 Happy 2022 Everyone! As we bring 2021 to a close, it’s natural to think about the coming year and how we want the new year to be better than the previous year. New year’s resolutions are a thing because, as humans, we have an emotional need to start fresh and the new year allows us to do just that. There are numerous articles and studies conducted on this topic. Social media feeds and mainstream media news cycles begin to mention new year’s resolutions starting in December and will continue on well into January. Across the world, people resolve to do better and to improve their lives with some possibly even try to help improve the lives of others. Energy is always high around this tradition which has been in place for thousands of years. Striving to improve is a great thing for individuals and society as a whole. To be honest, as a society we should probably adopt the improvement mindset more than once a year. The problem is most people are not able to stick with their new year’s resolutions. A quick google search shows just how common it is for us to give up on our goals that we were so energized around just a few weeks earlier.  There are many reasons that people give up on their efforts, but the one that I see most often is people giving up because things are not going as they want. In other words, it isn’t going to plan, it isn’t as they imagined. In short, it isn’t perfect.
News flash, you are going to struggle. Anything worth achieving is going to be difficult. If it's not going to be difficult, then why resolve to achieve the goal? You are going to have bad days on your journey of self-improvement and growth. The journey is not going to go as you had envisioned. I know you know that, but you need to hear that over and over again. Most people quit because of the frustration that comes with the struggles that arise on the journey. Part of the problem is this mindset that things have to be perfect. Social media reinforces this mindset because the overwhelming majority of what we see online is the best version of what people have to offer. I call these posts: “Facebook Fabulous” “Pinterest Perfect” “Instagram Ideal”. What we usually do not see posted are the struggles they had along the way. As you strive for perfection, I caution you in using the mindset of achieving perfection. Perfect in who’s view? Perfect as determined by what standard? You’ve heard this before, but again, you need to be reminded and hear it over and over again. It's easy to lose sight of the struggle behind the shared achievements as you scroll your various feeds and hear the stories of others and their successes. Don’t misunderstand, I am not saying that you shouldn’t strive for the best version of yourself. I want you to understand that making progress toward your goals isn’t going to be perfect. Progress isn’t always pretty, or neat, or clean. Progress is going to have hiccups. Progress is messy. Progress is hard. As you face the struggles and obstacles on your journey, here is what I urge you to think about instead. Progress will get you where you want to be, just not right now. Progress means you did better than the previous day or week, but you still have work to do. Progress takes time. Progress isn’t always linear. Progress toward your goals is the day-to-day work of your journey. I wish you all the best in your 2022 journey. Progress is going to help you to become the #betteryou that you are envisioning. Please keep going, even when things are not going the way that you thought, remember that you are making progress toward your goals. This mindset will help you to not become so frustrated that you end up quitting all together. Think. Achieve. Succeed. Jeff
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 As educators (and other professionals) we find ourselves tying our identity to what we do for a living. It happens very easily. After all, what is the most common question that we ask one another when we meet for the first time? What do you do for a living? Often, the opinion we begin to form about one another begins based upon that answer. It’s been happening since people have been talking. It’s unavoidable. I’m not saying that shouldn’t happen, I’m writing this to remind you that you are more than your job.
You are a mother or father, or a brother or sister. You are a friend to others. You are someone’s child. You have a life away from your job. You have hobbies and interest. You have hopes and dreams. You probably inspire others without even realizing it. You are a complete person that is way more than your job. So, this Thanksgiving break, when you find yourself struggling to find the balance of stepping away from work and feeling the need to work. Please remember that you are not your job. It’s okay if you have to work but you need to make plenty of time for the other things in life that matter to you. Set aside a couple of hours here and there to "work on work" if you need to do so, but when you step away from work, step away. You owe that to yourself and those in your life that matter to you. Work will always be there but moments with your loved ones will not. I am thankful for all of the dedicated people in the world that work really hard at what they do. This world would not be the same without you and your efforts. In order for you to continue doing what you do best, you need to give yourself a break. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Think. Achieve. Succeed. Jeff  Today I read this blogpost from Chad Lehrmann. Chad is an educator in College Station ISD and he has a passion for student voice in his classroom. The following thought stood out to me from his blogpost: You have to have experiences to reflect on them. At first, I thought of course, you need experiences to be able to reflect upon them. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought about this question: How often do we make sure that people (children and adults) have actually had the experiences that we need them to reflect upon in order to grow?
My experience as a school leader tells me that we operate under a lot of assumptions when it comes to the experiences of our students and fellow teachers. This is why it is important to create learning experiences for our learners. If we do not make sure they happen, then who will? Think. Achieve. Succeed. Jeff  As a leader, people that follow you and work with you want to know your vision. They want to know what you have planned for today, tomorrow and way down the road. Sharing your vision with them is important because it allows them to help actualize the vision. They want to help and support you in your work, but they cannot if you do not share or are not sharing it completely. Be transparent, be open, be purposeful. If you do not know the full vision, tell them and finalize the vision with them. When you involve others in the vision, you create shared ownership which leads to better outcomes.
Think. Achieve. Succeed. Jeff  Here we are at the start of a new year. We all know the things that come with the start of a new year: resolutions, new beginnings, words and phrases of the year, mantras, themes… you get the point. All of those are fine and quite frankly, necessary because with the start of a new year we should want to push ourselves to greatness. Starting with the new year makes sense due to the newness and excitement of starting over. I purposefully waited until January 2 to post this because we all have the energy and excitement on January 1. Here we are, on day #2 and some of us has slipped already. That’s okay, it happens. Breaking old habits takes time and is very challenging. When you find yourself struggling with the change that you have decided to undertake, I need you to ask yourself this question: Are you going to run the year or is the year going to run you? You made that resolution, new beginning, word and/or phrase of the year, mantra, or theme for a reason. Don’t give up on it. More importantly, don’t give up on yourself. It’s your choice. What will you do? Think. Achieve. Succeed. Jeff **Image from @GoneforaRUNcom Daily Motivation Calendar. Get Yours By Clicking Here.
 It's lonely at the top. We've all heard that expression, and for good reason. When you are a leader there are somethings that only people that are in those positions or have been in those positions can relate to. I get that. We all do. That is the down side of the buck stopping with you. I am here to remind you that it doesn't have to be quite so lonely. As you go through this school year there are going to be issues that feel like the weight of the world is sitting on your shoulders. Things are going to occur that keep you up at night. People are going to disappoint you and you will disappoint someone. When these things occur, just remember that you are not the only one. You need to have a team to help support you. One of the strengths of a great leader is to have a few select people to lean on when times are tough. Who are those people for you? Who uses you for support? I bring this topic up because it matters. You cannot lead alone and lead well. You need a team of support and sounding boards so that you make the best decisions possible. If you do not have a team I encourage you to develop that team or network. They do not have to be a peer or even a co-worker. They just have to be someone that has your best interest at heart and will give you the honest feedback you need at the time you need it the most. If you do not have a large network, then start up a conversation over a struggle you, or a "friend", is experiencing and see where the conversation leads. You never know, you may make a connection that you wouldn't ever expect. Think. Achieve. Succeed. Jeff   The start of a new school year is upon us. Some districts began last week, some started today, and others will start later this week or next week. For me, the start of this school year has been different because I am no longer working at the campus level. Today was different for me, but in a good way. Let me explain.
My wife started her day with the expected butterflies and anxiety of the first day of school. She worked much of weekend to make sure that the first day of school as just right for her students. We exercised this morning and we made sure that she left the house in plenty of time to be ahead of the traffic that is sure to be full of anxious students and nervous parents. Normally I am right on her heels out the door, but not today. I probably left the house at about the same time I normally do on normal day, but it was not super early to make sure the building was ready for kids on the first day of school. I probably drove with the same level of alertness that I normally drive, but I did not have the anxiety that I normally have on the first day of school. This first day was different. Now don’t misunderstand, I was nervous for all of the schools in my district. Today 18 campuses opened with over 13,000 students experiencing their first day. I spent most of the day driving to campuses and by the end of the day I had visited two thirds of our campuses. Principals were excited. Teachers and kids were smiling. Everyone was learning about each other and the new routines and procedures of the new school year. It was a good day. I was nervous because I wanted the day to go well for everyone. I did not want to hear anything negative occurring at any of the 18 campuses. My perspective has changed. As a principal, I was nervous for the 900+ students and ~ 90 staff members that I worked with each day. I did not ever really worry about the other campuses because I had my hands full with my school. Today, I found that I was nervous for everyone to have a great day. Maybe it is because I have even less control because I am now one more step away from the classroom….one more step away from being able to support kids directly...one more step away from being able to problem solve when problems arise. As a principal I was not one for total control because I know that is not sustainable in the long term. I am not changing my feelings now because I know that my district has great people and they are going to be excellent in their work, but the nervousness is still there, just different. It’s hard to explain fully. Maybe that is because I am still trying to understand all that I am feeling. I will continue to reflect upon that. For now, please know that being in central office does not remove the feelings we have about school and our desire for great things to occur. Our perspective has changed. Our feeling may not be the same as they were when we were side by side with the kids, but they are still there. The best way I know to describe right now is to say it is a new nervousness. Think. Achieve. Succeed. Jeff  In case you did not know, I run. I run because it pushes me to be a better version of me. I run because I just feel better after I have finished a run. I run because I like to eat good food that is not always good for me. I run because it helps me to think. There are many reasons to run. I know what some of you are thinking... good for you. I don't run and I don't need you to tell me why you do run. Am I right? I am sharing this so that you understand where this is coming from. The Boston Marathon was last Monday. The Boston Marathon is like the Super Bowl or the World Series for running. It is the world's oldest marathon and one of the most elusive marathons to enter and win. That is why their logo is a unicorn. This year's Boston Marathon was one of the most miserable weather days in the history of the race. It was very cold, very rainy, and very windy. Almost half of the elite athletes that started the race quit before it ended. It was a hard day, especially for those that are "made for running". Des Linden made history on Monday. What did she do? See for yourself. It was revealed in the post race marathon that she almost quit in mile 2 or 3. She said she was not feeling well. I am glad she was able to push through. I am sure she is too. As you saw in the video, she slowed down so she could support her fellow competitor, Shalane Flanagan (who won the NYC Marathon in the Fall of 2017) who was having a tough day. That is teamwork. That is placing the needs of other's before your own. We need more of that in the world today. Des ended up leaving Shalane and the rest of the women's field behind at Mile 21. She became stronger and faster as the race went on. She pushed through the reasons to quit. About a month before Boson, she sent out this tweet:  "Every day I make the choice to show up and see what I've go, and try to be better."
What a great attitude about life. She's right. Some days it feels like everything falls into place and other days it feels like everything is falling all over the place. What do you do on those days that everything falls all over the place? Do you give in? Are you giving up on what could be your best day ever? How do you know if you give up? I am sharing all of this to remind you that you need to keep showing up. The last few weeks of the school year are some of the toughest. Even the best educators struggle this time of you. You are not alone. Keep pushing. Keep showing up. I bet you will find that more days will fall into place than fall all over the place. Think. Achieve. Succeed. Jeff  Recently, my wife and I travelled to a different part of the country. Instead of renting a car we decided to try out ride sharing to see how that goes. Neither of us have ever used Uber or Lyft before this particular trip and we thought we would do what we often tell others they should do… try new things and get out of your comfort zone.
We are glad that we did! Over the course of our trip we utilized Lyft to get from the airport to our hotel and then around town to the different destinations we had on our agenda. Each experience was unique, enjoyable, and an opportunity to connect with someone for a few minutes. We were able to ride in all kinds of vehicles ranging from a Kia Sorento to a Lincoln Navigator. Each driver had a wonderful personality, very conversational, and a comfortable vehicle. Conversations ranged from the local area, favorite things to do, recommendations for places to visit, favorite sports teams, and even politics. One driver was really interested in the work my wife and I both do as educators and we spoke about education related topics on a longer drive. No, I am not being paid by Lyft to write this. I am sharing this as a reminder of how important it is to do something different and take a risk on a new experience. Sure, we could have rented a car or booked a shuttle or rode a taxi and we would have been fine (all the Lyfts were cheaper than each of those options). But, I think we went into each ride waiting for the next adventure that awaited in the conversation with the next driver and not just looking out the window until we arrived at our destination. I challenge you to take a chance and do something different. Go on that adventure that you want to go on. When you go on that adventure and you find that you need a ride, catch a Lyft. It will be an “upLyfting” experience in ways you will not expect. Think. Achieve. Succeed. Jeff  #LoveMySchoolDay This week is the perfect week to share with the world the awesomeness of your school or district by showcasing the work being done each day because Wednesday is Love My School Day. If you are a teacher, share pictures and examples of the work you and your students do in the classroom each and every day. If you are an administrator or a campus staff member, share the greatness that you see in the different rooms and areas of the school you see on a daily basis. Why? In my school district (and I suspect in others) talk all the time about the narrative around schools. Often, that narrative is not positive because there are those that are wanting to bring public schools down or the press chooses to cover the negative issues instead of the positive issues. We cannot change the narrative if we, the educators, do not take action. The action that we can take is to share the positive that occurs each day in our classrooms and in our school. It really is that simple. When we share the greatness, we drown out the negativity around schools. Challenge Accepted! I challenge you this week, and specifically on Wednesday, to share something that you are proud of that you have done in your classroom this year. Retweet things that you see on twitter... search by using the #Lovemyschoolday hashtag. When we take a moment to focus on the positive we remember why we do what we do. Why wouldn't want to remember why you do what you do? When you remember the why behind what you do, you are more likely to create more moments and days that are memorable and less moments and days that are forgettable. Think. Achieve. Succeed. Jeff  |
Jeff MannA lifelong learner that is committed to asking questions to seek greater understandings. 
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November 2020
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