I spend some time every few evenings reading blogs and articles on an app called Zite. This app gathers online resources for me and creates a magazine based on my Google search preferences and my Twitter account. I read a blog last night, posted by Nathan Barber, called “An Awesome Way to Open the Conversation About Grit at Your School.” In the blog he references the University of Texas at Austin 2014 Commencement Address by Admiral William H.M. McRaven. In the address, McRaven presents and inspiring plan for “meeting challenges and struggles head on.”
In this reflection I want to focus on the first of McRaven’s 10 lessons learned from basic SEAL training that will be of value as you move forward in life.
McRaven says, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”
This may seem like a strange topic to focus on in a blog entitled, “180daysoflearning,” however, as we plow through the first couple of weeks of returning to school after a longer than normal break, McRaven’s words ring true.
McRaven talks about how during his basic training for the Navy SEALs, every day started with an inspection in the barracks. Recruits were expected to have their beds made to an impeccable standard. Corners were to be square, the sheets pulled tight, and the pillow centered under the headboard. This was a simple mundane task. According to McRaven, The message in this was clear,
If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a sense of pride and inspire you to do another task, and another, and another. By the end of the day, the one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed every day will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never be able to do the big things right. And if by chance you have a less than stellar day, at least you will come home to a bed that’s made.
What does this all mean in the context of our work in schools? We can’t ignore what appears to be day-to-day minutia. The little things that take up so much of our time and sometimes divert our focus from the larger issues do actually matter. And, they must be done well. Attendance, documentation, reports, returning phone calls, responding to emails, following up on work orders and bus requests, are all important to the operation of our schools. If we do these little things right first, then we will be able to do the big things right as well.
In doing the little things right, we’ll continue to build a sense of accomplishment that will help us to complete the larger important work within the school.
What a simple, but important message.
Image from: www.elevation180.com
References:
Nathan Barber, “An Awesome Way to Open the Conversation About Grit at Your School.”
Admiral William H.M. McRaven, “University of Texas at Austin 2014 Commencement Address”
In this reflection I want to focus on the first of McRaven’s 10 lessons learned from basic SEAL training that will be of value as you move forward in life.
McRaven says, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”
This may seem like a strange topic to focus on in a blog entitled, “180daysoflearning,” however, as we plow through the first couple of weeks of returning to school after a longer than normal break, McRaven’s words ring true.
McRaven talks about how during his basic training for the Navy SEALs, every day started with an inspection in the barracks. Recruits were expected to have their beds made to an impeccable standard. Corners were to be square, the sheets pulled tight, and the pillow centered under the headboard. This was a simple mundane task. According to McRaven, The message in this was clear,
If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a sense of pride and inspire you to do another task, and another, and another. By the end of the day, the one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed every day will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never be able to do the big things right. And if by chance you have a less than stellar day, at least you will come home to a bed that’s made.
What does this all mean in the context of our work in schools? We can’t ignore what appears to be day-to-day minutia. The little things that take up so much of our time and sometimes divert our focus from the larger issues do actually matter. And, they must be done well. Attendance, documentation, reports, returning phone calls, responding to emails, following up on work orders and bus requests, are all important to the operation of our schools. If we do these little things right first, then we will be able to do the big things right as well.
In doing the little things right, we’ll continue to build a sense of accomplishment that will help us to complete the larger important work within the school.
What a simple, but important message.
Image from: www.elevation180.com
References:
Nathan Barber, “An Awesome Way to Open the Conversation About Grit at Your School.”
Admiral William H.M. McRaven, “University of Texas at Austin 2014 Commencement Address”