It’s the beginning of a brand new year!  Can you believe it?  Before you know it, 365 days will pass again and we’ll be right back to this point.  Hopefully though, we won’t be the same.  I mean, what good would life be if we don’t grow and change, right?  We expect it of students but what about for ourselves?

Image courtesy of Rula Sibai at Unsplash.com

Gail Sheehy said it best when she noted that, “If we don’t change, we don’t grow.  If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”  What a pointed and truthful statement!  Growth requires change and we can’t really change unless we grow in the process.  Sounds like a classic scenario of “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?”

Dr. Myles Munroe asserts that there are three constants:  death, taxes and CHANGE!  In his book, The Principles and Benefits of Change, he explains that there are four types of changes:

1. Change that happens around us,
2. Change that happens to us,
3. Change that happens in us, and
4. Change that we make

How can we make positive change happen in 2015?  Jim Rohn, my virtual mentor, said that there are two catalysts for change: inspiration or desperation.  Whether we desire to make change happen in our instructional practices, in our classroom management or even in our leadership skills, we must choose to be motivated by inspiration.  Doing so will enable us to proactively pursue our purpose despite the odds.

We must first accept the fact that our circumstances were created by our choices.  Therefore, as we leave the harbor to push out into the deep of a brand new year, perhaps we can find wisdom in how some educators look back at the effects of their choices in order to embrace change each year.

Dr. Stacy Stubbs, former National Teacher of the Year of the Bahamas and founder of the Nassau School explains that she reviews all of the goals not accomplished that year.  “I devise a plan as to how to make them come into fruition the next year at an even faster rate.”

Sounds too simple?  Well, Lee Ann Forbes, a Writing Specialist and a successful classroom teacher in the Bahamas’ Department of Education concurs. She notes that she would “Think back and project forward” by asking herself, “Was the task fully or partially accomplished?”  From this point, she knows which goals must be revisited and revamped.

If you’re still not convinced, check out what Joan Knowles-Turnquest, another former National Teacher of the Year from the Bahamas says.  “I use reflective practice.  This allows me to reflect on what I did wrong and what worked.  It allows me to set the agenda for the new term and to engage in a process of continuous learning”.  Good stuff, huh?

Here are three important actions we can take away from what these educators have shared in order to become intentional about change:

• Reflect – Recall the steps you took, activities in which you engaged and the decisions you made. If you’ve kept a diary, this would be a good time to check it out to pry your memory.
• Review – Assess the impact of what happened. Ask yourself, “What worked well for me?  Why?  What must I do differently?”
• Revamp –Make adjustments where necessary. After all, if we keep doing what we have always done, we will keep getting what we’ve always gotten.  So, we must intentionally plan.

Putting these activities of reflecting, reviewing and revamping high on your agenda gets you on track for embracing change.   If you are serious about personal excellence, if you truly value growth and progress and if you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were meant to do more and to be more, then join me this year on a quest to be an active part of change rather than its victim.

Avoid living a year of regret by simply embracing change.  Change will come; why not make it work in your favor?

Leave a comment:  What change do you plan to “make happen” this year?