Testing Your Limits

In Are You Reaching Your Full Capacity? from @DavidGeurin Blog, David Geurin asks,

“What are some ways you want to test your limits? What are some ways you need to test your limits?”

When I was a child, I was scared of everything! I liked to sit at home and read books because I felt safe.

When my father drove over bridges going into New York City, I remember sitting on the floor of the back seat, praying that the bridge didn’t collapse.

When I was falling asleep, I worried that someone would break in the house and stab me to death while I slept.

When my parents argued, I worried that they would divorce like some of my friend’s parents.

When my friends wanted to do something that I didn’t want to do, I did it anyway because I was afraid that I would lose their friendship.

As I got older, my husband wanted to travel, and he doesn’t’ like to make reservations.

I worried about getting to a place and not finding any place to stay. I worried about our vehicle having mechanical issues. I worried about my elderly parents getting sick while we were out of town. I worried that our house would have problems while we were gone. I worried that someone would break into our house while we were gone. And on and on and on went my worries!

Then I found out that it helps to share my worries with someone. When I started to share my worries with my husband, he helped me see the “worst thing that could happen” and help me thing of ways we would deal with it. The more we did that, the easier it was to go on a trip.

I started to share with him other worries about things I wanted to do and was afraid to try. Again, he helped me see the worst-case scenario and I realized that the only obstacle in my way was myself.

So, I started to try new things and ended up gaining confidence. Every year I look for something new that I want to learn. Not all of the things I’ve tried were things I wanted to continue but some of them have become new hobbies. I have really enjoyed testing my limits and seeing what I’m capable of doing.

It is this whole process that had me realize that I need to help my students do the same thing. I need to help them voice their fears and look at the worst-case scenario. I need to help them see that usually they are their worst enemy.

How do you help your students test their limits appropriately? Please share.

Photo by Markos Mant on Unsplash

Self-Motivation

In 90% of coaching is self-coaching from Seth Godin's Blog , Seth Godin shares,

“Sooner or later, all motivation is self motivation. And the challenge and opportunity is in finding the external forces that will soon become internal ones.

When we are teaching our students, we are always trying to find ways to motivate them. We want them to want to learn. We want them to enjoy learning. We want them to get good grades. We want them to succeed. Yet, it is like that old saying about how you can bring a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

If we can just give our students a little taste of success, hopefully, it will plant a seed of hope. Having hope is a scary thing because it is so easy and quick to lose hope.

I hope that as I can help each student achieve a little success, it will lead to more success and eventually big successes. Sure, there will be obstacles and possible failures but if there are enough successes, the obstacles and failures won’t stop my student from continuing the quest for success.

There will always be mountains and valleys in our lives and it is always harder to climb a mountain than to roll down a mountain. It takes more effort and even some blood, sweat, and tears, but the outstanding views are usually worth it.

I can’t teach self-motivation and I don’t believe that a parent can teach it either. It has to come from within. A student has to want something bad enough that he is willing to risk everything to get what he wants.

Once I can find out what will motivate a student to try, it will take self-motivation for him to keep trying. It is my job to plant those seeds of hope, keep them watered, and to nurture them.

How do you feel about self-motivation? Please share.

Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash

Monthly Review of Goals from November 2018

My weight continues to be a challenge. We went on a 2 week cruise this month and my weight shot up. This gets very discouraging. I have worked very hard this month on writing a book so I have been productive with my writing but my exercise has gone to the wayside during this process.

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1.     Lose 10 lbs. – I’m up 2 lbs. since January but I’ve lost 3 lbs. this month so I’m hoping this is going to be a good downward trend for me.

2.     Knit 12 squares on my national park blanket. – 13 (Completed!)

3.     Knit a sweater. – Finished with the Havannah sweater and I’m happy with how it turned out.

4.     Create 24 scrapbook pages. –Total: 42 (Completed!)

5.     Read 12 nonfiction books. (Without this goal, I’m not sure I would ever read any nonfiction books.)  

a.     The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo

b.     The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking

c.     In the Great Green Room: The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown by Amy Gary

d.     The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by David John and Lee Hyeon-seo

e.     Flat Broke with Two Goats: A Memoir of Appalachia by Jennifer McGaha

f.      Lagom: Not Too Little, Not Too Much, Just Right: The Swedish Guide to Creating Balance in Your Life by Niki Brantmark

g.     The Joy of Hygge: How to Bring Everyday Pleasure and Danish Coziness into Your Life Kindle Edition by Jonny Jackson

h.     Idiot’s guide: Zen Doodling by David Williams

i.      Life After Darkness by Michelle Knight

j.      A Stolen Life by Jacey Dugard

k.     Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon Self-Control, and My Other Experiments in Everyday Life by Rubin, Gretchen

l.      I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

m.   The Invisible Girls by Sarah Thebarge

n.     Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

o.     Secrets of the Secret Service by Gary J. Byrne

p.     The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu

6.     Bible Journaling (weekly) – Total: 32  out of 48 so far

7.     Learn something new. – Envelope Art (Completed!)

8.     Get rid of 200 things this year that I don’t need and is cluttering up my house. –Total: 365 (Completed!)

What are your goals for this year? Please share.

 Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash