The new year is often a time for change, reflection, and a look toward growth. We reflect on where we are and, often, who we are, and make resolutions in an effort to change in the future.
Our children watch us trying to commit to exercising every day, eating better, being more intentional, cooking at home more often, etc. They get the message that who they are today isn’t enough and that they must change who they are to be worthy.
Of course, we know this isn’t true. So let’s start showing our children that the right kind of reflection and looking forward helps us reach the growth we all want.
Finding Gratitude
Recently on the Education Evolution podcast, I shared the layers of evolution I’ve gone through over the last 10 years or so. I started with the lens of looking back in gratitude for where I’ve come from.
LEADPrep started because of the possibilities I saw, starting back in my own high school experience. I was constantly striving for something and looking for new ways to challenge myself. I held numerous leadership positions in high school and college, then as a new teacher.
When my daughters were in school, I saw that multiple models of school did not work for them and I opted to be part of creating a solution. LEADPrep was born in 2013 as a part of that, my book in 2019 helped grow that solution, and the Education Evolution podcast came along in 2020 as another part.
There have been other steps on that journey too, including weekly LinkedIn Lives, where I get to share real-time conversations with others, and a LinkedIn newsletter that reaches over 3,000 subscribers every week.
I feel so much gratitude that I have been allowed to see possibility and create options to make learning accessible and relevant for so many youth over the years. I offer deep thanks to those who have journeyed with me and been a part of this powerful creative process.
Forward Thinking
The lens of introspection is a forward glance, accepting the challenge of growth. Rather than look at ways to change, it’s healthier to look at our gifts and how we’re using them.
Are we on a routine that is not evolving our purpose or our growth? Maybe it is time to stop and listen. What is our heart calling us to stop? To start? To do more of? To do less of? To evolve into?
The new year is a wonderful time for this reflection. I always do a few reflections right before January 1. Tim Ferriss’ Past Year Review is one of my favorites. This review has led me to remember how deeply I enjoy dancing to live music with friends. And how much nature inspires me. It also reminds me that seeing possibility and acting on it is a part of my DNA. Maintaining structures and procedures is not.
Getting Children Involved
We can do this work for ourselves, but imagine how powerful it would be to teach our kids how to look back in gratitude and to look forward to what they want their next year and years to look like.
Speaking for myself, if I had known then what I know now…Maybe I would have made all the same decisions, but how exciting it would have felt to feel more at peace with what those decisions were.
As we’re gearing up for a new year, I encourage you to sit down with your kids to go through Tim Ferriss’ Past Year Review. And if they’re students at LEADPrep, have them tell their teachers (or me!) how it went. We’d love to cheer them on!
You can also listen in to my own reflection in episode 140 of the Education Evolution podcast.
