The Stuff That Really Matters Most For Learning

What really matters most for learning? Challenging reading, massive writing, intense discussion, frequent memorization, high expectations, and scheduled reviews. Seems simple, right? So why not try it?

The Stuff That Really Matters Most: Live Like It Matters

I received this thought today and I want to share it with everyone.

Live Like It Matters

If you've done poorly, you can now do better. If you've done well, you can now do even better than that.

Every moment is an opportunity for improvement. 

Every day is your chance to make good and meaningful use of your wealth of experience.

There is a beauty within you that longs to be expressed more fully and more richly than ever before. No matter what has already happened, that beauty is more compelling than ever, and now is when you can bring it to life. 

This is your moment to experience the wonder of existence in a magnificent and abundant universe.

Live like it matters, because it very much does matter. All of life is depending on you to live with everything you have, and now is your time to do so.

- Ralph Marston

This is one great attitude. I can always do better. I will live like it matters, because it really does matter.

The Stuff That Really Matters Most: For Learning

What really matters most for learning? If you ask Marva Collins or Rafe Esquith (if you don't recognize these names google them or look on Amazon.com) it comes down to four simple things:

1. Challenging Reading
2. Massive Writing
3. Intense Discussion
4. Frequent Memorization

I find most of those missing now in our current education. My mother had to memorize all the presidents of the United States. Some of us memorized the state capitals of all 50 states. I don't remember my children doing either.

What books have you read since high school? Most people never read another book after high school. My oldest son once commented on the overflowing stack of books at my bedside, "Now I know where I got it from."

What good learning habits have you passed on to your children?

The Stuff That Really Matters Most: Unalienable Rights

The final thing is our list of stuff that really matters most is, as Thomas Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence, our unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to name a few. These rights given to us by God can be taken away, given away or lost. But what a loss!

These rights also will be your most powerful tool. Daniel Pink in his book DRIVE, shows us once again that we will do more on our own, for our own goals than anyone can force us to do or try to motivate us to do. Intrinsic motivation, internal motives move us to greater heights and lower depths than any other external force.

How will you use your freedom today? As Strongbad says, "For good? Or for Awesome?"

The Stuff That Really Matters Most: Character

Have you ever read To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee? One teacher I've met uses this book to teach character to his students. As you may recall, one of the main characters in the book, the father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer and must defend a black man accused of raping a white girl. Everyone in town, including his children, constantly ask him why he would do this. And his answer is the simple, "Because its the right thing to do." When his son finally understands this, that his father has a code of conduct that he lives by, no matter what the situation, the son runs down the street shouting, "Atticus Finch is a gentleman, and so am I."

That code of conduct is what I look for in character, a personal code of behavior that you follow under any set of circumstances.

Lawrence Kohlberg describes Six Levels of Moral Development:

Level I: I Don’t Want to Get in Trouble

Level II: I Want a Reward

Level III: I Want to Please Somebody

Level IV: I Follow the Rules

Level V: I Am Considerate of Others

Level VI: I Have a Personal Code of Behavior and I Follow It (Atticus Finch Behavior)

Where are you on these six levels? Have you developed a  personal code of behavior? We all have something. Is it one that you really want? Do you follow it always?

Something to think about. Somewhere to go.

The Stuff That Really Matters Most: Attitude

Attitude remains the most powerful tool in the world. You can change your world by changing your attitude. So, be the change you want to see in the world. Change your attitude and the world changes.

Here are a collection of quotes on attitude that really move me.

"People can alter their lives by altering their attitudes. " William James

"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“The last and ultimate freedom is to choose your attitude under any circumstances” – Victor Frankl

“Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.” ~Norman Vincent Peale

“Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more confidence in their opinions than we do our own?” ~Brigham Young

“Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different.” ~Katherine Mansfield

"A pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck." - James A. Garfield

"If the wind will not serve, take to the oars."  "Destitutus ventis, remos adhibe" - Latin Proverb

“The key to success is to determine what it is that you most enjoy doing, and then find a way to make a good living doing it.” ~Napoleon Hill

‎"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." ~Lou Holtz

“Heaven on earth is a choice you must make, not a place we must find.” ~Wayne Dyer

“Never tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon.” Joshua Hatch

  

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” ~African Proverb

“Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” ~Albert Einstein

The Stuff That Really Matters Most: Talents, Skills, Gifts

Talent is God's gift to you. What you do with your talent is your gift to God. -- Leo Buscalia

We're all trying to fix our weaknesses. Instead take care of your weaknesses, mitigate them, and then use and build on your strengths. Use your strengths. But how do I know I know what my strengths, talents and skills are? Make a list of everything you've ever done that:

• Is so easy that you take it for granted

• You have a hard time accepting compliments because it’s so easy

• You experience joy and satisfaction when doing it

• Everyone respects you for it naturally

• You don’t understand when others have a hard time doing it

These things are your talents, your strengths and your gifts. Run with them. Use them. Focus on them, not on your weaknesses.

Identify your talents today and use them everyday. See if that makes a huge difference in what you accomplish and how you feel about yourself and those around you.