Aim high, don't get high is weed affecting your career or study?

Aiming high is a great way to ensure you achieve your goals, but smoking weed may get in your way.

It s that time of the year again pull up your socks, pack your bag and get ready to start uni, TAFE, school or that new job with a bang in 2015! As you roll into another year, it s a good time to reassess your goals, plan for the future and make sure there are no bumps on the road that might just get in the way.

Stumbling blocks to success

Aiming high is a great way to ensure you achieve your goals as W. Clement Stone famously said, Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.

Despite having a great set of goals and step-by-step plans for how to get there, many of us have stumbling blocks that stop us from achieving the best we can. It might be a tendency towards perfectionism, distraction or just procrastination that all too common habit of finding 101 things to do before we sit down and get our teeth stuck into the task at hand. I have to clean my room before I can start my essay Three hours later and you re still sorting through your CD collection, alphabetically categorising each one, checking each disc is in the right case, and playing a few tunes just to keep you motivated

But could it be that some of your other habits are affecting your ability to achieve your career or study goals? A lesser known quote by artist and musician, James Kochalka Am I high now? Is this what being high feels like; like a blow to the skull? really alludes to the effect that getting stoned can have on your mind. With side effects of heavy use ranging from trouble with memory and motivation, through to challenges focusing and performing complex tasks, it s not surprising if 3 unit maths, an economics degree or managing a tricky construction project might suddenly seem more difficult than it once was.

Weed won t help you achieve your goals

Marijuana is not a drug that will make you full of beans, ready to get stuck into that study, manage a team of hard-hat-wearing tradies, or finish off that architectural design for your biggest client. Smoking weed is something that once it becomes a habit, has the mysterious ability to eat up a great deal of time, energy and productivity, without you even knowing it. In between the hours spent stoned in front of the TV or staring at emails, searching your desk for snacks, or secretly snoozing away the after effects, there is no time to focus on achieving those goals or even worry about them for that matter!

It s not uncommon for smokers especially those who are dependent to defend their habit and deny any influence it may possibly have on their lives. And they might be right they may be some of the lucky people who simply enjoy the effects of being high and can then leave it behind to live a fully functional and productive life. But if you haven t quite reached the point you wanted in your career because you just aren t motivated enough to put 110% in any more, or you re struggling to study and cram before an important exam, maybe it s worth aiming higher, instead of getting high.

Join forces with a mate to quit weed

So if scoring some home runs in the success stakes this year is on your agenda, but weed is holding you back, maybe it s time to start cutting down or even quit weed. NCPIC has plenty of tools and resources to help motivate you to quit. Why not join forces with a mate who also smokes and quit weed together using our Joint Effort program? You ll receive a free information pack and have access to an online portal where you can get support and advice from other people kicking the marijuana habit. We wish you all the best at achieving your goals, career and study-wise this year!