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Alex Chediak

Helping young adults thrive at college and beyond

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Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle

May 11, 2011 by Alex Chediak

There is a danger in comparing your performance at the beginning of an undertaking to someone else who has been doing it for 15-20 years.  It’s the danger of a new author comparing himself to a seasoned veteran. It can happen in any line of work – a doctor performing his first surgery, a lawyer giving his first delivery before a jury, a professor in the midst of her first semester.

This is a concept that I labored to explain in writing Thriving at College.  Comparison with others can be demoralizing or helpful, depending on how we do it.  It’s demoralizing if we internalize it to the extent that our sense of self-worth, dignity and significance is based entirely on our performance (today) in a particular area relative to someone else’s.  That’s crushing, because there’s almost always someone out there who’s better than we are. We can despair of ever improving, and/or secretly hope for another person’s failure so that we can feel better about ourselves. But both self-pity and jealousy stem from sinful pride.

On the other hand, comparison can be helpful if we learn from others who are better than us. Study them. What do they do that sets them apart? How long have they been doing it? Are there ways that we can not only work harder, but work smarter?  This kind of comparison lifts us up, without tearing the other person down.

HT:  Jon Acuff

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Filed Under: Thriving at College, Personal, Practical Ministry

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Thriving at College book cover368 pages. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. For orders to Canada, please contact us. (See also CASE DISCOUNTS below.) No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.)

$10.99


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Beating the College Debt Trap book cover224 pages. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
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$5.99


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Preparing Your Teens for College book cover 448 pages. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery. Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. For orders to Canada, please contact us. (See also CASE DISCOUNTS below.) No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.)

$7.99


CASE DISCOUNT PRICING!

Thriving at College book cover1 CASE = 28 COPIES
Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.) For orders to Canada, please contact us.

$223.99


CASE DISCOUNT PRICING!

Beating the College Debt Trap book cover1 CASE = 44 COPIES
Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.) For orders to Canada, please contact us.

$229.99


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Amazon Book Bomb for Thriving at College"There is no better guide to college."
--Alex and Brett Harris

"Insightful and useful."
--Randy Alcorn

"Written by an ‘insider’—an excellent gift for high school seniors."--Jerry Bridges

 

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"A sharp tool." Tedd Tripp

"Outstanding book on preparing teens for adulthood." Jerry Bridges

"Highly recommended.” Josh McDowell

 

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Also by Alex

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With One Voice

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Praise for With One Voice

This relatively short book packs a powerful bang for the buck, providing much biblical and practical advice for young men and women seeking to glorify God in relationships.

Alex and Brett Harris
Best-selling authors of Do Hard Things

Alex and Marni Chediak offer sound biblical advice and a clear Christian framework for working through the maze of confusions surrounding modern marriage.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Publishers have been cranking out books with all sorts of directions to help Christians navigate the treacherous waters between the buoys of singleness and marriage, and I know of none that is more clear, concise and helpful than With One Voice.

J. Ligon Duncan, III Ph.D.
Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church

With One Voice is clearly written and God-centered. Our eighteen year-old daughter just read it and restrained herself from underlining nearly the whole thing!

Dr. Bruce A. Ware
Professor of Christian Theology
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

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