Monday, May 24, 2021 (Day 144)
Meditation Music for the week: Whisper to Me: Liquid Mind (8:04) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtZ76W6gDls
Question: What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
Answer: That’s easy – The lesson: “It’s not about me, it’s about how I serve others.” I realized in 2004 at a Golden Key ceremony, where I cried after receiving an award, not because I got the award, but because of the letter one of my students wrote about me and the impact I had on her life. It took me a couple of years to really nail this “serving” thing down, but once I did, it’s been the greatest work and life lesson I learned, even more so now than ever before. It’s been a blessing to be able to serve students in my classes and the Life Design Catalyst tribe, many trying to decide their next steps in life. And I get to help in that process, which is a complete joy for me. The only downside? That I don’t get to do it as often as I like, as I have to engage in such mundane tasks as registration and scheduling. It was my thought process (and proposal) that there could be people to help students “register” for their classes and other who help students gain clarity and direction in life. Of course, the two could be combined, but I would argue that without the clarity and direction, the registration and scheduling piece doesn’t matter. In the School of HHS, we help the students gain clarity and direction through a class called “What Could I Do With My Life?” Doesn’t that sound like a class that EVERY person should take at some point in their life? And here, our first-year students have an opportunity to take such a class in their first semester of college. And talk about a valuable lesson for them; to think that they could have a class in their first semester of college that could provide a valuable lesson in their career. Imagine a course that will most likely change the direction in your life, a class that will only take up 50 minutes of your life, once a week. And now, I plan to create a “place” (Center for Transitions and Transformation) that could spread this message to even more students/people – possibly at UNCG, but more likely somewhere else that believes in my vision. In fact, I’m in the office this morning getting ready for a meeting to share with more individuals to get buy-in for the idea. One of my new career lessons – keep moving forward!
Other Stuff
I watched a VERY interesting video by Mark Manson this morning, one that made me shake my head A LOT – like he always does with me. As I mentioned before, he and I think a lot alike, except that he puts his thoughts out in the real world. He just recently posted a video titled, “How to Stop Caring About What Other People Think.” Here’s the link:
- How to Stop Caring About What Other People Think – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK-rIVi4nLI
If you can get over the “adult” language, his message is clear: “When you having something more important to care about, when you have something worth being embarrassed about, when you have something worth being ridiculed for, When you believe in something so intensely and it’s so important that you’re willing to lose friends or the respect of your neighbors, that’s when you stop caring what other people think about you. When you get to that point, that’s when people start to respect you.” Amen, brother.
The Dream Dean 