This year I will wrap up my third year as a classroom teacher. Every summer I have decided that I will join a gym for the summer, every year the summer has started and I have decided I will go join the gym on the first day off… then when that doesn’t work I am going to hit the second day… then the next week… and this proceeds until July when I don’t have time to join until summer is over. This summer I started something new, kicking off the next season prior to the end of the last season. 2 weeks ago I did it, I went to the gym for the first time and set a goal, to go to the gym for 21 days straight. Now, as I sit in professional development, I have been to the gym 13 days. Kick starting the next habit ahead of time made the difference. I have started my way to achieving my goal and worked out a way to get started before the time allotted. For us procrastinators, this is incredibly helpful!

So what have you been putting off? What is something you have been trying to get started. Try starting it ahead of time and you will find it is easier to find results.

– Wes

When you begin working it is important to consider how success can be achieved. Many times when working with students I have found that it is easy to set ourselves and our students up for failure, even unintentionally. Taking the time in the planning phase allows us to really think about the steps that are necessary to be successful. What steps will be taken and is it feasible that success can be derived. One of the important phases of this process is breaking down the steps into small pieces, as discussed in an earlier blog. Going along with small pieces is doing one step at a time. It is important when we take the time to complete one thing before moving onto the next one.

To many times in life we find ourselves stuck in a routine. Day in and day out with very little change. This makes it tough to see the forest through the trees. I have found that every semester it is important to have something that breaks the mold. Over the next two days I will be at the Iowa 1:1 Conference. Conferences are a great time to think about things differently and reinvent yourself. Finding perspective and stepping away is an important part of life. Take some time and reinvent yourself.