I recently received an email from Harvard University.  That’s right.  I received an email requesting my interest and enrollment application from THE Harvard, School of Education.  My first thought was, is this a different Harvard.  As I 

followed the web address listed, it looked legit.  I followed up with one more step to ensure that the email address that it came from was also owned by Harvard.  I squinted my eyes and shrugged my shoulders with a confused look on my face for a bit as I pondered why I had received this email. It turned out it was all on the up and up and I have corresponded with them a few times since.  As I poked around more,  and became more intrigued, I eventually came across a speech by their dean, James Ryan; the speech was entitled Learn to Change the World.  I was absolutely captivated by the bold statements and the dry sense of humor.  It was really well done.  Before I knew it , 35 minutes has passed me by, the speech was over, and I was ready to move to Cambridge, Massachusetts.  It would probably be fair to say that James Ryan is a leader…that is to say that he is having influence on others.

I uncovered more and more about the program.  Not only is the Doctorate of Educational Leadership provided by the Harvard school of Education.  It is tuition free and they pay you a stipend to counter the cost of living.  Their logo includes a shield with the the word Veritas across the top.  According to Wikipedia, one of my main sources  :-), Veritas was derived from the Greek goddess of truth.  Fitting right?  What do you think of when you think of Harvard?  High level research… learning, rigor.  i.e.  Truth.  They are so committed to getting the best and brightest minds looking for the truth in their school of education that they have found ways to fund the program the don’t involve the checkbook.  What’s more, there are countless stories of some of the brightest minds that have graduated from the Harvard school of Education and gone on to make an impact on the world.  From conquering cyberbullying to improving the graduation rates, to educating educators and parents alike.

Urgent vs. Important

Let’s pause for a moment.  Why am I sharing this information with you? No…it is not my announcement that I will be attending Harvard next year.  You see, many if not most, adults are happy to survive the whirlwind.  The whirlwind is the daily chaos that finds most people.  The whirlwind is the urgent that consumes your daily life.  Most of you that are reading this right now are pretty likely ambitious if you are reading a blog titled ‘Learn to Change the World’.  Self assess a moment.  I am guessing that you are either in, or about to be in, a whirlwind.  Are you satisfied in making it through the whirlwind or do you want more?  I already know the answer.  You would not be reading this blog right now if you weren’t a hardworking person with a growth mindset; I will just bet that you are a person who was says yes and gets involved with…well…stuff.  The point is really this, do you understand the urgent vs. the important what your doing today?  This month?  This year.?  Do you know the difference between the things that feel urgent and what is truly important in your life?  How do you carve out time to focus on the important.  Step one in making a big difference is recognizing what is urgent and what is important.

Influence

This brings me to my next point.  Is what you are doing with your life preparing you to be successful in school or is it preparing you to be successful in life.  The school system is guilty and I admit that.  We are good a getting kids prepared for…well..there next class.  Nearly everyone you talk to will tell you that they learned from their job than they ever did in school about how to perform their job.  This is something for consideration for you.  Will you be able to talk to your advisor when needed?  Manage your money?  How about relationships?  Talk about a focal point for life’s success…  You see.  It is now, and will always be, that the most important things that happen to, for, and with you are things that you are responsible for honing and growing.  When you are engaged and in a growth mindset, you learn a  lot.  Sure, a teacher can and should make a difference in how you learn.  Sure, the subject matter and interest level, can and should make a difference.  But ultimately you and only you are responsible for your life and things that you focus in on.  Have you really taken responsibility for the values, beliefs and principles that you want to live by?   Most of us, at some level, are still living by mom and dad’s rules, beliefs, and values without having really considered why we do that.  If you are a parent, you undoubtedly have done something and followed up with a thought of ‘Oh my goodness, that was my father/mother.’  Your beliefs and values will change over time.  The important thing is to recognize that whatever they are, they are yours.  Once you really grasp that concept, it really shapes everything you do.   

You understand that while you are responsible for leading and influencing others…you are also susceptible to being lead by other people and things.  Here is a wonderful quote that is truly worthy of hanging on your mirror and reflecting on each day.

Watch Your Thoughts, for they become words.  Watch your words for they become actions.  Watch your actions, for they become habits.  Watch your habits, for they become character.  Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.  

~unknown

You must mind who you hang out with because they will influence who you become.  You must mind the books you read, the movies you watch, the news stations, the advisors, the teachers, the billboards, the youtube videos, who you friend on social media.  ALL of these things have an influence on you just as you have an influence on them.  If you aspire to have a big impact on the world, you have to hone in on the skill of influencing others, but more importantly you have to hone in on what you allow to influence you.

By allowing the right things to influence you, the rest will take care of itself.  You will be hanging out with people, programs, and influences that will help you learn and grown.  (Pay attention to this because it has a tremendous opportunity to influence your life.) Perhaps, the most important and overlooked influence you may have is reading a book.  While it wasn’t a specific date that I learned this, I can tell you definitively that it was NOT school, and it was an organization than referred to as TEAM that impacted my life.  I am not promoting this organization at all, but it was without a doubt where I learned the value of reading.  I can honestly say that reading a book has influenced me more than just about any other source, perhaps I should cite my boss here just in case he ever gives this a read. 🙂

“A good book is hard to read, on account of how often it makes you stop and think.”   

~ Chris Brady

This may seem overly simple, but in order to push forward and reach your highest ability, you will need to read and read from the right places.  Let me ask you this…1st, who are you allowing on your social media feeds.  2nd, which is having a bigger impact on the principles and values that will make or break the next 20, 30, or 40 years of your life….the social media whirlwind or books of credible and founded leaders that whose expertise is accessible and available for reflection?  It is a real possibility that I am preaching to the choir on this one, but you really are only as good as the influence that you allow to influence your knowledge, mindset, and outcomes on a consistent basis.

Strengths based Leadership

I believe that ‘minding your mental door’ will allow you to grow in your areas of weakness, but more importantly, it will allow you to grow in your areas of strength.  If you remember nothing else, please, embrace your passions and your strengths.  No one ever became a hero, much less a leader, for what they were not so good at doing.  Tom Rath, from Strengths Based Leadership has lots to say on the subject.  Here is one worthwhile quote that sums it up to a degree.

“If you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be great at anything.”

~ Tom Rath

It does not matter what your passion or strength is?  There is a way for you to lead, influence, and impact in that area.  We like to say that everyone is a leader here at Barr Middle School.  Everyone has a strength and everyone can excel at something.  It is a matter of what area and how much influence they work to achieve as much as anything.  As discussed with many of the largest student influences that walk the halls each day, are you leading in a positive or a negative way?  Which do you want to be known for?  It is amazing that almost, if not every single student, wants to be known for doing good.  Unbeknowingly, they are living that age-old adage that any publicity is better than no publicity.  They are middle schoolers though.  If we can just help them find and live out their strengths, they would be happy to influence for good.  In many cases, they just don’t know how to do that.  There is no doubt that for those of us lucky enough to live out  our strengths and passions, it makes for a wonderful, and fulfilling, life.  (Feel free to share this post with your boss.  Maybe they will start giving you what you crave:  some positive. 🙂

In the end, remember, the most important parts of life are yours to own.  It is up to you if you take this information and use it or throw it away.  It is up to you if you decide to hone in on the 1) important rather than the urgent, 2) whether you surround yourself with influences that will help you achieve your highest capacity within your 3) area of passion and strength.  It is not even arguable; there is more access and opportunity than ever before and for any of the billions and billions of people that have walked the planet before us.  The only question is whether you and I are taking full advantage of all of those opportunities that we have.  I am not saying it is an easy thing to do; I am saying that I believe that each person reading this has an opportunity to live up to their potential or can choose not to.  Sometimes not making an intentional choice is still making a choice by the way.  Each choice that you make today will greatly influence what and how you are doing life for the foreseeable future.  Here is what I know.  I know that if you want to, you can do more than weather the daily whirlwind of your daily life.  I know that, for all of us, if we make choices that allow the right influences in, we can approach life with the same zeal as dean, James Ryan from Harvard.  Together, we too, can ‘Learn to change the world’!