Category Archives: Behavior

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The Khan Academy – A Blessing for Learners Everywhere

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My wife and I are big fans of the CBS television news magazine 60 Minutes. We think Scott Pelley and that team are talented and courageous journalists. As people committed to lifelong learning, we were very excited about last night’s feature of the Khan Academy. Started by Sal Khan to help his cousin with math, Khan Academy is making an immeasurable impact on teaching around the world. It is allowing awesome teachers like Courtney Cadwell (featured in the report) to be effective coaches of the subjects they teach.

A vital part of my Forward Story is continual learning throughout my life. I am about to turn 50, and I feel as though I am just getting started with all the learning I want to do. I have now become a member of Khan Academy and am really excited about the value I am going to produce from it. Some of it will be a refresher for me of material I learned long ago but have not reviewed in a while. This is the “use it or lose it” principle, and I think that is very important.  Some of it will be brand new learning for me.

As you create and maintain your Forward Story, look for ways for Khan Academy to assist you. If you are in middle school or high school and have a dream of attending college one day, Khan Academy is your friend. If you are a college student now and are struggling with some concept, you can find help at Khan. If you are an adult, you can reach new heights with this type of learning.

I highly recommend that you watch the 60 Minutes segment: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7401696n

Thank you to Sal, his team, and to those teachers and administrators who are making this work for their students. Bravo!

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Thoughts on Gratitude

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The only reason I am able to share these thoughts with you is because a lot of other people have done, and are doing, their jobs. Regardless of what I’m bringing to the table right now, without them I would be powerless to communicate anything to you.

  • This computer was designed and manufactured by teams of creative and hard-working people who brought it into this world.
  • The software that runs the computer was likewise written by people who took their jobs seriously.
  • The electricity that powers this machine is being generated, right now, by people at the local utility who are monitoring their facility and processes. The linemen and repair crews are doing work to ensure that the electricity is properly transmitted to me.
  • The Internet connection in this hotel is provided to me wirelessly. The signal I am working from is being generated by equipment that was designed and manufactured by someone else.
  • My online work is being transmitted to my web provider on a complicated network infrastructure that works a remarkable percentage of the time.
  • In a more distant way, all of my teachers from first grade through college are making this possible. My former bosses, managers, mentors, family, and friends are also in here somewhere. They have all had a part in making me who I am and what I am.

These are but a few examples of how many different people are contributing indirectly to my success. Without their help I would not be able to do what I do in the way I do it or nearly as well as I do it. And yet, I often walk around unaware of what they have done and are doing to contribute to my success. I sometimes act as if my work is strictly of my own doing. During those times I tend to not be very grateful or thankful.

During times like today, though, when I am very aware of all of the people contributing to my success, I feel a depth of gratitude. I develop the eyes to see all of the people making me possible. I get this incredible sense that with their help I can achieve astounding things. Together with all of these wonderful helpers I can do something, be something, and contribute to something greater than myself.

In a strange way, admitting my dependence on other people to do what they do opens up unlimited potential in me. This is the reason I try to notice all of the ways, large and small, that others are contributing to my success. This is the reason I have such gratitude for others. It is the reason I acknowledge others in my Forward Story.

What are you grateful for that enables you to achieve greatness?

 

 

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People & Books

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People. Persons. Individuals. Men. Women. Boys. Girls. Coaches. Mentors. Parents. Grandparents. Friends. Teachers. Students. Employers. Employees.

A quote I have heard attributed to Charlie “Tremendous” Jones is:

In five years you will be the same person you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.

The reason I love that quote is because it implies that being the same person you are today in five years is not a good thing. You ought to be more and better than you are today. You ought be learning, growing, and evolving.

As an avid reader of great books, I wholeheartedly concur with his take on books. Books have transformed my thinking and behaviors.

His statement about people, though, is also very powerful. Humans are social beings. We view those who cannot get along with others as “anti-social,” and it is seen as a negative thing. In free societies we have the choice about who we will socialize with, how deeply we will allow them to get involved in our lives, and how we will let them influence our thinking and actions.

Human associations and networks can be very powerful. This is the reason successful people make it a priority to know and interact with other successful people. The great aviator, Charles Lindbergh, was friends with Igor Sikorsky. Lindbergh was a record-breaking pilot, and Sikorsky developed the first commercially viable helicopter. They spent time together because they had a common interest and could help each other.

Conversely, the negative power of human association can be seen in gangs and organized crime where human sociability is turned against the pursuit and attainment of what is positive and productive. What this underscores is the truth that “evil companions corrupt good morals.” If you spend your time with people who are engaged in these types of activities, your life will turn out to be “nasty, brutish, and short.”

On the other hand if you will spend your time with positive, successful, ethical people, you will benefit. If you determine to become one of those positive, successful, ethical persons, you can in turn help all of those who choose to interact with you.

I have been blessed to have many people who have graced my life and helped me become a better person than I was when I first met them. I was blessed with wonderful parents and grandparents who loved and nurtured me. Lifelong friends like Margot and David have grown up with me and have shared their understanding of the world as they have encountered it. My brother and sister are also big influences in my life.

Coach Jimmy, Coach Richard, Coach Al, Jim, Jeanette, Lonnie, Jan, Brian, Max, Foy, Chris, and Sam are all people who have helped me be who I am today. Yearbook advisors Nancy and Barbara, and speech teacher Mary have also influenced me powerfully. I have allowed them to change me and to contribute to my life. I encourage you to do the same. I remain open to new people who can help me and who I can help. It is exciting to see who nexts enters my life. Our wonderful neighbors Rudy and Veanne have improved us as we have gotten to know them. Most recently my life has been improved by my octogenarian friend Bill and his wife Ann. What awesome people who are contributing to me.

Make no mistake, though. I am careful who I let in. Not everyone who wants “in” wants to influence me the right way. Their motives are less than sincere, and they will drag me down if I let them in. I am very picky. I try to be sure their life reflects the values I want to embrace.

Now, back to books. In reality what are books? They are the products of people. I do not know Dave Ramsey personally, but in a way I do know him. I have met him and had him sign a book, but that is not how I know him. I know him because I have read his books. He has shared his thinking and his mind with me on the written page. His words and thoughts have changed both my thinking and my behavior. A more powerful way to state this is that his books have allowed me to change both my thinking and my behavior. A book cannot make me do anything. So, a book is really still just people sharing their knowledge and thinking.

It is awesome to think that I have been influenced by hundreds of other men and women that I have never met (and many who are no longer on this earth) as I have read their words in their books. It is exciting to think of how many books there still are to read!

So, do you have as part of your Forward Story the purposeful inclusion of quality people and books in your life? If not, you will be the same person in five years that you are today.

That would not be a good thing.

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MLK Had a Dream

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On this day dedicated to remembering the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,  I think it is important to recognize that Dr. King articulated his Forward Story.  The video and text of that momentous speech can be found here. It is an American treasure. It is a human treasure.

Martin Luther King, Jr. photographed by Marion S. Trikosko, 1964. LC-DIG-ppmsc-01269

We could focus on so many important aspects of what he said that day and debate the extent to which his dream has come to fruition. What I think about today is that Dr. King looked at the past sins of our nation. He looked at the present condition of inequality.  And he looked to a future that he believed could actually be brought to reality. It was a dream, but it was a dream based on a strong hope.

This ability to hope and envision a forward story is uniquely human and is ultimately optimistic. One of the great challenges for young people of all races today is to develop this practice of creating their own forward story. If you devote energy and time to your own future vision and then act to bring it to pass, you will be amazed at how your own dreams can become reality.

Thank you, Dr. King.

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Weight Loss & Your Forward Story

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Part of my personal Forward Story involves my health and my weight. Health is important going forward. If I suffer a breakdown in my physical body, I obviously cannot achieve the other goals I have in mind. It is for this reason that I do not smoke, but what about my weight?

Modern medicine is pretty clear on the issue of obesity. Being overweight or obese is hazardous to your health. Even if you see no current symptoms or effects, carrying too much weight will lead to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and a host of other problems. Therefore, you and I must engage in future-oriented behavior today and every day in order to create a healthier future.

According to the charts, I am overweight. When I tell people that I am overweight many people tell me they don’t believe it. As a former athlete I have a a muscular build at 5’11”. I don’t look “fat” to them. However, the experts tell me I need to drop weight. So, how do I do that? Billions of dollars are spent in that pursuit. There may be no more fertile ground for scams than in the promises that a miracle drug or regimen will make it happen easily.

The simple answer to weight loss, and the one that people don’t really want to hear, is that you must restrict your calorie intake and regularly engage in physical exercise. That requires replacing present pleasure and ease for discipline and denial.

A couple of weeks ago my wife began the WW plan that counts points. I decided to join her on it in hopes of finally getting to the place on the chart where the doctors say I should be. So far I am seeing really good results. I track it on an iPhone app called iWatchr, which allows me to track my points, calculate the points from basic nutritional information, and track my weight. It is a very helpful little app.

The bottom line is that using this app and controlling how much I eat and exercise, I am engaging in daily behavior that is leading to the future I desire with regard to my health. Without these daily behaviors, the future will be just like the past.