Still Growing: Growth Mindset 2.0

I believe one of the key ways to harness a growth mindset is to practice reflection. This blog is simply that, a reflection of moments in which I felt myself growing and learning how to deal with adversity. It was a day of professional development with Hilliard City Schools. This is not your typical professional development. What this is, is a personalized way that individual educators, administrators, classified, non-classified, staff we're all able to come together and learn. We heard from some amazing speakers and we get to participate in numerous sessions. Let's not leave out one of the most important details....we had food trucks on site for lunch. That's right we had food trucks on site. What's your professional development look like at your school? Our keynote speaker was Tim Kight, he is with Focus 3, a leadership consulting firm.

Their most well-known clients are The Ohio State Buckeyes. I think that is a pretty good reliable reference.  Let's talk about three major takeaways from Kight's session:

1. E+R=O (event plus response equals outcome)-Through our actions we cannot control the events in our lives and we cannot completely control the outcomes.  However, we have influence on the outcomes through our responses. How we respond is the R-factor. It determines the outcome.

2. Stepping up-Taking ownership of what you do. We must realize that life changes repeatedly. We are constantly challenged in our life and these challenges will push us outside of our comfort zone. As we encounter these events we must ask ourselves one question.....what does this moment require of me? That's a huge question because if you think about all the moments you have in your life every one of them requires some type of action from you and the best thing we can do, as Tim stated, "is WIN the moment."

3.Discipline- We have a negative image in our head about it. Kight explained that discipline truly means to learn and so we should not think of this as something negative anymore but we should be embracing discipline. Embracing the discomfort.  Discipline should simply be what drives our daily routine. The reason we need to develop these daily routines is because that will help us to respond in an event. We must train up for every event. Think of Navy Seals, how they train for everything. They don't just train for one event. They train for everything that can happen. They are physically and mentally ready to take it on. I guess in our day-to-day life the question is are we truly training for everything? Are we ready for every challenge that will come our way? Are we ready to set ourselves up for adversity every day? We can not predict events that will happen in our lives but we have to be intentional about how we approach and prepare for these events. We must embrace all learning opportunities as moments of growth preparing us for the adversities of life. 

What does that look like in your life? At the ILC we are talking a lot about 20 square feet.  You own 20 square feet of your school/ of your district? How is it that you are preparing your students to own or leave there a footprint on their own 20 square feet?  Kight gave us a couple different things to think about in this STEP UP process. We need to STEP UP now, we need to STEP UP daily.  We need STEP UP to the predictable events and we need to step up to adversity. That is a huge task, stepping up to adversity. The aspect of discipline and that aspect of daily routine are things I have tried to establish in my personal life. My daily routine of morning devotion followed by working out was how I stepped up ever since my father passed away from a heart attack. I had to change. I had to make a conscious decision and push myself into the #UNCOMFORTABLE. The point is daily routines will drive your habits. Your habits will become your character.

Over the past few years I have worked hard on developing discipline. It's very hard to do for someone that gets hyper-focused on one task at a time. I find myself exceeding in some areas then falling behind in others. I knew I needed to find my core so I developed my DIET. Ask any athlete and they will tell you that the most important discipline to have is controlling your input.  I'm not talking about food restrictions here. I'm talking about the needed steps to be successful

daily and embracing a growth mindset.  It goes like this:

D-Be willing to make a DIFFERENCE in your life and others. We have to be agents of change. 

I-Go out and INSPIRE others - live your life in such a way that others feel motivated by your presence and your actions. Be contagious!

E- ENCOURAGE another mind, your peers, your students, your teammate, as a matter of fact anyone you come in contact with.  As I learned from Coach Mark Tremayne we get stronger with every stride. Every stride we take together. 

E- ENJOY life. Smile all the time, it's hard be negative when you smile, never take a moment for granted. Always Run the extreme race as if your life depended on it because this is the only chance you have to make it right so enjoy it!

T-TOUCH a heart. Demonstrate love with your life. Help the less fortunate. Build hope in your life by giving hope to others.  

Once we figure out our purpose and how to manage our mindset we need to share it with others. John Maxwell has an easy five-step process where he discusses how to reproduce leaders but I think it applies to how we can share our mindset and strategies with others. Checkout the image:

Time to STEP UP and make an impact! Let me know what you think and how you might implement these ideas in your life.

B1!

John

#HappyToHelp

AWAKEN: My One Word for 2016

This marks year three of practicing One Word. An easy yet powerful and effective way to add focus to your life. One Word gives simple clarity and purpose to your actions and decisions. However, this has by far been my hardest year to discover my One Word. In the past it had simply jumped out at me... #Uncomfortable and #Strong. For some reason this year was different. I started thinking about my Word in early December and I wasn't connecting with any Word. You see, your Word should drive you and scare you. Sure, you can play it safe and pick an easy word that simply allows you to go on in life with little change. But we all know "if it doesn't CHALLENGE you it doesn't CHANGE you." So, one night last week my wife and I sat down and discussed the idea of doing the activity as a family. She was having trouble identifying her Word as well. We talked for about an hour and we both helped each other discover our Words. Her Word this year is #SHIFT and mine is #AWAKEN. Our kids even joined in this year and my son Griffin choose #LIMITLESS and my daughter Ava went with #FOCUS.

I am a firm believer that your One Word becomes your lens to life. Before making decisions or setting goals you look through your Word to ensure what you're doing aligns to your beliefs and values. Your Word becomes a representation of areas in your life where you need growth.

Here is how #AWAKEN works for me:

• SPIRITUAL AWAKENING- I need to AWAKEN my soul and grow spiritually. As a Christian I need to serve more in all aspects of my life. I need to be the spiritual leader my family deserves and be the disciplined believer so I can learn more from God. Pray more. Trust more. Read more. 

• PERSONAL AWAKENING-If I want to grow personally I must AWAKEN the servant leader in me. I can't be the leader I'm intended to be without serving others first. I need to practice more of the Love...Serve...Care philosophy from Jon Gordon's Carpenter. I need to find balance in my personal, professional and educational arenas. The goal is to finish my Doctoral program and not let my family life suffer. It's a tough task that I struggled with last year. I will be more present in the moments. 

• PHYSICAL AWAKENING- Last year I took huge strides in my physical development. I became #Stronger than ever by focusing on powerlifting but that is just the beginning. This year I plan to AWAKEN a leaner me while adding more strength. My wife recently had knee surgery and has been sidelined from running. I plan on running a few races this year until she is able to and competing in a few Obstacle (Checkout BattleFrog Series) course races to push myself physically.

• PROFESSIONAL AWAKENING- This seems to be an open ended question for me. I am nowhere near my peak and need to AWAKEN my professional vision and focus. I absolutely love what I do and love my current position, school, and co-workers. I couldn't ask for a better place to be in my current phase of life. My goal is to help others better themselves from where I am. Whether that is my students, peers, PLN, or simply anyone that will listen. I truly envision connecting with other leaders and setting up a Leadership Conference in Central Ohio. A conference that is open for students, teachers, and those seeking growth. 

It's 2016 are you READY? What's your One Word (www.getoneword.com)? I am Focused on what matters and ready for an AWAKENING in my life!

#HappyToHelp

John