I remember, as a child, asking a question most kids ask today; “When am I going to need this stuff when I’m an adult?” I was fully aware of the benefits of learning my ABCs, basic math and science. I trusted that it would serve as a foundation for the success I hoped for in my future. But I just couldn’t shake a nagging disbelief in the entire process of schooling.
I believe in formal education, but I never quite understood the true purpose of some of the content being spoon fed in class. Regretfully, I can count on one hand those teachers that helped me contextualize the material being shared in class. They applied the skills and lessons to more than success on test days. They were concerned about us as real people, not just nuisance children. The teachers I remember, because they had a profound impact on the way I thought and saw the world as a youth, helped me to realize my potential, unlimited ability, and they inspired me to be and do my very best.
With that being said, here are a few more simple disciplines that weren’t taught in school, but I believe may help you see yourself as uniquely great and valuable to the world community. They may empower you to engage your life a little differently and commit to excellence in everything you do. I firmly believe life is a classroom, and we are all pupils every day of our lives. I hope you aren’t living for brilliant scores on test days, but that you’re just courageous enough to see yourself as intrinsically great and valuable to our world. I hope you’ll take these simple disciplines and apply them to your life every day, with purposeful intention. In doing so, you’ll distinguish yourself from the back of the class where all the problem kids are sent.
- Never give up on your dreams: I know this seems controversial at first glance. But, I challenge you to think for yourself for a moment. Society has mass programmed us to believe that our dreams are silly, unreasonable, impossible, and a flat out waste of time. At times our parents, with the best of intentions, killed or mocked our dreams. They were unsupportive, so we thought it was illogical to pursue their realization any further. History is teeming with examples of the essential nature of dreamers that wouldn’t give up on their dreams. These dreamers often had to overcome immeasurable odds. They had to contend with criticism, mockery, persecution, embarrassment and unbelief. They had to overcome loneliness and a touch of madness for being ahead of their times. But if it were not for these dreamers and their persistence, we’d still be stuck in the stone ages. So just as Thomas Edison; if it takes you 10,000 attempts or failures, at the same thing, be persistent! Never give up on your dream! Serve it with purpose, passion and certainty of faith. And maybe, just as he was able, you’ll discover the missing piece that will complete the puzzle of your dream or innovation, and you may change the history of the world.
- Consider the amount of time you’re wasting watching TV: The nation’s average amount of time spent watching TV for people age 15 and older is 2.8 hrs. per day. If my math serves me correctly, that amounts to approximately 21 hrs. per week, 84 hrs. per month, and 1,092 hrs. per year. That’s a lot of time to spend doing something that is often of very little value. Unfortunately, this is the primary reason our social norms are spiraling downward. We’re being bombarded with images and sound bites that speak to socially destructive ideas like ambitious and selfish competition, classism, racism, prejudice, vengefulness, criticism, greed, materialism, violence, etc. I do understand that these things exist in the world today. But, I’m only pointing this out because of the apparent imbalance in the media’s reporting of the bad of humanity. It’s somewhat common knowledge that chaos, grief, depravity, sex, profanity, crime, among other things sell. So, if you choose, you must ask yourself if you’re in the market for what the mainstream media is selling. If you will cut back on your TV time, you could replace this time wasted with truly productive activities like reading literature that will uplift and enhance your mind and life. You could embrace new information that would empower you to become, do and have your very best. TV has its place, but that place may be at the bottom of our priority lists.
- Failure isn’t final until you quit or ignore its lesson: Many of us have experienced the temporary setback of failure. Perhaps we’ve missed the mark a few times over the course of our lives. The important thing to grasp is that those failures don’t have to be the last word on us. Our temporary setbacks don’t have to become our excuses for not pressing forward in our attempts to figure things out. Failure isn’t final unless you quit and leave matters undone. So, we have to become okay with temporary setbacks, and we must avoid labeling ourselves failures because we missed the mark a few times. The key is to pay close attention to what led to the failure, figure it out, learn something new, commit to being better, and we’ll overcome our challenges. I believe failure, as we tend to know it, is nothing more than our emotional unwillingness to carry on. Let failure or temporary setbacks become your teachers, your guides and there will be nothing you can’t do. Thomas Edison modeled the right attitude and disposition in his willingness to fail 10,000 times in order to change the world forever.
