Process Over Results

Please can you mentor me towards winning a scholarship, I have been applying for many years but nothing to show for it, he said sounding defeated. What have you learnt from all these years I asked? I was rejected for all these scholarships what is there to learn? He replied.

As a mentor to many scholarship enthusiasts, I make it a point of note to remind them repeatedly on what scholarship actually is; an enabler of their vision but not their vision itself. Like this scholarship frustrated LinkedIn connection that reached out to me, many including myself at some point felt I was literally wasting my time with this “scholarship thing”. When you give your brain enough time to process such thoughts, the misconception that perhaps “scholarship is not for me” creeps in. But now I know better and usually very quick to remind my mentees to savor the process over the result. If you have been applying to scholarships for many years, the only way to keep your sanity and of course don’t quit is to let the process build you. Focusing on the outcome alone takes away all the efforts you have made to get to that point; the application, the CV, the motivation letter/SOPs written, networking skills you have developed by reaching out to others to get help, up skilling efforts you undertook to improve your chances, are all worthy of commendation, don’t forget.

To keep your resilience while on a scholarship quest, remember to celebrate small wins. As researches have repeatedly shown, taking a moment to celebrate any win (small or big) is a sure way to stay positive against all odds. Whereas there are diverse scholarships around the world with different application process, requirements and selection process, they all share similar stages. Taking a moment to celebrate getting through each stage will help keep you motivated. As an example, completing an application before the deadline is not a small win. If you take the percentage of the number of applicants that actually started but never completed, you will recognize how amazing you are for completing yours. In addition, putting yourself out there to compete with thousands of people around the world is another big feat you should be proud of. Be proud that your academic qualifications are considered worthy to be acceptable for international graduate positions. Yes, you might not have gotten a funding, but appreciate the fact that you got to the interview stage. I agree that you might have been put on waitlist and not the main list, still celebrate that you got to that point. It is ok to take a moment to be sad for not being selected, but don’t stay sad and worst of all, staying frustrated till the next application opens.

Just as with many aspect of life, we can approach our scholarship journey with a fixed or growth mindset. A fixed mindset will see a rejection as the end of the road, they will feel the rejection is to them as a person and not just their application, they will feel the scholarship thing is not for them and finally they won’t see any chance of improving themselves for the next applications. When the next application comes, after initial hesitation to apply because they are afraid of being rejected again, they will start their application almost at the deadline. Since they didn’t have enough time to prepare, they will end up applying with the same level of background and experience like they did a year before (copy paste the past). Then comes another rejection which will further frustrates them and pushes them more away from ever applying again. Eventually, this group of people never wins any scholarship, not because they are inadequate, but because they give up. On the other hand, those who approach the scholarship process with a growth mindset will receive the rejection and recognize that it is their application that was rejected not them. They will take a step further to seek for feedback on areas they could improve. They will take necessary proactive steps to close those gaps highlighted on their application feedback. By doing this, they apply the following year with a much better application than the previous year. Then they receive another rejection, but once more they recognize it is process over result so they don’t fail to acknowledge how the process is helping them grow. They focus on improving themselves over and over and their application after every year only gets better. Because they do not feel what they can know is “fixed”, they keep improving. Also because they never quit and keep doing it differently each time, eventually they win the scholarship. Even at the point, they are not quick to dismiss or forget the process that got that result. The scholarship award doesn’t cause them become docile and relax instead, it pushes them even more. The outcome is that they will perform exceptionally in their graduate studies, further justifying that they were worth their award. In addition, with such brilliant performance, their chances for the next step are increased. We can choose which category we want to fall in, no one is born with a growth or fixed mindset, they develop over time depending on how we deal with our life experiences.

When you see the scholarship journey as a process which is capable of building you up, you approach it differently. You will understand that being rejected from a scholarship doesn’t mean you as a person have been rejected. You will seek for feedback from the scholarship selection committee on areas you could improve to increase your chances. These areas become fertile grounds on which you develop and grow. Your experience is broadened and you become a better version of yourself.

When people ask me what I do differently in my mentorship platform that got 25 awards in 2020 and already 25 awards in 2021 (as of April-21), my respond is that I work on their “mindset” because winning a scholarship starts in the mind. And anyone that wins in the mind will eventually win in reality, only a matter of time.

If you will ever have a chance or a shot at getting a scholarship, then only one way is certain, never quit. Let the process build and prepare you for that vision which the scholarship can enable. Finally, before the scholarship eventually comes, don’t stop inching forward towards your goal.

Disclaimer

The writings are the author’s own perspective. He is a strong advocate of appreciating the process over the results.