Senioritis in college is far worse than it is in high school.

That feeling of mentally tapping out and being over the curriculum just heightens when you know the freedom of adulthood awaits the other-side.

It’s almost as if the culmination of being of drinking age, owning a degree and not having any pressing obligations creates a new you. A you who thinks they’re ready for life and is now equipped to face whatever comes their way.

This could not be further from the truth.

What we fail to understand is that college is merely the training wheels to ride this is thing we call life. Navigating what we do, where we go and how we conduct ourselves post-college requires balance — a type of balance that universities do not prepare us for.

And because college is treated as the last stage of ignorance, we go into the real world unprepared, wide-eyed, and susceptible to the pitfalls that lie in plain sight.

Honestly, with how readily assessable information is there shouldn’t be an excuse: everyone should be, at the very least, aware of the realities that come with post-graduate life.

But because we’re so full of ourselves and drunk off of our accomplishments, we ignore them.

Well I’m here to sober you up. Here are four common misconceptions graduates have coming out of college.

You’ll get a job

One of the biggest misconceptions of recent college grads is that they’ll get a job a soon as they walk across the stage. It’s noble.

You have a formal education, you’re young, you’re interested and hungry. Why wouldn’t you be able to find work? That’s just not how the real world works.

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Know this: we’re not too far removed from being in a ‘graduate underemployment epidemic’. The 53.6 percent of recent college graduates out of work or underemployed reported in 2011 only dropped to 33 percent in 2014.

Still too many for the price they’re paying.

Everyone’s story is different and you write your own history, but it’s important to grasp the reality of having to shop around your skills and building relationships before landing your dream situation. If you struggle to find a job once you graduate and you have set aside some savings, you could invest in an affordable franchise. For example, if you’re passionate about dogs, a dog training franchise could be an ideal fit. Many pet businesses require purchasing office space, maintaining a large inventory, and managing full-time staff. Not only does that require a high-dollar investment with considerable overhead, but it also makes your job more complicated. Running a business doesn’t have to be that way. It’s possible to operate an affordable franchise within the pet industry that is both simple and successful.

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You’re done with schooling

Another idea that graduates to be or recent grads have is that they’ll stop learning — as if just because there aren’t anymore professors, assigned reading or deadlines, studying wont need to be done. The truth is, you learn the most after college rather than in it.

Whether it’s having to learn a restaurant’s menu from front to back, or skills like coding, there are endless concepts and methods you’ll have to learn on the fly or even take back to work on at home.

Self-education is the best education. In a time where lies and truth, and real and fake, are often too blurred of lines, reading up and researching for yourself should be something you strive to do regardless.

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You’ve made the friends you’ll make for life

Another false truth that is adopted by grads-to-be, is that the friends they have will be the friends they have for life.

It certainly feels that way throughout college, but the actuality of it actually happening is slim. Trust me.

Just like high school, you’ll start to find yourself communicating less and less with people you never missed a day without seeing. Its not personal, its circumstantial.

It’s normal for lives to naturally drift in opposite directions. Your profession may pull you one way while their profession pulls them to another. It happens.

What you will find, though, is that the friends that don’t faulter — that rare three or four — will be the ones you can count on forever. Big facts.

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Your degree will solve everything

New graduates tend to think their degree is a key to whatever door they want to access. Because it took four years to attain, there’s a sense of value in it, so they automatically assume others will see the value in it, too.

You should always look to build on your degree.

Whether that’s getting a certification in a skill or learning a trade or even a program, never get in the mindset that the degree will make it happen for you. It’s only the beginning.

Graduation is an accomplishment, but not one to sit back on. Graduating should push you to go out and prove yourself — not to live in the moment.

When these misconceptions are noted and remembered, you’ll be somewhat better off after getting your degree. Bless up!

Who has times for feelings? What are emotions, if not excuses and distractions? Suck it up. Get back to the drawing board. Make it happen, no matter what’s happening.

These and thoughts like these are often the mindset of entrepreneurs, professionals, or anyone chasing a dream. We get so caught up in execution and efficiency, that we see our own emotions as liabilities or low on our priority list.

But in reality what we go through and the myriad of emotions that we endure along the way is instrumental to wherever we’re trying to go.

In fact, our emotions are pivotal to our our success. When we don’t take time to process the toll of the fatigue, time away from family, and failures, we not only affect our health, but we obscure our perspective.

It’s important we understand that greatness isn’t easy. There are supposed to be downs and times we want to quit. But numbing those frustrations only gives us a false idea of what it takes to achieve it.

Once we come to terms with not having it, we’ll be able to appreciate it when we do. When we tune in to our emotions and allow ourselves to work through our feelings, we become better equipped to accept the long-suffering that success requires.

Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental illnesses in America, with over 21% of adults (42.5 million) affected by these debilitating illnesses each year. The stresses of life aren’t beyond your reach, everyone needs a release.

Love Yours

We’re in the best headspace to appreciate life’s journey when we’re emotionally in-tune. Only then are we able to see the beauty in the now and to love our process without envying someone else’s.

Whether you’re starting a business, or are an artist, musician, or even in school, there will always be someone in a position you feel you deserve. During these times you’re going to feel frustrated and defeated. You’re going to ask if it’s worth the grind and you’ll question everything.

Contrary to what you may think, these emotions are good.

When you process your emotions and allow yourself to feel them in their entirety, you’re giving yourself a clear head to channel them constructively, instead of the self-destructive nonproductive ways we tend to revert to.

Once we get that frustration is normal and not the end of the world, we’ll be able to appreciate every step. The good ones and the bad ones.

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Understanding failure

Avoiding emotion is just another way of running away. Instead of trying to hide the hurt and disappointment in our lives why don’t we try to understand it?

Failure, for example, is a certain occurrence. So whenever we don’t stop and acknowledge how failure makes us feel, it makes it harder each time it happens.

I guess it’s easy to believe that once you reach a certain level of success there aren’t failures anymore and that it’s all flowers and roses, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The most successful people failed often. The difference is, they learn from it.

Being at the bottom shouldn’t discourage us, it should motivate and push us. It’s only when we accept accept pain that we can use it for fuel.

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Mental health

Most of all, processing our emotions and how we feel is important because our mental health depends on it.

No matter who you are or what place you hold, you should be allowed to be angry and sad and tired and boisterous. When we stagnate and keep these feelings in, we hinder our potential mental well-being.

Places like MentalHealthAmerica.net have screenings that allow you to test your anxiety and stress and other possible concerns and even helps you find someone to turn to if you did want to talk to someone about how you are feeling.

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When we’re aware we’re not feeling like ourselves, there are resources like these at our fingertips to help us better understand. We’re never alone.

You don’t have to suppress and numb your emotions. It is perfectly fine to find a healthy way to vent and express yourself. It’s okay to feel.

Once we see every emotion is valid and let them be, the more successful we’ll become.

I’m sure we all can relate to how it feels to have a million things going on in your head at once. And now, in addition to having all the information one could ever want at our fingertips, it almost feels like a responsibility to be, at least, somewhat knowledgeable of what’s going on.

Total student loan debt is over $1.48 trillion, Beyonce just announced she’s going on tour, and we’re down to our last northern white rhino male left in the world.

Between family, ambitions, our pockets, and all else, it’s easy to lose focus on one thing or be too focused on an other. It’s possible, in an effort to be as in tuned as possible, that we bring in the very junk that clutters our pathway to success.

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That’s why in this sea of hot takes, ideologies, and headlines, it’s imperative to stay in touch with what you believe and preserve that which you know you want for yourself. Remembering our purpose and revisiting our personal thesis of being helps us move through the noise, even if it’s the noise we let in ourselves.

Our thoughts should be held to a standard and a precedent must be set to police where our minds are allowed to wander.

When we’re intentional about focusing on the right things, we’ll start seeing our behavior follow suit. It’s all about conditioning our minds on where we want to go, not on how we feel.

Here are three signs that you’re focusing on the wrong thing:

It breeds negativity

When negativity strikes, it sticks. Controversy has a magnetic draw; it’s like quicksand: no matter how bad we want out, once we’re in, we can’t get away. That’s why it’s best to avoid negativity at all costs.

As cliche as it has become, ‘good vibes only’ are truly words to live by. Whether it’s a WorldStar fight circulating online, family gossip, or a someone talking down on you, we’re better people when we choose to stay out of it.

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When we channel our energy constructively instead of reciprocating the bad, we keep our mood clean and our spirits lifted. Negativity loves company, and when we succumb to its advances, we become negative, too.

There will always be disadvantageous circumstances that we will have to face. How we get through, however, is not by focusing on the hardship, but by overcoming.

If negativity surrounds something, detach and relay your attention elsewhere.

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It’s not productive

Running in place is probably one of the worst feelings, no matter where you are in life. It’s like you’re in a rut and life at that moment in time is impossible to figure out.

These times of redundancy are a product of focusing on nonproductive things.

When we focus on issues out of our control, we’re doing nothing more than setting ourselves up for disappointment.

That’s how many of us get stuck going nowhere fast: we keep reacting and chasing what we’ll never catch instead of manipulating the resources in front of us.

We can’t sulk over past failures, current disappointments, or the ones that inevitably lie ahead. Our job is to keep going and to keep adjusting. That’s how you learn and improve.

When we focus on the school we didn’t get into, the weight we wish we lost, or the pain we currently feel, we give those things power. Instead, focus on the school you’ll apply to next, the gym membership you’ll invest in, and how good you’ll feel once you’re well.

If you’re not benefitting or plotting to benefit from the endeavor, then it’s a waste of time. Focus on what advances you, not what makes it hard to advance.

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It’s not true

I’m convinced that we give lies too much power. Lies we don’t even need to Google are the ones we focus on, and it’s all because we choose to give them attention. It’s actually quite simple: if it’s not true, pay it no mind. This will not only give us a peace of mind, but it’ll keep us locked in on our goals.

All throughout our lives, we let non-truths permeate our mind and take reign over what we do and how we live.

Who said you couldn’t be a recording artist? Just because you haven’t tried doesn’t mean you’re not capable. What does it matter if no one gets your fashion sense or taste in music? Someone else’s validation does not make it a truth.

Half of the task is finding what our truths are, then focusing on that and nothing else. If what you’re focused on is in direct opposition to what you define as true for yourself, it’s best to sever ties with.

Avoid negativity, welcome positivity, and know your truths. Then and only then will the pathway to where you ought to be become much clearer.

I’m not sure I know of two concepts more different that tie as closely together as escaping and endurance.

Though they appear like opposites, they’re contingent on each other, always working in juxtaposition. Choosing one will either be the right choice or make you wish you chose the other. They’re always on opposing shoulders, a 50/50 coin flip that holds your future in where it lands.

The reason why it’s important to get a grasp on these two simplistically complicated concepts is because they’re directly related to our growth and maturation as individuals and contributors to society.

Lives have been stagnated and put on hold or enhanced and liberated, all based on how these ideas have been implemented.

Contrary to popular belief, we don’t make the decisions that best benefit us. We choose systems, people, jobs, family, substances, and a myriad of many other things to rule our life, keeping us tied down when we should escape.

Conversely, we end up escaping situations that could have proved beneficial because we don’t know how to cope and endure.

It’s a cycle that can become an antagonizing game of hit and miss if a certain set of principals, principals that act as a guide — a compass, if you will — are not mastered.

And happiness happens to be the first and most fundamental of these principals.

Happiness

Always remember: choose happy. It’s so rudimentary yet so easily dismissed. For the life of me, I’ll never understand why we compromise such a basic and true emotion for attention, money, other’s opinions, or anything.

We become so invested in what we’ve built, how much we’ve toiled, and what we’ve already decided on, that we fall victim into thinking we’re obligated to those choices; that we’re subjected to that life.

We must empower ourselves to make decisions in our best interest, regardless of who likes it or not.

Whether it’s an abusive relationship, low paying job, or cigarettes, if you’re ever stuck between the choice of escaping and enduring and your happiness is at stake, choose happy.

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Responsibility

The second principal to be aware of is responsibility. While you don’t want the fear of bills to be the only reason you’re working for an employer, quitting because it’s hard or because it’s not what you want to do right now, while having financial responsibilities, is foolish.

The same goes for our interactions with people or the day to day tasks we must accomplish: I’ve seen people quit relationships at the first sign of hardship, quit jobs because of a boss who “didn’t like them,” and avoid paperwork and errands because it was too overwhelming.

Imagine never doing taxes or improving your credit score simply because it sounds like it’ll be stressful. Those people are out there.

Just like it’s important to choose happiness, it’s just as important to test toughness. Difficulty and oppression are too different things. Just because we’re not assimilating or finding the success as fast as we’d like to, does not mean we’re supposed to flee the scene.

Hard conversations, hard work, and hard times are inevitable. If we’re conditioned to go the opposite way when they arise, we’ll end up going nowhere.

The moment we learn to take a second and see situations for what they’re worth and what we can gain, instead of severing ties, we’ll start seeing our lives change for the best.

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Logic

That leads me to the third principal: logic.

It takes a certain self-awareness and honesty to know when to escape and when to endure. It takes reason relative to the uniqueness of that situation, and it’s something we all possess.

Whether you have to risk temporarily being without a job to get away from where you’re unappreciated. You may even have to put down the booze or say no to going out for awhile.

Or, it could be that you have to endure criticism from co-workers that don’t mean well or discriminations that are out of your control. Either way, choosing when to escape and when to endure is a judgment call we’re all equipped to make.

We’re quick to use excuses and blame external factors for where we are in life and to explain how we’ve managed to miss out on opportunities that “should’ve been ours,” but we’ll fail to mention how we completely misjudged when to escape and when to endure.

Even right now, I’m sure you’re faced with decisions and situations that are presenting you these very two options.

Just remember to choose happiness, remember responsibility, and use logic, and you’ll find that you have more control over the situation than you think.

Why does is it seem like the things we want — the things we deeply desire to accomplish — always seem beyond the reach of our daily routine?

More often than not, I hear the same old song of individuals trading what they “want” to do with what they “have” to do. Whether it’s personal, professional, or physical, it appears that a good majority of us can’t seem to find the time to pursue what we’re drawn towards.

If it’s not going back to school, it’s getting in shape. If it’s not going to the studio, it’s committing to tutoring. There is always something to improve upon, it’s just that for some of us there isn’t enough time to do it.

If that’s you, I’m here to say you’ve gotten it all wrong. You can always find time. What you want starts with what you want to do.

Act first, make room later

Planning is good. It takes organization to maximize efficiency, despite how appealing spontaneity may appear. With that being said, if we get too stuck on waiting for the most opportune moment, we’ll end up just like that: stuck.

There really isn’t a more opportune moment to start. Sometimes the best thing we can do, is do.

When it comes to the things we know will make us happy, we should act first and figure it out later. You’ll be amazed at how well you’ll adapt and adjust on the fly once you’re finally doing that thing you swear you didn’t have time for.

The sense of accomplishment you’ll gain will motivate you to move everything else aside and you’ll end up realizing that you had time all along.

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Be wise with your time

I get it: there are nonnegotiable obligations we must fulfill everyday that aren’t exactly in line with our aspirations.

Especially if you’re a creative or an artist, there are going to be jobs you have to pick up that have nothing to do with your field of study or expertise. These jobs keep the lights on and are in our best interest to keep.

It is for this very reason that we must be wise with time.

Time is not as elusive as we make it out to be. You’re not able to fit in gym time or that weekly call to your folks, not because of your day job, but due to how you spend your time away from it.

When we’re intentional with the 24 hours we’re allotted everyday we’ll find that we have more than enough time to do whatever it is that we truly want to do.

Whether it’s waking up earlier, not finishing that show you’ve been binge watching, or cutting out dating, there are minutes and seconds everywhere to spare. It just depends on how bad we really want it.

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Prove that you want it

At the end of the day, it all comes down to how badly you want what you say you want. You may not realize it, but everyday we chose our destiny — we make time for the things we choose to make time for.

I’ve seen middle school kids scrap together change for the hottest toy on the market, athletes in underdeveloped countries practice sports with the few resources they can get their hands on, and students who’ve commuted miles for an education.

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If you find yourself complaining about what you haven’t done, chances are you really don’t want to do it. Sometimes we have to look ourselves in the mirror and call ourselves out. We have to prove to ourselves that we really want what we claim we want.

We have all the time in the world. Your dreams, aspirations, and future lies on the other side of the initiative and action you take towards making them happen.

It all starts with what you do.

You may not see Nas’ face as often as a Jay Z, Diddy, 50 Cent, or even a Dr. Dre, but that doesn’t mean the hip-hop legend isn’t working, and this past weekend was a perfect example.

Ring, a company Nas was one of the principal investors in, was bought by Amazon for $1.1 billion this past weekend, positioning him for quite the payday.

Amazon to buy Ring, pioneer of the video doorbell, for $1.1 billion https://t.co/4FjZkDo2az pic.twitter.com/DDDIJCV0fy

— Forbes (@Forbes) March 3, 2018

Ring specializes in a video doorbell technology that allows users to see a video broadcast of their front door through a tiny camera in the doorbell while using an app on their phone.

This purchase is advantageous to Amazon because of how it seamlessly pairs with other Amazon-owned products like its virtual digital assistant, Alexa, which already transmits commands to Ring’s products.

According to market research firm NPD, Ring had a 97% share of U.S. video doorbell sales. Ring released this statement:

“Ring is committed to our mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods by providing effective yet affordable home security tools to our Neighbors that make a positive impact on our homes, our communities, and the world. We’ll be able to achieve even more by partnering with an inventive, customer-centric company like Amazon. We look forward to being a part of the Amazon team as we work toward our vision for safer neighborhoods.”

Nas has reportedly made over $40 million dollars from his early investment in Ring, so you can only imagine what kind of payday it also was for Shaquille O’Neal, who struck an agreement in 2016 for an equity stake in the company in exchange for his appearances alongside in Ring’s TV and online commercials.

Ring is just one of many investments the 44-year-old Queens legend and his business firm Queensbridge Venture Partners has profited from alongside Lyft, Dropbox, Genius, SeatGeek, Hennessy and others.

As Diddy and Jay- Z race each other to become hip-hop’s first billionaire, they best look out for Nasir Jones, who has a team eyeing all the right moves to make him a viable candidate to to reach a billy, too.