Accomplishment
Relationship
Transformation
outcome
framework
Partnership
Obstacles
Speaking
Stories
Innovation
Beliefs
Individual
Leadership
Invented
Tools
Yourself
A migratory “V” of words is expressed in the first chapters. Reading The Art of Possibility is an inspirational journey. It is an adult story of learning how to navigate change. I know that as I become older, I need to revisit my ways of thinking and points of view often. I am constantly adjusting my expectations on a variety of levels. My actions are based on “migratory” decisions and feelings that relate to each unique situation I find myself in. I am more careful about not making assumptions.
Many of the ideas in chapters 1-4 deal with perceptions, both seen and unseen. I have learned as an adult that I must work to take alternative perspectives into mind when I deal with difficult or unknown situations. This is important in dealing with students, parents, and my own children. I try to step into their shoes to make decisions and provide advice that suits the moment. This is not so easy to do, but it is an important part of building strong and trusting relationships.
The story you choose to share is the one people will judge you by. If you meet most conversations and interactions with others, with a smile and a positive response, a door is opened to further communication.
Giving an A to oneself and to others provides an opportunity for success. I have found that sometimes we need to have permission to succeed. It may be permission from our-selves, or permission from others. Why this is so, I don’t know, but I have seen it in action in many different scenarios. It is an approval measure, yes, on a scale of 1 - 10 perhaps. This measurement can stop us in our tracks or set us free.
The Art of Possibility conveys a message meant to compel one to embrace the “unknown” possibility in life and strive to make it known.
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| The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander |
Oh man, I couldn't agree more with your comment on trying to put yourself in others shoes. What a HARD thing to constantly do! You see how it affects you, but it's hard to look past that sometimes to really see where a student, or anyone for that matter, are coming from. For instance, i have a student (special ed self contained) who comes into my room and says how much he hates everybody and everything every single day. There is a point every week that I just get exhausted by his negativity and I can't even respond to him anymore. It's hard to constantly try to reach out to somehow who never reaches back. Every once in awhile though, I get through to him, and it makes all the time I've spent with him worth it. I love your V shape of words, what a great and creative idea!
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea that positivity is key in building relationships. Who wants to constantly be around someone who is always negative?
I know very well what you mean by approval ratings. As a geek since time immemorial (I'm almost a nerd, but I talk to too many people), I have always struggled with those that just think of the "simpler" things in life. I love your flock of words by the way. I usually raise my hand in work meetings (me being the only one that does so), so permissions, and my inability to follow the norms of a group are a constant reminder of being positive about myself and not let others views of me cloud my personal truth about myself (...too many mes in that sentence).
ReplyDeleteI think that as long as we discover ourselves, and understand our own "game", we don't really have to revisit our ways, as they will always be correct. I do understand about a "migratory" way of dealing with situations, but it seems to me that you mean by that word that you return eventually to old ways of thinking, as migratory refers to going somewhere to then coming back. I have never gone back in any of my ways of being, I always modify myself and go with it, winging it if I have to. To go back for me is to be defeated, to have my time wasted by those experiences I had after the change. Let's put it this way, if you went 15 years to your past and talked to yourself (and this you couldn't recognize you), what would you talk about? Would you like to talk to your younger self even? That's a key to self-analysis and about being a gift to everyone you meet...