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Having A Purpose In Life - We All Have One, We Just Have To Find It

10/27/2016

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"When you are bigger than your purpose you have a career.  When your purpose is bigger than you, you have a calling." — John Maxwell

I got back to a John Maxwell quote because I heard him say something this morning in my car ride into work.  I listen to his podcast “Minute with Maxwell” and I know there is probably not a more valuable 60 seconds around. 

Something he said got me thinking about success and purpose.  He mentions that most people have different ideas of what success is.  There are so many definitions and ideas for all of us.  The thing he said that out of all the successful people he knows is that each one of them has purpose in their lives.  That has been on my radar for awhile now in my life.  The purposes that I have are many, but they all come down to making a difference with people. 

Obviously it’s one of the main reasons why I became a teacher.  People who get into teaching and at the top of their list of reasons why is for summers??  That is one thing that I quickly tell people to remember that summers don’t last!  It certainly isn’t for the money, although is not horrible.  People last and relationships last (at least some of them do), that’s the reason to get into teaching.  It’s all about making a difference and the younger the people we can do that with, the better they and others will be.  If you think of all the people that will come into contact with our students throughout their lifetimes, and the difference they will make with them because of something you did in the time you worked with them, that’s powerful stuff!

We need more people figuring out what their purpose is.  We also need more people to do things and live life with passion!  That has become one of my main messages over the years to my students and now I’m getting braver to make sure it’s my message to adults too.  It’s never too late to find your purpose and passion and to make changes to go after those.  The only time when it’s too late is when you take your last breath.  Which remember, we all are going to do at sometime.   That’s a driving force in my life now not to leave with “any of my music inside of me” that still has to be played. 

Have you figured out what your purpose is? What are you passionate about?  The bigger question is if you don’t know, what are you doing to find out what they are?

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There Is A Reason We Need To Look Out Through The Windshield And Not The Rear View Mirror

10/19/2016

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"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." — C.S. Lewis

I often find myself looking back more than looking forward and it's apparent to me now on why at those times, it seems like I'm driving around in circles.   I have recently made more of an effort to try and look forward since really that is the only direction that I (and all of us) can go.  I can't go back to the past.  I can only move forward.

This also brings to mind a quote from the great Jim Rohn where he said "Your life does not get better by chance, it get's better by change."  We have the power to change and choose new directions, new ways of doing things, learning from mistakes, and making changes in how we spend our time.  He also talks about how we are not a tree - we can move, we can change.  That is something that I think we all need to be reminded about more and more, or maybe it's just me?


I've tried looking just at the rear view mirror while driving - it's scary!  Now, this was in an open parking lot one time with nobody else around, and it was still scary for the few seconds I did it.  It's also the same concept if we look at a bug on our windshield or a crack in it (representing negative things in our lives that we focus on) and that too is terrifying when you are trying to drive a car and your only focus is that one spot on your windshield.  You lose focus on where you are going.  Yes, I tried that too one time and it was the same, scary feeling.

Our past is there for a reason.  It is by far one of our best mentors that we could ever have in our lives.  We need to use it as such in order to help ourselves be successful in  the future.  It's there to help us remember and to get better for our futures.  I feel that the stakes are higher for us to figure this point out for two reasons.  First is that we don't have all the time in the world to get things done and accomplished.  Maybe the second reason is even more important and that is as time goes on we have more and more people in our lives.  The relationships with those people are deeper and deeper as time goes on.  Things that we do or don't do affect others more as time goes by for those reasons.

One recent example comes from a former student of mine (like so many things that help me just about everyday).  I saw a post that Lauren, my former student from a few years ago. She got a letter from a customer where she works that was thanking her for brightening her day every time she came to this business.  There were a few visits that she did not see Lauren there and she noticed the difference so much so that she stopped going there for some time.  She came back and Lauren was working that same shift again and she made such a difference with this customer again.  She wrote this letter to Lauren's bosses to let them know how valuable she was to them.  Lauren's always looking ahead. She did that in school too.  She worked so hard knowing that wherever she was going, the good habits she had would pay off.  She brings tremendous value wherever she goes.  That is something I try and get all my students to realize that's what life is along with being a difference maker to others.

Now to be fair, Lauren had these tools in her tool belt way before she met me. They key lesson to understand we all can do this wherever we are at today.  Even if it's at a place that maybe we are not so happy to be at.  Until we find a happier place to be, we can still offer great value to others along with making a difference for people too - no matter were we are at.  Especially knowing that we are going in a great direction and someday we will be doing even better things, with more people and more places. Thanks to Lauren reminding me about how I need to always do more and get better in this area, she has made another huge difference with me even years later.  That is powerful.  I hope you see and understand you can do the same thing. 
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Success Is Always Ongoing

10/3/2016

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  "Success is the continual unfolding of the design of our life and pulling it off. That’s what success is." - Jim Rohn

This quote struck me as being very accurate and right on target for me and plenty of other people that I know.  We are all on our own journey of life and the decisions and choices we make help to create the path that we are all on.  

Part of that path is obviously the success that we have or don't have throughout our lives.  Since we are the major players in our own life journey, our successes are continuing to unfold or disappear based on our choices.  There is another saying that I use in my classes, especially my Principles of Leadership class in the spring with my seniors and it says - Every choice we make either takes us closer to our dreams and goals or it takes us further away from them.  

As we get older we change.  Heck, we change everyday even if it's just hearing and seeing new things.  Those things get us thinking, feeling, responding, etc., so that each and everyday there are subtle little things that influence our choices and decisions.  I'm reminded about another saying that things that happen to us in life are 10% of the actual thing happening to us and 90% how we respond.  The key item is that we get to choose how we respond to these items.  We get to let them have control over us or not.  This includes the people that come in and out of our lives too.  We have to decide on how much control we give to them about how successful or unsuccessful we will be in our lives.

This is why our road to success is always under construction.  There are so many factors that come into play each and every day of our lives.  The key is to be able to filter through all the distractions and keep moving forward in the direction we want to go in.  Of course it's not easy.  But it is worth it. 


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    I have been an educator for  almost 31 years.  It's about time I start sharing lessons that I have learned so that I can help others. I'm into Leadership, Teaching, Coaching Basketball, and being a Difference Maker.  Coffee helps me do that :-)

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