Be You.

Young people moving up in life are attracted to winners.  

The people at the top of any profession always grab the attention of those on the way up and they're the role models. They’re the inspiration. They show how you can be successful. They give you a template, an example of success. 

One of the greatest ways to learn is by mimicking.  

In fact, that's how we learn as children; that's how we learn most of what we learned to walk, talk, interact with others, what's right, what's wrong. We learned from mimicking others. Now, that's a fantastic way to learn as long as you don't go overboard. The important point is to realize that although you can learn from others—you can copy techniques, ideas, mannerisms, phrases, words, ideas, concepts, schedules, thinking, planning from others but you can never be them.  

You can only be you.  

You are totally unique in the history of the world. Only you were born where you were born, at the time you were born, to the parents you were born to, with or without the brothers and sisters you have, with or without the aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. in your extended family. Only you grew up in the school system you grew up with and had the teachers you had, the church you went to, the friends you had and the experiences you had.  

All of these things have a tremendous impact on forming you.  

It starts with genetics. Only you have that unique DNA combination of genetics that came from your parents. There could be 20 children in the family yet they will all have their distinct unique personalities and views of the world. There is no one who has ever lived who is exactly like you. So what does that mean?  

That means no one knows what your potential is.  

No one knows what you could be great at.  No one knows how you could impact the world. No one knows what your possibilities are.  There's no way of knowing what level of success you can have in life because there's never in the history of the world been anyone exactly like you. Your joy, your opportunity, your privilege as you live your life is to find out exactly what the answers are to all of those questions.

Go and live your life to the fullness. Be you and find out what that you really is.

Inspire or Be Forgotten

People hear the phrase, “There is good, better and best, and the good is the enemy of the best.” And it sounds sensible but they aren’t really sure how it relates to them.

Here’s an example: We all have had and probably will have many teachers, because it seems there is always something new we need to learn. Some people have had dozens and some hundreds of teachers over their lifetime.
Now here is the question: How many do you remember? How many stand out in your memory? How many INSPIRED you?

Bob the Teacher Jenkins in his book, Take Action, Revise Later, opens his introduction with the quote from William Ward that says,

“The mediocre teacher tells
The good teacher explains
The great teacher demonstrates
The great teacher inspires.”

Of the great ocean of teachers you’ve had in your life, how many do you really remember vividly? There’s a good chance they were the ones who INSPIRED you.

So here is the point. If you want to make a lasting impact on those you teach, don’t stop with just telling, explaining and demonstrating. Find ways to reach them on another level, the one that inspires them.

How to do that?
It relates to letting them see how this impacts their lives. Why this information is something they can use to elevate and improve their lives and to make a bigger and better impact in the world.

To be memorable, you must get them to see how they can USE this information to empower themselves to do the things they want to do. This is the real last step in training and educating, to show them how to USE the information in their own lives. Because only when you use the information does it come alive and benefit you. If you don’t do something with it you wasted your time learning it.

The real power and magic comes with seeing what you do after you have mastered it. The great and memorable teachers don’t just teach, they inspire people to go and DO things with the information.

They get them excited about the possiblilities. Want to be remembered as a teacher? Then inspire!