Your purpose must always come first—nothing should take that position. If you fail to work on yourself today, tomorrow those who are working on themselves will move ahead. They will enjoy the fruits of their effort while you break down with regret for not investing in your own growth. Every human being is designed to progress in life, but progress is not a birthright. It requires effort to become visible and meaningful.

I have encountered many situations where people complain about friendships ending because one person’s social or economic class changed. What they fail to understand is that when class changes, mindset changes too. Sitting with the same person may no longer lead to meaningful conversation unless wisdom bridges the gap. What some call contempt is often just a misuse of vocabulary—they fail to recognize the difference in mindset, a difference shaped by the type and level of knowledge accumulated.

The day people realize that knowledge truly matters is the day we will begin to dismantle harmful norms and negative mindsets. The more wisdom you accumulate, the more you see that many things normalized by society no longer add up. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “There are some things in our society today of which I’m proud to be maladjusted.” What we consume daily is evident in how we interact. An individual’s habits cannot be hidden; even a brief conversation reveals them. Fostering both academic growth and positive social knowledge is the key to overcoming these challenges.