Be Like Finland?

By Jaime Willis

For educators, reformers and wonks, Finland has, in the past several years, become the 'gold standard' of effective public K-12 education.

Finland, a county in the icy north of Europe, has a population of about 5.3 million people, roughly the same population and climate of the State of Minnesota.

In 1971, the government of Finland commissioned a study on their public education that conclude that education was the key to boosting the national economy.  As a result, they instituted several reforms to their current education model: reducing class sizes, boosting teacher pay, and requiring all teachers to complete a rigorous master's program (the last reform was given 8 years of preparation time so the existing work force had time to comply).


What is perhaps more notable than what they chose to do is what they chose NOT to do.  Finland soundly rejected the standardized testing model -- students in Finland are only required to take one standardized exam at the end of their schooling as a college entrance test.  Finnish teachers have a federal curriculum, but use it as a guide for creating their own lesson plans and designing their own course structure.  Finland also doesn't track students (honors/remedial courses) and doesn't have struggling/failing students repeat grades.

The results are pretty impressive.  The 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an exam covering math, science, and reading and given every three years to 15-year-olds around the world showed Finnish students scoring 3rd in the world in reading, 2nd in science, and 6th in math.  The United States, by contrast, was 31st (in a field of 65) in reading and math and 23rd in science.

Since the 1971 reforms, K-12 teaching in Finland has become an esteemed career.  The country's Masters in Education programs are so popular that only 1 student in 9 or 10 is accepted.  The best and brightest, and frequently most passionate educators are saturated throughout the entire public school system, rather than targeted in small pockets of "good" school districts.  As a result, the difference between the "best" and "worst" public schools in Finland is negligible -- all students are doing the same, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or economic status.

So, the question of the hour is how can we in the United States take these research-based reforms that are working so well in a tiny homogenous country in Europe and apply them to a country whose population is almost 60 times greater?

I'd think it be really interesting to have a state serve as an incubator for this model.  Mississippi may be a great test case.  The state has a population of under 3 million, and their students consistently score in the bottom quartile in standardized tests.  Could Mississippi State work with their public universities to create a rigorous master's program? Could the state afford to boost the salary of public educators across the state to entice graduates to stay in Mississippi and teach?  Could the local economy support the infrastructure changes required to reduce class sizes? How differently would Mississippi look 10 years from now if it were able to start making these changes today?

Finland has a bursting high-tech market with companies like Nokia leading the way.  Could Mississippi become the next Silicon Valley?

What challenges do you think any state faces in introducing Finnish education reforms?  Are any states introducing these reforms already and if so, to what effect?

I know I am excited by the idea of breeding a fertile ground for passionate educators and this reform model seems like one great way to do it.

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Research on this post comes, in part, from a great article in The New Republic entitled "Children Must Play." 

New Start, Fresh Start, Great Start!

-by Jaime Willis

For many teachers and students, this is their final weekend of “freedom” before school starts in earnest on Monday. Whether you are looking forward to the fresh start of a new year of dreading getting back into the “grind” of school, you can help yourself have a great start by doing a little bit of preparation.

Have a Plan

Whenever you are going to start a new task, you’ll feel better or more confident if you have a plan. If you are starting the new school year, lesson planning in advance is a huge help!

Have a Routine

When you are anticipating a fresh start, do so with a routine already in mind. What time are you going to go to bed to ensure a good night’s rest? What will your morning look like? How about your commute? Plan your routine out before the “start” day, and you’ll feel more prepared and confident.

Anticipate Challenges

Think about everything that could go wrong on your first day. Then, as much as practicable, plan a “solution” to the problem in advance. Worried you might forget your camera? Put it in your trunk the night before. Concerned that traffic might be a problem? Plan to leave your house earlier than usual. Scared the students will be really difficult to manage? Plan out a system to manage behavior ahead of time.

Visualize your Success

The night before your fresh start, take a few moments in the quiet of the evening to visualize your way through the day. Start by “waking up” refreshed, going through your morning routine, getting into school, and walk through every part of your school day. If you imagine what a successful day looks like, your brain will help you match your real day to your imagined success.

Smile & Have Fun

When you are nervous or worried, all of your energy is focused on the negative, which has a negative impact on your ability to interact with the world. I recently took a flight where I was seated across the aisle from a couple and their 9 month old baby. The mother was very stressed about keeping the baby quiet, and as a result, literally every time she held her child, the baby started crying. The father was much calmer and soothed his child right back into a peaceful sleep.

When you are scared, nervous, or worried, this is a great time to smile, to encourage others, to laugh and have fun – do things that calm or uplift your mood!

I hope this tips will help you have a wonderful “new start” soon!

Flagging Yourself for Success

-By Jaime Willis

I recently read an article about a great student intervention plan a teacher implemented in her classroom last year called "Flagged for Success."

As an 11th grade English teacher, I used to get frustrated at interim time because I would go through my grade book, calculate the grades, and realize for the first time that a student was struggling. By then, five weeks into the nine-week marking period, it was almost too late for me to intervene. The students who struggled spectacularly were easy to spot, but it always distressed me to realize that other students were also slipping through the cracks.
 ...
So I looked at how I tracked student progress to see how I could sift through all the information and turn it into early warning signals that would enable me to intervene in time. I wanted various objective flags that would enable me to consistently give all my students the support they needed. For example, I decided that any student who earned less than 75 percent or missed more than one-fourth of the questions on a quiz would need additional support. Once a student triggered a red flag, he or she would immediately go into the intervention cycle and receive progressively more intensive interventions until he or she moved above my mastery thresholds. Once a student was back on the path, that student could exit the intervention cycle.

What I love about Robyn's plan is that she picked a target to flag students far before they were failing her class and had a series of interventions in place to immediately begin working with her students to ensure they stayed about her 'red flag' line.

If you read the entire article linked above, you'll read how her intervention system worked on three different students in her classroom that year -- very cool results!

Robyn gives some tips for establishing red flags:

Red flags should be unambiguous.  You don't want to have to make a 'game time' decision of what a red flag is -- you want to be able to decide quickly when a red flag has been triggered.


Red flags should be hard to ignore. Established a sign that is hard to miss.


Red flags should trigger action. Once you see a red flag, you should not have to figure out what steps you are going to take next, but have interventions already in mind to get back on track.

For any goal we are working on, wouldn't it be great to have already defined some "red flags" for success?  Although this is a GREAT system for the classroom, I can see it used in all kinds of goals.

For example, what would a Red Flag of Success be for your weight loss goal?

One red flag for me is when I start wearing the "fat" jeans -- the jeans I go to when my regular jeans start to get snug.  Wearing the "fat" jeans is a clear signal to me that I am off track on my weight loss goals.  My intervention could be something like eating a go-to "good" meal for my next meal or fitting in 30 minutes of exercise that day, or starting up my food journal again.

How could you Red Flag your own goals for success? 

High Energy Teaching

-By Jaime Willis

Arne Duncan sparked a lot of interest in the education sector with his remarks at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.  I'd like to excerpt just a few of the suggestions and thoughts he had about teaching today.

We can no longer pretend that all teachers or all principals are from Lake Wobegon where everyone is above average.  It is time to recognize and reward our best teachers, support those in the middle, and also acknowledge that teaching may not be the best career choice for a small minority of teachers who continue to struggle despite support and mentorship.  

Fully half of the people who go into teaching leave within five years.  Lack of support, lack of quality mentoring and meaningful professional development, inadequate respect and compensation -- we know the reasons.  (Click here for full text.)

Teachers are bombarded with negativity on a daily basis -- attitudes from students in their classes, issues with parents, demands from administration, and in-fighting with their peers.  It's no wonder over half the people who enter teaching leave in five years -- no one wants to live like that!

When I think of our current model of teaching, I see almost all Level 1 and Level 2 energy -- teachers are the "victims" of poor pay, draconian administration, and lack support and encouragement; teachers are angry and blame the curriculum, imperfect testing standards, laws that stymie innovation, and lack of funding.  

The teachers who find a way to make a difference have truly learned to step into Level 4 and Level 5 energy -- they want to help others and they are willing to look at *everything* as an opportunity for them to teach their students and build academic success in their classrooms.

I would love to see school districts, administrators, and especially unions really spend their time and energy figuring out how to build schools and faculty that operate consistently on Level 4 and 5.

Steven Brill of the New Yorker recently published an expose of New York City's "rubber room" where teachers spend years earning full pay while their union fights their termination for drunkenness and other negligent behavior.   How cool would it be to see the teacher's unions spending that money instead on providing their own mentoring and professional development program to ensure that new teachers feel supported and encouraged as they build their skills in the classroom?

The part of Arne's speech that was quoted most often in the news yesterday was "Teacher pay should start at $60,000 and grow to $150,000" to draw the best and brightest to the profession.  Money is usually the "easy" solution to any problem, and paying teachers more money would definitely help raise the bar.  However, I believe there is opportunity for teachers to improve their energy as a whole without throwing money at the problem.

What would it look like at your school to feel more supported and encouraged?  When I asked this question of a public charter school faculty last year, they organized themselves into committees and did things throughout the day and week to encourage each other.  One faculty member put notes in each of her colleague's mailbox each morning.  One teacher chose to greet every single person -- administration, faculty, and students, while a smile and a hearty "Good Morning" to start her day.  Teachers worked together to create lesson plans, to brainstorm ways to appropriately handle a challenging student who'd fallen behind, and to have more enjoyment while at work.

If you are a teacher today, you don't have to wait for Congress to enact reform legislation.  You don't have to wait for your administrator to get on board.  You don't have to wait to see a pay raise.  You just have to show up for work (and life) each day treating yourself and others the way you'd like to see the world treated. Operating from a higher energy level will truly improve your outlook on your career and your life!

Testing in Schools - the Right Answer?

-By Jaime Willis

Good morning and welcome to my very first Education "in the news" blog post.  Once a week, I'll be choosing an education-themed story from the headlines and commenting on it from an Energy Leadership perspective.  I hope that you enjoy these commentaries and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Testing is probably the biggest hot-button item in Education today.  If you want to get a group of educators riled up, ask them about testing in schools and watch how quickly the gloves come off.   Although testing has been around for decades, the most recent emphasis on testing is likely a result of former President Bush's push to improve education through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.  

This law required all schools that receive federal funding to begin testing students on reading, math and science using state-chosen standardized tests throughout their academic career.  Schools are then graded on how many of their children scored "proficient" or better on the test.  From 2001 - 2015, the number of students in the school that need to score "proficient" rises until in 2015, 100% of students in schools across the country should, according to the law, be reading and doing math on grade level.

Ten years later, how has testing impacted students and schools? Are we getting the results we hoped for?

Investigators in Atlanta cheating scandal discuss culture of corruption

By Ben Mayer & Jaye Watson, WXIA-TV, Atlanta

Excerpted from www.usatoday.com

It has been a long 10 months for Mike Bowers and Bob Wilson, the special investigators who oversaw the scathing report on Atlanta Public Schools.   

The two conducted 2,100 interviews and examined 800,000 documents as part of their investigation of the 48,000 student district, finding a "heartbreaking" culture of corruption.  

Their 800-page report revealed that officials at nearly 80 percent of 56 elementary and middle schools examined cheated on the annual student-performance tests.  There were 178 teachers and principals implicated in the cheating scandal.

...

In hours and hours of testimony the impetuses to cheat were the same: nearly impossible targets, job security, fear of public humiliation, and to a lesser extent, money.   

Wilson blamed [Former Superintendent Beverly] Hall's targets, a program, he said, was designed to increase accountability for a leader he said was obsessed with data.  Teachers, who thought their students could not pass on their own, felt the pressure to cheat and resorted to desperate measures, and created classes of failing students who feel upwards.  But as Hall's targets were met, the benchmarks only rose.  And, Wilson argues, the depth of the cheating grew with it. 

It completely makes sense that when schools -- administrators, teachers, and students -- are faced with what they believe to be insurmountable odds, they become desperate to save face in any way they can, resulting in a culture of cheating instead of the intended culture of academic excellence.

It is also understandable that teachers and administrators believe that it is the testing itself and being "obsessed with data" that is the problem with education today, and are rallying to reduce the nation's current preoccupation with testing as the end-all method of student performance evaluation.

The response from other school districts doesn't seem to be to get rid of testing but to "crack down" on testing security, in order to eliminate avenues for cheating.

So what is the "right" answer?

Testing isn't binary -- administrators and teachers don't have to believe in testing 100% or be adamantly opposed to it.  We can do both. (For those of you keeping score at home, this is Level 5 -- finding the opportunity in everything!)

First, I agree that standardized testing is probably not the best holistic measure of student achievement.  The work policy analysts, researches, and school reformers are doing to experiment on better methods of measuring academic achievement is great work and I'd like to see more of it happening.  Big thinking usually results in great innovations.

On the other hand, testing is what we, as educators, are currently mandated to do.  Just because testing isn't the best solution doesn't mean we can scrap it immediately and start over -- sometimes we have to learn to operate effectively in less-than-ideal scenarios.

Glennon Melton, co-author of Test Talk: Integrating Test Preparation into Reading Workshop, illustrates the both/and testing strategy best:

“You are EDUCATORS. You KNOW how flawed these tests are. Why are you working WITH THESE HORRIBLE TESTS? Why aren’t you fighting AGAINST these tests that you know aren’t good for children?”

And we’d shrug and say: You’re right. We agree with you. But the thing is that we have these students in front of us. And we owe them. They are our job. THEM, not the law changing. We can’t march on Washington because we are in the classroom preparing our students. So maybe we could work together. Maybe YOU could march on Washington and meet with the lawmakers while we teach. 

Maybe this problem is so big that it takes both kinds of people. People at the capital working on the big ideas and the political structures and THE MAN while we stay on the ground and make sure THESE LITTLE LOVIES don’t fall through the cracks while change is happening. We won’t sacrifice a single one of them. Each one of them is worth more to us than the big ideas. That’s just the way we are, we teachers. We’re short sighted that way.

What are other ways for us to "Level 5" our testing strategies in schools?

A New Day is Dawning (Velocity, v2.0)

-by Matt Leedham

Hello Achievers!

This is not one of our typical blog posts, but rather an update about Velocity. We have some exciting news to share about our focus and the changes that will be coming as we move forward. Those changes affect this blog as well and we wanted to keep you all informed.

• Over the last 10 months, Velocity has done some fun things. Let’s take a look at just a few:
• Published over 200 blog posts (wow!)
• Interviewed 33 achievers in our Friday special, “TGIF: This Goal Is Finished” (applause to all of you!)
• Have had over 15,000 visits to our blog/website (thank you!)
• Have spoken over 10 times to groups of students, teachers, entrepreneurs, and generally awesome people about goal setting and achieving more
• Have individually coached entrepreneurs, principals, teachers, consultants, and lawyers

We have had a great time changing lives and making an impact on our community by helping others realize their true potential for achievement. Through all of this experience, Velocity has become more narrowly focused on our target demographic (our niche) and how we serve them (our specialty). We will now be focused on Leadership Development and Coaching with two groups of people:

1. Professional Educators (i.e. Teachers, Principals, and other Education Administrators)
2. Entrepreneurs

Jaime and Matt each bring specific skill sets that will serve these two groups in ways that simply improve our community. We believe in the lofty vision that we’ll all benefit from more effective teacher/leaders helping students learn more, and more effective entrepreneurs/leaders managing people and taking care of customers. You can read our thoughts in more detail on each of these categories below.

How will this affect our blog?

Our blog format will be changing going forward to better represent our focus. Each week, Jaime will publish one education-specific post and Matt will publish one entrepreneur-specific post. Don’t worry though, the “Matt & Jaime Show” will continue with at least two general achievement posts each week. The TGIF series will be disappear as a regularly scheduled program, but please do share your successes with us as we would love to share your stories and help you celebrate your wins!

Some Thoughts on Education…

Educators, Education administrators, Parents, Community Members, News Media, Politicians, and Pundits all agree that the American system of Education is failing our students. Reform has been the battle cry for years -- most recently with the enactment of No Child Left Behind and the advent of testing and "data-driven" results as the go-to evaluative method for academic success.

Every curriculum specialist, education program, educational professional and consultant is looking for or hawking the 'magic pill' to save our schools. At Velocity, we believe that there is no magic pill. If there were one thing we could do across the board to dramatically change the face of education for the better, it would be changing people's minds.

We know that engagement, leadership ability, energy, and attitude are critical to any successful endeavor, and certainly critical to the success of school administration, faculty, and ultimately the students we want to succeed. What if you felt engaged every single day you walked into work? What if your work and personal lives were balanced in a way that consistently gave you joy? What if you were surrounded by people as energized as you were about your work and found opportunities in every challenge?

Our goal is to massively transform K-12 education at its building block, starting with educators. We are focused specifically on faculty and administrators working in urban Title I schools in improvement status -- the schools that most desperately need a huge shot of passion and engagement.

Using the research-based attitudinal assessment created by renowned coach and psychologist, Bruce D. Schneider, the Energy Leadership Index Assessment (ELI), we are able to get a "moment in time" snapshot of how you feel at work and at home. Unlike Myers-Briggs or DISC assessments that tell you how to best operate within a certain label of strengths and weaknesses, the ELI measures your energy and engagement level at the current time.

We use this assessment as a roadmap for personalized coaching to help educators effect positive change in their careers. What is so amazing about Energy Leadership is that it will not only reinvigorate a career, but it will have a ripple effect on an entire life -- improving personal relationships, creating a sense of peace, and help build sustainable happiness.

One teacher who recently went through just two hours of training with us said, "I knew you guys were going to be good, but you really blew me away. Thanks for relighting my fire."

Jaime has been teaching and training for over twelve years. She has worked with schools, community groups, and non-profits around the world, including DC Public and Public Charter Schools, Howard University, Western Michigan University, Nanjing University in China, Passports to College of Bermuda, Baçeşehir University of Istanbul, Turkey, the National Institute of Health, Prince Georges County Public Schools, Montgomery County Public Schools, Andrus Family Fund, Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the I Have a Dream Foundation, among others. She is an energetic and entertaining speaker and trainer who enjoys helping students and professional reach their personal and professional best.

Some Thoughts on Entrepreneurship…

Small businesses drive our economy. Did you know that small businesses represent over 99% of all employers in the U.S.? Or that they have generated 65% of new jobs over the last two decades? In 2009 alone, over 500,000 new businesses were created. Think about all of the people that were employed by those businesses!

Supporting entrepreneurs is a critical piece to establishing a more abundant economy and more prosperous communities. In other words, by creating programs and services that help entrepreneurs lead more successful business, which will provide salaries and benefits for their employees, we can build better, more stable communities.

The challenge for many entrepreneurs is balanced growth and focus. The maverick attitude that got an entrepreneur to spark a new business concept can waiver under the pressure of achievement as more people become involved in the business. Employees, clients, vendors, and investors all have needs and demands to be met. All of a sudden, the fun and exciting ride with the pedal to the metal, becomes a more like a roller coaster ride with ups and downs and that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach.

At Velocity, we believe the most effective way to grow as an entrepreneur is to focus on a 3-step process:

• Awareness – focus on who you are, why you do what you do, and where you want to go from here.
• Balance – focus on the whole picture, including your personal relationships, health, and enjoyment.
• Conquer – with a foundation of awareness and balance, become laser-focused on conquering your vision

Using the research-based attitudinal assessment created by renowned coach and psychologist, Bruce D. Schneider, the Energy Leadership Index Assessment (ELI), we are able to get a "moment in time" snapshot of how an entrepreneur feels at work and at home. Unlike Myers-Briggs or DISC assessments that tell you how to best operate within a certain label of strengths and weaknesses, the ELI measures your energy and engagement level at the current time.

We use this assessment as a roadmap for personalized coaching to help entrepreneurs effect positive change in their careers. What is so amazing about Energy Leadership is that it will not only reinvigorate a career, but it will have a ripple effect on an entire life -- improving personal relationships, creating a sense of peace, and help build sustainable happiness.

After a few weeks of coaching, one entrepreneur said, “Matt is insightful, a creative thinker and solution oriented. His expertise in business and entrepreneurship is invaluable. He has his finger on the pulse of current business trends and technology which I found abundantly helpful.”

Matt has spent the last 7 years working with entrepreneurs in business development, strategic planning, coaching, and consulting. He has spent the last 4 years working with over 1,000 entrepreneurs across the U.S. in building measurable action plans tied to strategic visions. With Velocity being his second entrepreneurial venture, Matt uses his experience, knowledge, resources, and networks to help other entrepreneurs realize their potential and reach their vision. He is passionate about helping entrepreneurs reach the next level in their business without sacrificing their health, relationships, or happiness along the way.

TGIF: Nicole Hesson

TGIF:

This Goal Is Finished

Good morning achievers! Hope you've had a wonderful week!

If this is your first time on our website, welcome. Velocity is about helping you find and achieve your passion through personal goal setting. You can find out more about us by clicking on any of these links.

You can sign up for our weekly inspirational newsletter or a complimentary coaching session by clicking on the buttons to the right.

The Achiever

Today’s TGIF achiever is Nicole Hesson. Nicole is a super energetic, spirited educator that Jaime met a couple years ago, and Matt had the pleasure of meeting a few months ago. Upon first meeting her, you will see that she is very intelligent, creative, outgoing, and a little silly! Check out her awesome story of going back to school so that she can take on greater challenges in her life.

I am a Philadelphia native who recently moved back to get my doctorate at Temple University. I earned my BS in Biology at Davidson College in North Carolina. Go 'Cats! I then came back north to earn my Master of Arts in Teaching at Johns Hopkins while teaching full-time as a Baltimore City Teaching Fellow. After a 3 year stint as a high school teacher, I dove into middle school at a DC charter school. After 7 years of teaching, I had taught 6 different subjects in every grade from 6th through 12th! It was a wonderful experience, but I was ready to transition out of the classroom and into the next challenge.

The Goal

The first goal was to take a class over the summer! The big goal is to get my EdD in Educational Administration.

Why This Goal?

When I decided to enroll in Temple, I wanted to get started right away. I didn't want to waste any time. I figured a summer class was the best way to get the ball rolling. I intend to get my doctorate in as short a time as possible so I can put my skills to use somewhere that needs me!

The First Step

The first step was contacting my advisor and figuring out if I could take a class. And if I could, which class to take. It definitely turned out to be the toughest step (see next question)!

Challenges

First, my advisor went on sabbatical and was unavailable for consultation. After I contacted another professor in the program, I found out he had given me some incorrect information. (I had already started the process of lining up internships that I didn't need.) Then, the professor I had contacted did not always answer questions in a timely manner and eventually suggested I wait until the Fall. Finally, I emailed the interim department head and she thought that there was a better program I could enroll in. But, she stated that I probably wouldn't be able to transfer. I found out from the head of the other department that they were no longer accepting science applications. As you can imagine, at this point, I felt very defeated!

Staying Motivated

I knew I had been accepted to the program, so I tried to focus on the reasons I was accepted. I stayed focused on the fact that someone in the university had a concrete answer to all of my questions. I made it my goal to find who that person (or people) was (or were).

Who Helped?

I went to meet with the new interim department chair in person to solve the issues I was having. Dr. Caldwell - the interim department chair - eventually figured out that the program I was accepted to would work just fine for my life goals. She also signed me up for a summer course! She was the biggest help in achieving my goal. My family and friends were also extremely helpful by listening and helping to come up with solutions. I needed a lot of help focusing towards the end! Email and internet, of course, were a great way to contact people!

TGIF – Celebrate!

I spread the good news to all the people who had heard my plight, listened to my struggles, and tried to help! Then, I finished packing for my big move.

Advice

Remember that somebody, somewhere, knows the answer to the question you are asking. Finding that person might be difficult, but be persistent. Also, have a network to lean on. Sometimes, when you are too far in, it's hard to see things clearly. A solid network of friends and family definitely helps with that.

What’s Next?

Next up is being a full-time student! I am enrolled for 4 classes in the Fall and am really excited. My long term goal is to be a professor for teachers who are preparing to teach in urban schools. I determined that getting a higher degree was the best way to do that. However, this class I'm taking called Leadership in Higher Education is making me rethink my plans about being a professor. Maybe a college presidency is in my future. Can I get back to you? J

Knowledge Without Action

-by Matt Leedham

“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
-Will Rogers

By no means have I got it all figured out. But I will acknowledge that I am good at learning something new and then, at least for a little while, trying it out in my life to see how it will work.

From time management skills, to communication methods, to exercise and diet ideas, to management techniques, to personal efficiency strategies, I’m always trying something new. I love to learn, but I love even more to experiment with what I have learned.

Not so strangely, this has not resulted in me becoming the perfect human. Far from it! But, what it has done is put a nice variety of tools in my little toolbox that I can use when I need them. For 10 years, I’ve been picking up little bits of wisdom from workshops, books, the internet, and all those bright people that have crossed my path. More importantly though, I’ve attempted to implement many of those ideas into my life as I learn.

I re-read the quote above this morning and couldn’t help but think of our latest class of achievers that attended our workshop this Saturday. After speaking with most of them, they’ve got a lot of thinking and reflecting to do. And that’s great! You should reflect on important matters like your who you are and where you want to go.

But it can’t stop there!

Try what you have learned. Share what you have learned. Try to teach someone else what you have learned. Put into action all that you have learned and you will make you, and everyone around you, better for it.

“The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action.”
-Herbert Spencer