Stop Being a Good Student

Good is perfect attendance in school (even when running a temperature).
Good is getting all A’s (and being disappointed with a B).
Good is writing precisely five pages (not four or 20) on a five page assignment.
Good is turning in assignments on time (and sometimes early).
Good is checking all the work two or even three times before turning it in (when it’s not even graded).
Good is always answering “Yes, Teacher” (and never asking, “Why, Teacher?”).

Many of us never stopped being a good student.
Many of us that never were, strive to be one as an adult.

Stop! Stop being a good student.

Instead, be an inquisitive, challenging, curious, hungry, judicious, creative student who knows the difference between coercion (which yields obedience and gives no control), performance (which yields positive attention but little control), and strategic investment (which yields a desired payoff with a lot of control).

People like us push back on the temptation to be a good student (mostly the performance type) because we make strategic investments into the type of future we dream about.

Be a student.
Don’t be a good one.