All of us have seen a picture that has a mob of people in some setting. The challenge is to find a character by the name of Waldo in the picture. The challenge can be maddening.

There’s two lessons to be learned from the “Where’s Waldo” puzzles:

1. What seems like a simple task can be very difficult to do.
2. Once you find Waldo, you can’t imagine that it was so hard. It just seems obvious.

Doing well in college can be as maddening as finding Waldo. It just seems like there is so much to examine. How do you figure out the right strategy for doing well?

But the blessing from the Waldo puzzle is that once you found your own Waldo it just seemed so obvious and easy.

Here are some suggestions for your strategy to find Waldo:

• Become organized. Build habits and routines.
• Don’t expect miracles. Waldo won’t just appear before your eyes. It takes hard work. It takes time.
• Don’t take your eyes off of the puzzle. You have to focus. Once you lose focus, you have to start again.
• Develop your observation skills. Learn how to see. Become reflective. You can never learn unless you are able to sort out what’s really effective from just going through the motions.
• Once you have found your Waldo, teach someone else what you have learned. Teaching is the best way to sustain what you have learned.

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