For the New School Year my daughter who is in 6th Grade changed Schools to join the Accelerated Middle School (AMS) which is part of a High School (as my friends will say she must have got her brains from my wife).
The change of School has been an enormous adjustment for her, my wife and I, but especially for her. The 6th Graders being part of the High School are treated as such. They have Student ID Cards, change rooms for classes, have multiple teachers, and have a lot more HOMEWORK. There has been a lot of stress around homework (when is it too much?), her having to Navigate the school corridors, and getting to the next class on time.
Why do I bring this up? Because, we can all learn from this 11-year-old who started a new school, and did not know all the challenges she was going to face (and I like to brag about my children).
· Within a short time of being in this ‘foreign land’ she is excelling. She did not ever say I can’t do this
Business: Don’t be afraid to take a calculated ‘risk’
· She never looked backwards. (I have not heard her once say, “I should have stayed at my previous school.”) She is not focused on the past, and is looking on what needs to be accomplished now to excel
Business: Don’t harp on a lost deal, or what could have been.
· Has never said it’s too hard.
Business: Success takes hard work, dedication and time
· She set herself goals
Business: Set goals looking to achieve
· She understands even though you are excelling at ‘something’ it may not be a good fit
Business: Not all clients are a good fit. It’s alright to ‘fire’ a client.
· Shows maturity in her decisions – e.g. She wrote down the pros and cons of staying at the school or leaving, and weighted their importance.
Business: Don’t second guess yourself. When making a decision do your research
· She has shown she can handle extra responsibility
Business: Don’t be afraid to give your Team members ‘authority’ to make decisions. You hired them for a reason.
· Time Management/ Organization with homework, and having to be at school by 7:30am has been big adjustment. Having to be at School by 7:25am, she had to fine tune her rituals. We worked backwards and worked out how long each of her morning rituals took to get to the time she would need to set her alarm to start her routine. She now has taken the responsibility to get herself up each morning, and ready for school.
The first few weeks she was also not getting into bed before 10pm. She now uses a Color coordinated Academic Planner, and is better organizes with her time management. (there is still a lot work, but she is now getting to bed at a reasonable hour.)
Business: Have a schedule. Know what you would like to accomplish for the day, week, month etc. Make sure you know how long it will take to accomplish.
I have learnt many lessons from my children over the years (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/simple-reminder-from-my-daughter-ryan-joffe/; https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stop-screaming-take-step-back-ryan-joffe/) and I continue to be amazed, and proud of them.
Convince Yourself it’s possible, and keep moving forward.
Be Curious, Be Nicer and be Grateful
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