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2011: Success is not perfection

As we draw near to the end of this year many of us are looking back at the year to see where we succeeded and reached the goals we set for ourselves and where we failed to do so.  Lester Thurlow once said, ” You can lose, or, if you want to win, you can change.”

As we make plans for this new year, as we set goals, one of the goals we should avoid is creating the perfect plan or even trying to reach that ultimate goal.  I once had a business coach that kept telling me that if I had the product 70% ready I should roll it out.  Don’t wait till you have it perfect.  I think I understand that now.  If you want to succeed, you are never finished.  Success is in the journey, it is in the process.

Every time you fail, it simply gives you another opportunity to begin again, to be better than last time.  It is simply a milestone on your road to success.  We do not have to be perfect, we simply have to continue to adjust and keep moving.  If we surround ourselves with those that expect more of you than you do yourself we will stay on the success journey.

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Lunar Eclipse Reminds Us To Appreciate Our Lives

Last night one of the most interesting solar events took place.  It was a lunar eclipse, which in and of itself is not that unusual, but becomes more unusual when you realize that it fell on the winter solstice.  The last time that happened was hundreds of years ago, say 372 years to be exact and will not happen again till 2094.  I am pretty sure I will not be here in the flesh at that time so……

At 3 AM I was awakened to go out in the cold and observe.  Though I stayed only for a few minutes, the photo I have featured here is what I saw. (I did not take this photo)  It was amazing and inspiring.  I would have liked to have stayed up to watch the entire event, as the sky was clear and the stars bright, but it was not happening that morning.  (There are many mornings that 3:30 is my wake up time)

Observing the solar system in this manner, or nature in general, has always inspired me to think Continue reading “Lunar Eclipse Reminds Us To Appreciate Our Lives”

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Free perfect gift to give to our children

In the book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell writes;

“We should work on changing ourselves before trying to improve others.”

Working to improve ourselves is a full time job.  In fact so much so that my mentor and instructor, Mr. Tom Callos has many times said to me and others, that whatever it is that you need to work on for yourself, you should bring your students along and have them work along with you.

Every time that I research or write about a subject, I find myself looking at myself and finding ways for me to improve in those areas.  Whether we are a parent, instructor or a 7 year old with a younger sibling, all of us have a responsibility to ourselves and to those looking up to us.  That responsibility is not just to tell them what to do, but to demonstrate in our daily lives how to do it.

Yes we are going to fail from time to time, but that is a lesson for them too.  When I fail what shall I do?  Fall down 7 get up 8.   The gift that all of us can give our children, students and others in our sphere of influence, is being a good example.

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Friendship: Understanding our Differences Equals Peace

We have noted previously that we are going to have differences in our relationships.  They will range from likes and dislikes, to skills, food, holiday’s we might celebrate, and culture of families.  While some like to use the word tolerance when dealing with differences, I prefer to think about the possibilities of ‘understanding’ the differences and then being able to  accept, try and celebrate those differences.

If we take a simple example of one person who is talented in a skill, whether it is a sport, craft, writing, math or whatever it might be, how do we react to that?  Rather than resent the skill they have that we may not have, it would be better to celebrate it with them and give them a “good job’.

Being open-minded about differences in food or culture, could we not embrace it and try it for ourselves, rather than reject it because it is not our norm.  Have you ever tried foods from a different culture?  Have you ever embraced a culture and tried things their way?  If we do not understand what they do or why, would it not be better to ask about it and try to ‘understand’ it?

I once thought about writing a book of comparisons of cultures, religions, holidays, food and activities, because the more I read and experienced the similar I found that all of are.  When approached with an open mind you will find that we have more things that are the same than we do differences.  That results not just in friendship but in PEACE.

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4 Steps for Parents and Teachers to Prevent Bullying at Home and School

Schools are not feeling as safe for many students as they once were.  In fact on any given day 160,000 students stay at home due to fear of bullying or other forms of violence here in the United States.  Everyone involved have concern in regard to the safety of children in school, from the children themselves to the parents and educators.  Yet for many educators prevention and intervention is difficult due to a lack of specific training.

Added to this is the issue that many times both teachers and parents have certain beliefs that we will discuss in detail later that tend to cause them to overlook true bullying situations.  When this overlooking occurs it leads the students to believe that the teacher or parent is not concerned or does not care or that they simply are unaware of the situation or problem leading them not to come forward to speak about the issue.

If there is one thing that the research shows Continue reading “4 Steps for Parents and Teachers to Prevent Bullying at Home and School”

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Friendship: How to be loyal

When it comes to our friends we rely on the fact or hope that our friends will be loyal.  When we talk about loyally we really mean that we want to feel safe with that person, knowing that when we confide in them that our confidence will be kept and that when needed they will be there to stick up for us and when things get tough they will be there for us.

But with children we need to teach both sides of loyalty.  Children need to know that keeping a secret is part of loyalty unless the person is planning to do something dangerous or unfair to himself or another person.  So how do we teach that, what are the rules that they can follow to keep everyone safe.

The question we are teaching our students to ask themselves when faced with the dilemma of whether to keep a secret or not is:  Is this going to hurt my friend or someone else? If they can learn to answer that question honestly they will know if they should make the secret known to mom and dad or an adult or if they can keep it secret.  Loyalty to a friend means doing everything in the best interest of your friend.