What We Do & Why It Matters

Be proactive

Begin with the end in mind

Put first things first …

Since the Wausau School District made the decision to implement “Leader in Me” – a program for building leadership and life skills – a substitute teacher will find age-appropriate versions of each of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits posted in virtually every classroom and throughout the halls of every school, kindergarten through twelfth grade. We see “Leader in Me” t-shirts on the backs of children throughout town. When teaching suffixes to elementary students, we can reference “sharpen” from Habit #7's “Sharpen the saw” and the kids have an instant reference.

When Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was published in 1989, I was at first intrigued but was soon turned off by the hype. Everyone was referencing this book! Yet the products and material have endured. Countless lives have been touched. Clearly, I needed to revisit my opinion.

Although last week’s post did not reference 7 Habits – I wasn’t thinking of the book or its author – it does fit pretty well with Habit #3, “Put first things first.” Then, even before I went in for this week’s subbing adventures, “Begin with the end in mind” had been rolling around in my head. Looking into it, I find that Covey invites his readers to envision what those who someday gather for our funeral might say about us. Hm. Except for a youthful wish to be considered wise, I have given more thought to what I will think of my life in my twilight years. In either instance, having a vision for one’s life is what Habit #2 is about – whether one is six or sixty-six.

Do you have a vision for your life?

I used to, way back when I was a teenager and young adult, but I stopped thinking about vision once Jay* was born and I had a piano and a house. (I recognize now that I surrendered it in favor of my then-husband’s vision.) Although I’ve accomplished a number of goals in the last dozen years, I hadn’t thought about vision. Maybe it’s time.

I recall in an episode of the original Star Trek series, “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” the Enterprise is caught in a battle between two powerful entities. The ship is placed in a super-speed loop from which they struggle to escape. Scotty, with his ever-quick responses, tells the captain that “at Warp 10, we’re going nowhere mighty fast.”

This may describe most of my adult life. Yours, too?

In Adam Leipzig’s TEDx talk about finding one’s life purpose, he speaks of the people he informally interviewed during his 25th college reunion. Distilling what was different about the happier ones, he asks listeners:

1. “Who you are;
2. What you do;
3. Who you do it for;
4. What do those people want and need; and
5. How they change as a result.”

He then points out that only two of the above are about ourselves. “Three of them are about other people.” Those happier people he spoke with were outward-facing. I found all of this interesting but what truly amazed me came toward the end of Leipzig’s talk. He said that when someone asks you what you do, after you’ve wondered about their motivation (or ignored it), just say your response to #5 above, about “how what you do changes the people you do it for.”

Wow.

I’m sure I don’t have this polished but here goes…

1. Who am I? Jayneann
2. What do I do? I teach, equipping and empowering people
3. Who do I do it for? School students, refugee women…
4. What do those people want and need? Someone to accompany them in their learning and who believes in them
5. How does what I do change people? They come to believe in themselves and their capacity to succeed.

Wow, again. I think this might have worked. The next time someone asks what I do, instead of saying, “Not much, I’m on medical leave” or some equally sad statement, I will say…

“I help people believe in themselves and their capacity to succeed.”


* not his real name