When I was in high school, I was part of the leadership team in band for three years. There were always required readings to be on the leadership team. The one that I found most applicable to all situations was "The Lombardi Rules" by Vince Lombardi, Jr. Vince Lombardi (the author's father) was one of the greatest NFL coaches ever. He brought the Green Bay Packers from being in the bottom of the bunch to standing in the shoes of championship players on a championship team. Now, I know what you are thinking, "Football is based on winning football games, not character and leadership skills." Right. But Vince Lombardi was more about the "how" than the "what" - more about the "process" than the "product."
In order to make any change to this world, we must first understand what the problem is, why it is a problem, and how to fix it, and this begins with the individual. Lombardi writes that we must get to know ourselves, that we cannot improve if we do not first understand. Looking at myself, I see a controlling, impatient, and anxious student. However, on the positive side of that, I see a kind, driven, and smart individual. So, this is step one: understanding what we are.
Step two: understand why we are that way. How do we get to the bottom? We ask ourselves questions. How do I spend my spare time? What kind of people do I gravitate towards? Of course, one would probably not sit down and think, "Why is my life the way it is?" Break it down, spread it out.
So, now we have begun the process of examining who we are and why we are that way. But there is a catch! People change. We cannot wake up one day and say to ourselves, "I have it all figured out! I know who I am. I know why I am this way. The world is right. Now I can go back to mindless, thoughtless living." We must assess ourselves on a daily basis. This takes concentration, the ability to multi-task, and awareness; to sum all these into one word: simultaneous awareness - doing what we are doing, while assessing what we just did, while thinking about what we are about to do. All this and "why."
Good luck. Please feel free to share your thoughts in comment form.
Very thoughtful and incisive. What inspired you to create this blog?
ReplyDeleteI think I saw this tall guy named Jeffrey Salinas pushing her to do this. He's such a good influence on people. I like how you point out that people change. This opens up a little self awareness for me personally. I would agree that it's important to examine yourself periodically to really understand what your thinking. How can you reach out to others before we reach out to ourselves? Great points!
ReplyDeleteanoriega: Thank you! I started this blog because, for several years, I have felt very strong feelings towards the mindset that this generation seems to give-off: average work is accepted and slacking off is the norm. I think that this is (sadly) reflected and accepted in our education system through standardized testing and other things that set standards that are below certain students.
ReplyDeletePintojrs: Thank you for your comments! I'm glad that this opened up your mind a little bit.