Anushik Davtyan: ‘Just Don’t Hit Snooze on the Alarm Clock!’

2 min read

Contributed by Anushik Davtyan (BA EC ‘21)

Everyone perceives success differently. My perception of success is far more different than my peers’; let me tell you in what way. 

Yes, I am a junior who studies at AUA but who has managed to have two years of work experience. Yes, I work in the National Assembly of Armenia; yes, I have work experience in different fields BUT that is not what I mean by “success.” 

At this point in my life, “success” has two significant components: reaching my daily goals and learning something new and useful. 

First of all, success for me means managing all my daily tasks, attending my classes well prepared, managing to do additional reading at home and so on and so forth. This may surprise you, but the key here for me is not hitting snooze on the alarm clock in the morning. When I do snooze, it means my day most probably will not be successful, because I will wake up tired and get more tired during the day. So, I cannot be productive. The start of the day is crucially essential for having a productive day. So, I wish everyone to wake up early, exercise, walk outside, never be late from class or work. Just don’t hit snooze on the alarm clock! 

Second, I feel successful when I learn something new, something which I think is useful for my professional or personal life. I learn from my classes at AUA, from many of the books I read when I have leisure time, in my job, etc. Learning is an exciting process: the more you learn, the more you understand that there is so much still to learn! This can be stressful, as it never ends, but I look at this process from another angle, by feeling successful for every new skill gained, a new lesson learned. This is the key to my happiness. If I feel stressed, it means that I didn’t learn enough that day or week. Knowledge can make you feel powerful and happy. 

To sum up, the key to success lies in simple things actually: waking up early, learning, learning, learning, practicing, learning again… The rest will be following you: a good job, good relationships, status in different communities. I think it is essential that my feeling of being successful does not depend on anyone else besides myself, because depending on someone will make me vulnerable. So, be yourself and be productive. To be able to be productive, just don’t hit snooze on the alarm clock!