Have you ever wanted to try something new but worried it was too… late? Too late to try a new path, or to learn a new skill that could take years to master – the feeling that it's not a good time for a new goal, a new project…
I think we've all have this fear before—that, while we'd love to try, the path would be too long. The blank page too intimidating.
In honor of Back to School season, I hope you'll consider what might be worth a new challenge—and what a first step might be.
You don't have to accomplish it all at once! (Just like a new student wouldn't take all their classes in one semester.) One step at a time, one page at a time…
Whatever we take on—whether we're successful or not—has benefits. The act of learning something new, trying something new, is good for our creativity and our resilience.
So if there's something you've been wanting to explore, consider what the first step might look like. Sketch out a first attempt.
(After all, it's a great time to buy new pencils…)
- Dr. Sarah Glova, Co-Editor of 8&21 and School Supply Enthusiast
The transition to starting
“The biggest challenge to moving forward on anything is the transition to working on it. It almost always represents a shift from doing something comfortable (a warm bath, sending simple emails, knocking straightforward tasks off a to-do list, completing transactional conversations) to doing something uncomfortable (a cold bath, starting that proposal, initiating that hard conversation, facing a blank page).
We tend to think that getting traction on our most important work requires that we be skilled and proficient at that work — but that’s not quite right. The real thing we need to be skilled and proficient in is moving through the moment before the work…
Which means that the skill we really need to develop — and it is a skill — is transitioning.”
- Pulled from, “How to Actually Start the Task You've Been Avoiding” by Peter Bregman in Harvard Business Review
Another chance to try
It still feels like summer here, but I did notice that some of the leaves are starting to change. Although it will be a while before sweater weather, the calendar says it is back to school time, which is a great opportunity to turn over a new leaf—whether you are in school or not. Because every day is another chance to learn something new.
When my children were younger, this was a common refrain:
“Every day is another chance.”
Another chance to start over…
Another chance to try…
Another chance to practice…
And I extend that notion of new chances to my classroom both for me and my students. Each year I select a motto or a theme that influences my teaching. This year, my teaching theme is “making space for creative thinking.” So, every day is another chance to flex those creative thinking skills.
Here’s to the change of the season and many new chances!
- Dr. Sarah Egan Warren, Co-Editor of 8&21 and Lifelong Student
School supplies for a cause
Love school supply shopping but don't need new pencils? Back-to-school splurge—for a cause:
Great job!
Way to take a pause and give 3 minutes to your practice of pursuing awesome
by exploring this issue's theme. You rock!
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to disrupt your status-quo with an encouraging reset.