few people think about how to solve a problem. They’d rather just sit around and complain about it. And I’ll bet you know plenty of people who are really good at complaining, don’t you?

True leaders are willing to do things others aren’t.

One thing they’re willing to do is to not sit around whining about what went wrong and whose fault it is. A key to leadership is to always give to the team credit for any great feat they accomplished, and also take the hit when something they do goes less than great. Your standing up and taking the blow will earn you many loyalty points.

Take responsibility for your leadership. Learn from the experience and move on.

Let others see and hear you staying solution focused.

Discuss the problem only long enough to define it so that you can move onward and upward.

Anyone moving forward will make mistakes. The key question is how quickly do you recover?

Until Next Time,

Crystal Jonas

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http://collegelifesite.com/programs/

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Programs by Crystal Jonas

A participant in one of my seminars that I give for college groups called “College to Career Jump-start” told me he doesn’t like to get compliments, and told his boss where he had a summer intern job not to bother because they aren’t necessary.

Wrong attitude. Always graciously accept a compliment.

Especially troublesome in this particular example is that this man was part of a team of 12 people who accomplished the task he was being complimented for. So the compliment wasn’t just for him, it was also for his team!

Allow people to say nice things about your work any time they want. Just make sure your share that compliment and say something like “Thank you! The team put a lot of thought into it. I will be sure to pass your comments on to them.”

Not only is that the gracious thing to do, it’s what a true leader would do.

This takes away nothing from you, by the way. The average person knows that it’s because of your leadership that the team was able to reach such stellar results in the first place.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

College Success Speaker's Programs

Need to get those creative ideas flowing?  Try this exercise to stimulate creative  juices.

One of the main problems that keeps creative ideas from flowing from a students mind onto paper may be the paper itself.

Yes, that’s right.  Look at the paper on which you’re taking notes.  Is it lined?  Ok, this also applies to high tech people who transcribe directly on to a computer of some sort.  Here is a huge tip to jump start your mind to start thinking more creatively.

Get rid of the lined paper.  Do not use it when you’re trying to be creative, generate ideas, brainstorm, or break out of writer’s block.

Here’s why.  Students, or anyone’s, minds do not think linearly.   We don’t logically follow one idea with another, leading to another, etc.  Thoughts jump around; one idea seemingly unconnected with the next.

Think of lined paper as a mental straight jacket, imposing order when that step isn’t necessary until your creative ideas are collected and start to take shape.  The early stages of creative brainstorming are significantly restricted with traditional, lined notebook paper.  The thoughts aren’t coming to your conscious that way, so don’t be concerned with “listing” them in that manner.

Students, do you really want to work on developing creative ideas ?  Then try the following:

Use unlined paper, put your main question for the moment in the center and be careful of how you word it.

Next,circle the question or main concept that is in the center of your page. As ideas start to percolate, jot them down quickly.  Capture keywords only, no need to write in complete sentences.  Circle each creative idea as you finish, and draw a line between that circled idea and the circled main focus in the center of your paper.

When the next idea comes up, write, circle, and connect it to the center circle.  If the creative idea arises from one of your thoughts that’s already connected to the main idea, just “branch” the idea outward from the previous thought, and draw a line between these two.  What you’re doing is just letting your brain “radiate” ideas outward, connected related concepts as you brainstorm.

This process is roughly related to Mind Mapping, and has been called “clustering” since like ideas emerge clustered together.

Suggest this to your friends when you are in a brainstorming session for students . Not only will the group find themselves opening up to great, new, creative  ideas students normally would miss, when the do the same activity using lined paper, you’ll also find that all the students  ideas end up more organized than if you’d written them down in the usual way!

Have fun with this process.  Practice it often, and you’ll be great at brainstorming creative ideas in no time!

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful and enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Students in leadership positions should send letters to praise people for their efforts, and students should put their thanks in writing.

Programs by Crystal Jonas

If you’ve read my book College Success Your Way you know Chapter 7 is about how to “Launch a Great Career While Still in School.”  You already know how simple courtesies help you make a positive, powerful impression in the workplace. This is a gracious action that will distinguish you with your peers and your supervisors, both with the teams you lead in school and in the future,

Take Time To Send Out Thank You Notes!

Not only can you praise people in public, you can send a thank you note as well. How rare it is to get a thank you note these days, especially those that come through snail mail. So few people take the time to send these. If you do, you will be admired and respected.

It really doesn’t seem to matter if the thank you note is typed or handwritten. The most important thing is to get that thank you note to the person in a timely fashion (1-2 business days).  Personalize the note in some way so that the person remembers who you are.  Try making the note about something the person said or likes.  It will let that person know you cared about what they thought.

Remember to say exactly what you’re praising the person for and how it helps your team. Email, Facebook, etc. are getting more prevalent, but in my book, you should always follow up that sort of thank you with a “snail-mail” version.

Of course the best approach is to send each person from a group a personalized thank you note. However, keep this in perspective!  If you’re thinking you’ve got to send one to all 100 student volunteers that helped out at a campus concert, you may be finding that mass email the way to go (yeah, forget about what I said in the previous paragraph). Do me a favor though , try and personalize some of the thank you notes alright?

You know another really special thing to do? Send a thank you note to this person’s parents. Your thoughtful actions will become legendary. So few people think enough to even say “thanks” anymore, much less to express their thanks in writing.

Please, don’t forget this though–It is always a great idea to openly praise people.  Instant, verbal praise, especially in front of others will send big rewards your direction. Again, always make sure your comments are sincere and focused on a specific action.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Student Success Programs

Your ego stat is my term for two factors determining your chances for living a richly rewarding life.

One of these factors is your self-image and the other is your sense of self-efficacy.

Your self-image refers to what you see yourself worthy of and where yours is set impacts every aspect of your life from whether or not you’ll go to college (and finish with a cool job waiting for you) to what you’ll do for a living, how much money you’ll feel comfortable making, what kind of car you’ll drive, and even the people you’ll associate with.

If you move too far outside of that self-image, your “egostat” will make you feel uncomfortable until you start sabotaging yourself until you’re back to where you feel “worthy” of.

So, without going egomaniacal, make sure you have a healthy self-image and that you know in your bones that you are, in fact, worthy of graduating with honors, or landing that plum internship assignment, or being elected president of your Student Government.

If you don’t have a strong self-image, then you don’t believe in yourself, who can you really expect to?  (Outside of your Mom, of course?)

Raise Your Expectations

We get what we expect of ourselves, and we get what we expect of others.

If you are a pre-med major and you know you’re going to have trouble with “Organic Chemistry” because everyone in your fraternity tells you that ‘friends don’t let friends take Organic Chemistry,’ well, guess what’s in store for you.

Yeap.  A bear of a semester with stress, worry, and uncertainty piled on top of an already maxed out schedule.

Try something.  Imagine that this (whatever you’re dreading) is your own personal Mount Everest . You can do it.  You really can!  And it will be the most challenging and exhilarating things you have ever accomplished.

And when you’re done, you get bragging rights for the rest of your life. and your self-image will have improved. Above all, see yourself as succeeding and enjoying the journey.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Programs by Crystal Jonas

First, Unplug

Students, get rid of music that doesn’t help you study!  There, I said it and I’m glad.

If you want to make a dent in improving your time management as a college student, take the suggestion I make from “Mind Tricks That Make Learning a Piece of Cake,” a chapter from “College Success”. In it I talk about listening to music that will actually help students study better in school.  Short story, generally it’s the classical type.  Especially, it’s the type without words.

Now, get on the right music, turn off the TV, recharge your cell phone (since you’re going to have it off anyway), and for Pete’s sake, stop surfing the net. Students, we both know what a time sucker that is when time management  is  of concern.  You’ll be shocked just how much this will improve your study time in school.

As a college student who wants to improve his/her time management skills, I want you to get really focused when you study so you can study less, remember more, and go have some fun while you’re in school.

Stop distracting yourself, get the studying done, then kick up your heels!  You deserve the break.

Second, Practice Selective Procrastination

There’s an old saying “It’s not enough to be busy, what are you busy about?”  This is something students should always consider when it comes to managing their time.

Many wildly busy college students I meet from across the country tell me that they feel as though their schedules are booked 24/7.  To see them rushing from class to class, I don’t doubt it.

But here are the tough questions college  students should think about if they want to improve study habits:

• Does everything on your ‘to do’ list really need to be done?
• Are you doing stuff out of habit?
• Because you don’t know how to say no?
• Because you’re not really sure what you REALLY should be doing, so you’re going to do a bit of everything and hope SOMETHING is the right thing?

Well you know if you’ve read my books just for college students how I feel about wasting any kind of time when you’re at college.

As a student, you should have a clear idea of what you want to get out of college, go for it with a clear focus, study smartly, and leave yourself some downtime to relax and enjoy the ride.

So next time you feel like you’re running around like a crazy person, stop in that moment and ask yourself, what can I NOT do today so that I can do the things I really need to do much better?  Taking time to improve time management skills will give you more freedom, not less!

And then, procrastinate on those activities that didn’t make it to your short list.

Trust me, even if you don’t finish every teeny tiny thing on your humongous to do list, the world will still be revolving on its axis tomorrow.  And if it isn’t, you can blame me.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Students, You Must Change the Way You See Yourself

Student Success Programs

You have just received advice at a relatively young age that it took me years, and I do mean years to figure out.

You can never rise any higher than your own image of yourself.

Have you ever known a student in school who had a real low opinion of herself or himself?  No matter what evidence they had to the contrary, they were always saying they couldn’t do math or oral reports, or sports, or whatever.

And they never did do very well, did they?

Before you can ever hope for something better and expect it will happen for you, whether it’s better grades, or a better social life at school, as a student you must first change the way you see yourself.

So, if you want better grades, immediately start seeing yourself coming to class well-prepared, feeling confident as you answer the teacher’s questions, and enjoying the great sense of accomplishment that comes from getting a good grade on your project or test.

Want a better social life?  More friends?  More dates?  More study buddies?

Well, see yourself as a student who is  comfortable and confident as you interact with others.

Notice how good those people feel being around you because you are genuinely open and friendly.

It all starts in your mind.  See yourself as the student you’d like to be and then move into that image. How you see yourself can send messages to other students consciously and subconsciously so that you are better received by them and, more importantly, by yourself.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

College Success Speaker's Programs

1.  It’s expensive to pay and not go. It’s your money.  Okay, maybe your parents are helping too?  Either way, don’t you just hate it when you pay for something and then don’t use it?  Like that text book you bought and never looked at again?  Make sure you get the most of your investment by going to clas

2. Your professor may put a high premium on attendance. Funny thing is, she may even say she doesn’t care if you come or not.  But I don’t recommend you test her.  Not going shows you don’t care, and you sure don’t want the teacher thinking you don’t care about her class.

3. It’s a responsible habit that can have long-term payoffs. We’re grown ups now.  We keep our commitments.  Signing up for a class is like saying, “I’ll be there.  Count me in.  See you there.” Few people stand behind their commitments, so if you’re someone who does, you will distinguish yourself from the masses out there, and be well respected at school, then in your chosen career.

4. You will learn more than if you stay away. You are working way too hard to make good grades if you start missing class.  It’s one of the biggest kept secrets to making the grade in college.  Prep before class, go to class, listen, review soon after.  Piece of cake, and a lot less work than any other method out there.

5. You get to know other students in the class. And this is a good thing.  Not only do you get to hear the great questions of others that you might not have thought to ask, you may also find others to study with so you don’t have to struggle in a class you find more difficult.  Let’s not forget either that school isn’t just about making the grade and graduating, it’s also about making friends you may keep the rest of your life.  A good place to find those friends is right there in class.

6. It’s where the answers are. How else will you know what’s on the test?

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

College Success Speaker's Programs

You’ve seen this happen. You’re in class, a student who usually not only sleeps but also snores through most of the period, raises his hand and begins, “This is probably a stupid question.”For some reason, the teacher answers, “Now, there are no stupid questions.” And sure enough, here it comes, the most ridiculous question you’ve heard all year.

If you’re thinking there are such things as stupid questions, you’re right. Only to soften the blow, let’s call them ill-advised questions, shall we?

Let’s go over some questions that, as a student, you don’t want to be caught dead asking. Right off the bat, let me say that anytime you do not read the assignment for the day, you may not ask questions.

Not trying to be a control freak here, just looking out for your best interest as a student. Why not ask if you haven’t read? Quite simply, students can end up really looking silly if the question is already answered in the text. It’s a big, black mark against them. Makes you look not only ill-prepared, but lazy. Your teacher is thinking, you didn’t do your part, now you want to use class time for something you should have done yourself. Bad idea. Also, if you have one of those teachers who like to rub it in when it’s obvious that a student hasn’t prepared, you may be in for some serious teasing throughout the term.

You can also forget getting others to be your partner on a group project. Once others know you don’t do your work, they won’t want to let you ride on their coattails. And obviously, no body wants someone in a study group who won’t carry his own weight, either. See?

As a student, some questions are best left unasked. Now that I’ve got some of you sufficiently paranoid, two important points:

1. If you have prepared, yes, please do ask a question, if you need a point clarified. Jump right in there

2. If you do ask a question, DO NOT, under any circumstance, begin by saying, “This is probably as stupid question.”  Why leave off the “stupid question” disclaimer? Because it’s weak, and makes you look like you don’t have confidence in yourself.  Be bold, it earns you more respect as a student and in life.

You know, we teach people how to treat us. We do this by how we treat them, and ourselves. And as a student, this includes how you talk about yourself. Saying you have a stupid question really undermines credibility.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

College Success Speaker Programs

Prime your mind to store and retain information.   Here are five reasons prepping for class makes learning in school a whole lot easier and saves you tons of time.

1.     Big Picture Overview primes memory Our memory works by associating new ideas with old ones.  When students read the assignment for school, and review the notes from last class, it paves the way for new information to be connected with this big picture concept that has just been studied. It gives the students mind an overall picture of what the main themes of the class will be.  Our brains naturally store and recall information more effectively when students start with a big picture concept of the key ideas, and then fill in with specific examples and applications used in school. 2.   You’ll recognize and understand key terms more readily.  Remember, understanding key terms, and their interconnection with key concepts is the basis for students taking brief, memorable notes in school. For example, say your Psychology class is studying Freud.  Students need to know about the ego, superego, and the id, and when Freud says they develop.  In reviewing ahead of time for class, the students mind has been  primed  to pick up on the teacher’s mentioning any of these key terms.  Students will be able to listen more carefully during class, and to take more meaningful notes on how these three concepts influence each other and psychological development. 3.   It allows note taking shorthand. Reading ahead allows students to check off directly in their book when the teacher covers something that is in there from the class lecture.  Those students unprepared will be writing like mad; whereas students who have read ahead will simply be putting a symbol beside anything the teacher mentions from the book.  I recommend the letter “c” with a circle around it, so the students can quickly notice that this is information covered in class.  Anything mentioned both in the book and in the class lecture is worth making a special note of. 4.  It primes active listening Finally, coming prepared sets students up for active listening in the class.  The golden nuggets that students want in your notes are contained within the key words and key concepts in 10% of the lecture. Let me cover the idea of key words and concepts in more depth here. Say you just saw a great movie and you want to tell some friends about it.  How much do you tell them?  Certainly, not all the dialogue, in fact, you probably wouldn’t mention the dialogue at all unless it contained a funny joke. Nope, you’d stick with the synopsis, just the highlights.  You would condense a two-hour show into a five-minute description. The review you would give the movie contains the essence of the key words.  That’s exactly what you’ll want to write down when you’re taking notes during the class lecture, the main ideas, not every word.  Imagine that you’re going to tell a fellow classmate who had to miss class what the lecture was about.  Those ideas you’d tell her are what you want in your notes. 5.  Prep makes taking notes a lot easier. Perhaps the best way to take notes in school is a process of three-dimensional, one-page note taking, sometimes called brain webs or mind maps.  In this process, the central idea is placed in the middle, and the main themes radiate outward with subcategories attached to their respective themes. When students have looked at the material before class, they have a much better idea of how the key points interconnect.  This helps students to write your notes in a way that shows you how the concepts relate to each other. _________________________________________________________________

Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas, As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more. Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Cultivate Your Multiple Intelligences

Student Success Programs

That’s Multiple intelligences, not mini intelligences.

For ages we thought that we had one kind of IQ, the kind that IQ tests measure. It’s pretty much the same kind of intelligence that SATs measure.

Now, based on the research by Professors Howard Gardner and Robert Ornstein and the work of Tony Buzan, multi-million best selling author and the creator of Mind Maps, we know we have multiple intelligences, including creative, personal, social, and spiritual intelligences.

For you to build student success  remember that you are a multifaceted being. Be sure to cultivate all areas of your life, not just professional, or financial.

Make your goals well-balanced.  Make time for personal, physical, emotional, and spiritual growth. Studies show us that the most successful people are those who have a well-balanced approach to life. So, look into the multiple intelligences you have and use them to your advantage.

Take an Honest Self-Test

What’s this?  A test outside of the classroom?

Yes.  Consider it a pop quiz. It’s importance, however, goes way beyond a little pop quiz.

In order to measure how far you’ll be going as you pursue student success as well as success in the workplace you’ll need to know the point from which you’re starting.

Here’s a hard question to answer honestly.  But no one is looking over your shoulder, and you don’t even need to answer out loud, just answer honestly.

Are your results so far worthy of your potential?

Given all you are capable of, are your results reflective of this potential?

If you are like about 97% of the people I meet in my seminars and programs across the states, the answer is “Probably not.”

Well, that’s ok. Just start with an eyes-wide-open attitude about where you’re beginning your success journey.

You’ll be delighted when you start to see just how far you’ve come once you have the tools you need and start using them consistently.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Student Success Programs

I wonder right now if teachers who have picked up this book are cringing as they read this.

I used to be a teacher, too.  I was an Assistant Professor of English at the US Air Force Academy for 7 years in the 90’s and I’m here to tell you that I think it’s great if you’re making good grades.

I’m also saying, a good GPA will only take you so far.

Now, this is either good news or bad news, depending on how you see it.

I tell students my goal is to help the them “Cash in on the College Investment.” (My program is called, coincidentally, “Cash in on Your College Investment.”)

The goal of getting maximum ROI (have you heard that business term before?  It means “return on investment.”) is to launch a great career upon graduation from college.

Which means what?

To get the most return on your college investment, you A. Have grades good enough to stay in college

B. Have grades good enough to inspire your teachers to want to help you make the right contacts in the ‘real world.’

C. You do all you can to prepare for that job while still in school

D.  All of the above

The answer?  D of course.

Success goes beyond the grades.  So make sure you’re living a balanced life with this in mind.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Programs by Crystal Jonas

Successful people have a clear idea about how they will spend their time.

I know, sometimes you just want to go with the flow and not be held to a tight schedule. That’s completely understandable. Just make sure that most of the time, you have a clear focus and direction so you know what you will have accomplished by the end of your day.

How much of the time should you schedule?  Try 80% and see how much you get done.  If you’re uncomfortable getting that much done, scale back a bit. I’m thinking you’ll like the results.

Successful people manage expectations of themselves. They also manage the expectations others have of them.

Let’s say that you have a free Saturday.  You don’t have to work, you don’t have study group, and you’ve decided this is a great time to catch up on those 500 pages of reading for your History class.

Before you set your alarm for 6 AM and plan to read until 9 PM , do yourself a favor and set challenging, yet reasonable goals for yourself.  If you set the bar too high, you will get discouraged and give up after about, oh, three paragraphs. This is just what successful people do.

And while you’re at it, let others know what you can do.  If your study group assigns you an entire chapter to report on in the next 24 hours, let them know if you will be glad to take the first half of the chapter, but you are booked up past that.

Ok, they won’t love it, but it’s better than pretending you can get through all of that and discouraging yourself and your group.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

College Success Speaker's Programs

About 85% of your success in life, rests on your ability to get along well with others.  This includes gaining and keeping good rapport by having a good first impression with the teacher.  If he likes your attitude, you’re much more likely to max out that discretionary 10% that has a significant influence on your grade.

Numbers #1 and #2:

Go early; stay late

Okay, steps one and two of getting off to the right start with a good first impression.  Now you don’t have to keep sitting there minutes after the class ends.  You should, however, come a few minutes early and stay though the entire class.  No need to be the last person to leave, just don’t create a draft trying to get out the door at the end of class.

How early do you need to come to class to make that good impression with the teacher?  Early enough that you have your book and notepaper out and your pen poised and ready to go before the teacher even opens his mouth.

Why?

Because often, he has either just taught a class or reviewed his notes, and wants to make sure he makes some critical points before they slip his mind.  Sometimes, students will be talking to him just before class starts, and maybe they’ve got the same question they need answered.  Teachers use those first few moment of class to clear up the issue for the entire class.

Listen, this is prime time stuff here, if you want to make that great first impression on your professor, then do not miss it!

Also, your prof may wrap up the class making sure he touches on and reviews key concepts one more time before you go.  Remember that key concepts are testable material.

Your habits are noticed!

A tiny transgression that’s more damaging than you’d think to a teacher’s impression of his/her student is coming a little late to class or leaving a little early.

Be aware of the image you project as a student in the classroom.  Whether you realize it or not, something as seemingly insignificant as coming in a minute late from time to time, or packing up with your teacher is still talking and slipping out a moment early makes you look bad when students are looking to gain a good impression.

It suggests disrespect of the teacher and the rest of the students in the class.  Whatever your reason for being late, correct the situation so you can be where you need to be when you need to be there.  If you absolutely must be late or leave early because of an appointment you must attend, let the teacher know ahead of time in order to keep that good  impression he has of you.

Coming a bit late or leaving a bit early, unless it’s absolutely necessary, and you’ve mentioned it to the teacher beforehand, makes you look bad. It may seem as though you don’t like the class or respect the teaacher.  It may appear that you don’t plan your time well, so you can’t get there on time.  You may seem (gasp!) lazy and thoughtless.  Now that may be a lot to read into being late and leaving early, however, all the teacher has to go on is what she sees, not your reasons for doing it.

And when you do go to class, BE there.  Sit as close to the front as is comfortable, focus, come prepared, take part in active listening, and note taking. When the time is right, jump on in and ask a question.  Answer a few, too.  It’s your class, make the most of it.

Way #3:  Stand out in a good way

In order to make a good first impression, you must be able to stand out in the crowd, let your teachers know you care.  You’re one of 357 students in an intro History class.  How do you let your teacher know who you are?  In three easy steps:

1.     Sit no further than the third row, right in the center of the classroom

2.     Always look attentive

3.     Make an appointment early in the semester so you can meet one on one with the teacher.  Ask for some clarification on one of the topics he’s been presenting, or for some help narrowing down your focus on a paper you’ll write for that class.

Let him know that you are paying attention and care about learning. Introduce yourself soon in the semester.  You will be remembered positively. Teachers pay attention to these things; it will improve that first impression greatly!

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Student Success Programs

Students who want to be successful should know more about how much they have going for them right between their ears.

Students – Did you know you have a million, million brain cells? Give or take a few dozen or so, that’s about how many you have. And we used to believe that we only use about 10% of our brain power and now we know we really use about 1%. Amazing, isn’t it?

Here’s what this means to you.

You are a natural born genius!

Right now, you have exactly what it takes to be exactly the student you were meant to be. You know, that person who can accomplish all those things you think about late at night when you imagine what your life will be like after graduation?

You are destined for success as a student and in life! If you want to have more success in school, your job is to tap that potential and put it to use.

If you want to learn more about how your brain works, and how to be successful in school  as a student,  read the rest of my student success tips; let your brain help you make the ride to success the exhilarating journey it was meant to be.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Programs by Crystal Jonas

You know what stinks?  Mean people.

Problem is a college student can waste a lot of time obsessing over someone else’s bad behavior. This is one very important aspect of time management many students don’t ever consider.

Have you ever spent your valuable time wondering what some students were thinking about you or reliving an embarrassing situation? Of course you have.

Problem with that is that it sends you into a black hole of major time drain. Improvements in time management can be made by just letting go of what could have been.

Whenever you spend your oh so precious time worrying about what you or someone else could have done differently but didn’t, remind yourself that every minute you spent stuck in that unhappy, uncomfortable memory, is 60 seconds you’ve lost doing something to make you feel good about yourself and others.

My personal philosophy regarding time management that I tell college students across the country is that “no amount of time is enough if you don’t know how you’re going to spend it.” Choose not to waste it on other people, you’ll be happier for it!

Give yourself  this personal time management goal. Without goals, students can drift through college without direction.  Save yourself a lot of time, have a goals to focus your attention away from mean people.

Make sure you are clear about your values and goals and have a plan for your time.  I always say that students who didn’t learn effective time management  goals work for people who do. Which group will you be in?

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Focus on the Positive and Remember That Attitude is Important, Especially to the New Students on Campus!

Programs by Crystal Jonas

Jennifer, a junior who will next year be the student in charge of Welcome Week for her college’s incoming freshmen, said that the “positive factor” is the most important element that makes new students feel comfortable and happy they chose their school. “Every student on the Welcome Week committee was first chosen for their positive attitude. It makes a huge difference in giving the new students a positive first impression of the school.”

As you lead your team, keep that positive attitude whether it only meets for a few months a year, or for the better part of the entire year.  Remember that these students are volunteers, and they have tons of responsibilities outside of this group, you must lead in order to keep their attitude positive as well!

Catch people in the act of being good, smart, funny, helpful, selfless, any value you’d like to reinforce.  Praise them openly and be specific about what they did and how that helps to further the mission of the group.

When you are praising people, especially the new students, use their names, look them in the eye, and be sincere.  It’s amazing how you will find students going out of their way to do well when they know they are appreciated.

School can be tough and many people put in a lot of effort with very little reward or recognition. Frequent, prompt, and honest praise will go a long way in helping students stay on track when it seems that no one is noticing their contributions.

Stay focused on the all the great unique talents your people bring to the group and they will continue to live up to your high expectations.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

It’s true, too many students who start college don’t finish. Imagine how fun, simple, and rewarding college will be when you have these easy to follow, step-by-step books (and CD’s) clearly showing you the way to college graduation and your dream job. Everything you need to know as a college student is right here at your fingertips. These books will make your life in college fun, and you’ll get more done with less effort. Students will learn how to: fit in fast and adjust quickly to school, make the grade and still have time for fun, discover your untapped potential, and jump-start career success! The College Success System which includes all 4 books, takes a student from Day 1 through to making sure that dream job is waiting upon graduation.  All the study skills, time management tips, and Social Savvy any student needs to graduate on time, move into a great job, and enjoy the process! Students who don’t have access to the College Success System will be missing out on valuable insider info* that will help them get a jump-start on school and make sure they fit in quickly with the study skills to make the grades and the social skills to get the great job upon graduation.

The Books:

Book #1: College Success Your Way

• the biggest mistakes college students make
• Success maker–how students can avoid professors’ pet peeves
• winning ways to study smarter, not harder in college for success
• a powerful plan to launch your career while in school

Book #2: Student Leadership 101

• Be the kind of student others respect and listen to for leadership advice
• Essential image makers and breakers needed by all college students in leadership training
• Master key skills of dynamic leadership in and out of college
• Discover communication skills that enhance teamwork

Book #3: Student Success 101

• As a college student, you will discover how to get more done in less time
• Reduce worry and frustration  in college
• Be positively productive
• Do well in school and still have time for life

Book #4: Student Time Management 101

• Discover hidden talents that make you unique as a student and as an individual
• Stay happy and goal focused no matter how crazy life gets
• Cultivate the qualities that have employers calling you
• Develop confidence and self-esteem

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Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.  My books are a great start!

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Programs by Crystal Jonas

Matthew, a sophomore at a small liberal arts college in the Midwest wrote me that whenever his Resident Life group gets together to solve problems, they start by playing creative games, like charades or categories.

“It limbers up our brains,” he wrote. “Then, we have a fun brainstorming session. We write out the question, like ‘What’s the best way to get more students involved in dorm activities?’ and then we all toss out ideas. We get going really fast with all these off-the-wall answers. It’s funny and fun. When we’re done, we come back to all those ideas and start putting the best answers to work for us.”

Who are we to squash brilliance that comes in unexpected forms?

When you’re brainstorming the best way to accomplish a goal or to solve a problem, keep it in the true spirit of a brainstorming session.

Ideally, you’ll have five to seven people, more is okay, if you must, but consider breaking the team into more than one group.

Put the question on the table. For example, you may want to ask, “What’s the best way to raise money to hire a speaker for our group’s next national conference?”

Start the tape or digital recorder and let the ideas fly. No second-guessing, judging, or discussing the ideas as they flow. Consider having everyone stand up and toss a ball around randomly. If you catch the ball, you throw out an idea as you toss the ball.

You’ll come up with fun, crazy, brilliant ideas, and lots of them.

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Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Student Leadership TIP #2: Be Clear About Your Team’s Direction and Let Them in on It

Programs by Crystal Jonas

Chris, a marketing major junior whom I met when I was on tour in California for my book “College Success Your Way,” suggested that I include this point.

As the leader, you’re responsible for letting your team know what the goals are.  One of the biggest frustrations people have when they work in groups is that the leaders don’t give clear guidance on what the target is.

Your team can’t hit a bull’s eye when they don’t even know where the dartboard is.

State your goals clearly, and even consider posting them for all to see.  People are very visual, and you can help them stay focused and motivated by having a clear picture of where they are now in reaching their goals, and how much further they have to go.

Student Leadership TIP #3: Lead by Example

Lisa, new to the Student Government Association at a Big Ten university wrote to me to say that from her first SGA meeting, she knew she was in a great organization.

“The president is always on time, on the point of the agenda, and respectful of every member of the SGA, even us freshmen!”

More than anything, how you act consistently will tell people the kind of person you are.

It so easy to talk about what should be done; it’s quite another thing to actually do what should be done. People are noticing not what your words say, but what your actions say.

Lead by example and lead from the front.

What this means to you is consistently being on time to meetings (and by the way, end them on time, too), finish projects by the deadline, or before, and show respect to others.

_________________________________________________________________

Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.

Programs by Crystal Jonas

When you’re in charge, the whole group is noticing how you respond to situations, both good and bad.

Keep in mind that they are especially paying attention when the going gets tough. Leslie from the University of Florida had to remind herself of this when there was a project her group was working on and half the people weren’t doing their share of the work. Nick from a university in Louisiana recalled this when his group thought they were going to get money to put on an event and it fell through at the last minute.

Look, all people can be at their best in good times.

The test is how do you behave when the going gets tough?

When the going gets tough for your team, do you allow yourself to take part in any of the whining and hard feelings of the group? When you or a member of your team makes a mistake, do you vent for days about the fact?

Or do you talk openly about lessons learned and move on?

Do you say one thing and then do another?

This is tip alone is worth the price of this book.

Remember that difficult times do not build character; they reveal it.

When life is less than great and circumstances are not on your side, that’s when your true character is revealed.

Your team looks to you for how to behave during difficult times. Stay calm when the going gets tough and they will come to respect you even more than they do now.

_________________________________________________________________

Crystal Jonas Bio

Hi, I’m Crystal Jonas,

As a former academic advisor and assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy, I know what it takes to make college students more successful, enjoy school whole lot more.

Ask about speaking or coaching for your students or faculty. Call me at 719- 291-0366.