The Struggle Is Real!
Partying on a Friday night is always a good idea. You have fun, decompress, some good music and drinks. Meeting new people is always exciting. Then you wake up the next day with a headache and you swear to watch your drinking habits next time. You decide that one party per week is just enough for you but then it happens again.. FOMO!
I cannot believe that we have been at INSEAD for only one week officially. It really feels like ages, with the number of emails, assignments, sessions and preparations. But then you can hear other people talking about a party ‘tonight’ or see a message on one of the many INSEAD groups that someone is launching ‘the best party of the year’ kind of thing. These parties can be on a Friday/Saturday/Sunday/Monday etc., so unless you can party hard all night and go to class at 830am in the morning do not bother!
The question is: what do we want out of the MBA programme?
Sure lots of people, including alumni, recruiters and sometimes professors believe that this should be the ‘best’ year of our lives, but again what is the definition of the word ‘best’? And why is everyone generalising it? This is what exactly creates all the FOMO, the fear of being left out, and not experiencing the best year of your life! Come on, you can do better, sleeping three hours a day is completely doable, unless you do not want to have fun and make friends! OK.. just kidding, it is hardly doable, and not worth all the headache and discomfort that it causes.
A very wise man once told me that happiness comes from within. The best day of your life is what you decide it to be, not what others tell you. Do not be fixated on the idea that you need to be everywhere and meet everyone because you might forget to make yourself happy along the way. Always remember what you came here for and work on it. It is true that fun makes our journey enjoyable, but thinking that you have to have fun might make it feel more of a burden than a genuine sensation. Just be yourself, and guess what? You will find people along the way that genuinely like you and want to spend time with you, to have a deep conversation and a true friendship. We are still in the first week with much more to come... Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
