A Little Self Competition.
I may have mentioned before that I am a bit of a nerd. Or, maybe you can just tell. Who knows? Anyway, one of the things I enjoy doing from time to time is watching Ted Youth videos.
In doing so this weekend, I came across a young man talking about his quest for brilliantly white teeth. He developed a process that he thought would help him achieve his goal. He started with a commitment to brushing twice a day and employing a routine for which he developed a mantra which was left, right, fronts, and backs.
One morning, he woke up and went to his sink. He completed his routine and looked at himself in the mirror. To his horror, his teeth appeared “unevenly yellow” in spite of his previous successes utilizing his routine.
That evening as he approached his sink and mirror again he paid close attention to his process. He realized that his teeth appeared yellow around his canines as they were at a trickier angle than his other teeth. So, he amended his previous plan of attack, which initially focused on what was easy or as he later dubbed it his strengths. His new plan also focused on what was more challenging for him or his weaknesses. The newly developed mantra was left, right, fronts, backs, and canines.
After employing the new process, the young Aaron Wang noticed that within two weeks his teeth were no longer unevenly yellow. In fact, they had achieved the brilliant white he sought after.
Aaron credited his success to self competition. He claims that through competition with himself, he was able to establish a goal to strive toward and develop a process by which to achieve that goal. Additionally, his desire to achieve his goal also inspired him to reflect and make necessary adjustments in order to achieve his desired ends.
As we are nearing the end of the first semester, we are about to have a natural place to pause and reflect on our progress in our classrooms and with our students. In our reflection, we have the opportunity to question where we are in our own growth goals for the year. We have the opportunity to compete within ourselves to continue to grow in our craft. We get to amend plans and account for newly identified areas of weakness and how to approach them. We get to prepare to start over but from a more informed position.
So, as we approach semester finals and mid-year benchmarks, be open to what the data reveals and be prepared to make a plan to address what you learn. Because as Bill Bradley once said, “Becoming number one is easier than remaining number one.” Or, in other words, striving for excellence is an ongoing process of refinement.