Success has no age limit and it’s never a race. The concept of a predetermined age for success is merely a myth. Age is not a limiting factor in the minds of those who wish to succeed, and do. The speeds to which our minds mature over the years are not the same.

The most prominent leaders we admire today accomplish goals at their own pace—and so can you. Whether you’re still in high school or coming towards the end of your college career, age should not be a worry when working towards your goals. Moving quickly at an unrealistic pace may foster more mistakes than warranted.

Success is what we make of it. As students, it can become an overwhelming problem that bogs you down. Take your time and become an expert in your field of interest or expertise. There are no shortcuts to achieving success because the learning process is all dependent on self-motivation. Having the patience to move forward will bring you halfway to success already.

If tomorrow morning you feel that it’s far too late to reach a personal or career goal you’ve set for yourself, leave the worry in the past and move forward. Success doesn’t just present itself to those that are prepared, but also those that are patient enough to see it through challenges.

Whether you believe that money, grades or personal relationships are of the utmost priority right now, to most people, the end objective is happiness for the self. Given this as the end objective, we can better understand why it’s best to worry less about the speed to which we accomplish our short term goals.

The key to defining your own success is to plan realistic goals. This involves the process of not only delivering tasks, but solving everyday problems, planning tasks and goals, scope of goals, analysis of resources, the search for solutions, environments, analysis and synthesis of information.

If you’ve ever felt the need to follow the crowd, you’ve come down with a case called the “impostor system” like the rest of us. Instead of working hard to achieve goals, students might believe that there is luck in being in the right place, at the right time. Skills are what make for achieving goals and success.

While there is much controversy over what higher education should be teaching students like you, whether this is work skills or academic knowledge and research, the intentions are still the same. Education is aimed to prepare students in leading self-sufficient and happy lives in the present and future.