You are the author of your own life: April 2014

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

APRIL 29: Tuesday. I benefit from writing what my thoughts are. GOOD BYE, Phone calls. HELLO, letter writing

I wrote this letter to Jason and it captures the things that I celebrate today and it documents why I support Will Sutherland as a good housemaster.

JASON,

I spoke with Will about the need for writing.

Writing organizes the brain.

We can hold perhaps three ideas at the same time in our head while we are talking.

By writing, we can places those three ideas on paper, then go get three more ideas, and then we can put those three new ideas on paper. Now we have six ideas that can interact with each other. We have time and space to analyze our thoughts.

If we talk through a problem or situation, we have at most three possible ideas that we can work with (most of use). that’s why writing is so helpful.. We can put the ideas on paper. we can capture the idea. and then use our power (even days later) to see something that we can’t see in the moment.

This is one reason why it is helpful to have several people looking at our thoughts. More people, more experience, more help. Three heads are better than one.

(There is often wisdom in the daily expressions that grandmothers tell us).

I have told students about the Robert Burns couplet:

What a gift He would gie us

To see ourselves as others see us.

gie is a short form of “GIVE”.

What a gift it would be if we could see ourselves as others see us.

This does not mean “listen to every criticism that people make.” It means that sometimes God or some great power is talking through other people to reach us.

I’m writing to you these ideas because today’s journal entry for me is about stock photos. People can donate photos to STOCK FREE IMAGES and share the photos with other people.

http://theindependenteducator.blogspot.com/2014/04/free-images-stockfreeimagescom-another.html

The other reason I’m writing to you is to remind you of the power you have (and every young person has) with sharing time on Facebook and on skype.

There are four billion people on the planet who want to speak with the American accent. They want to practice speaking English. If you walked into a language school in France or in India, and said, “I’m here to volunteer two hours a week to help a local person with their accent,” you would be embraced by most language schools. You could meet dozens of people who would want you to help them with their accents. This is a program that I’ve encouraged in Fort Lauderdale to introduce U.S. teenagers to people from other countries.

U S people generally are monolingual — we will never get fluent in another language. However, by being generous with our time, we can help people improve how they pronounce words and how they can avoid false friends (in french, faux amis).

for example, in French you can use the word http://tinyurl.com/falsefriends2000

French faux ami	English translation	English look-alike	French translation of look-alike
actuel	current, present	*actual*	réel, exact
actuellement	currently, at the moment	*actually*	en fait
agenda	diary	*agenda*	ordre du jour (de réunion)
allure	pace, speed; appearance; style	*allure*	attrait, charme
assister à	to be present at, attend	*assist*	aider
attendre	to wait (for)	*attend*	assister à
avertissement	warning

Jason, I encourage you to get into the minds of other people. That’s what Will and your mother and others want you to hear. ZIG ZIGLAR says “You can get whatever you want in life if you HELP enough people get what they want."

Your aunt has an expression: We are here to serve each other.

“Our schools continue to work…”

davit sent this video to us.

Why don’t you write to him: davit.vanyan95@mail.ru

You can deliver what I cannot deliver: the US accent from a young voice. You are under 30 years old, so that makes you interesting to people like Davit in Armenia and Esraa in Alexandria Egypt.

People in Armenia have a history of sadness and your email messages, sent twice a week to answer Davit’s questions and to spend perhaps ten minutes a week on SKYPE with a stranger, that would be a good use of your time on skype.

SKYPE AND TELEPHONE AND FACEBOOK>….

I’d like to take a moment to explain my theory about how I became an adult. I was a self-centered kid, 15 years old, when I met Will Sutherland. I was enjoying Gilligan’s Island tv every day and Laugh-in on a weekly television schedule. I walked home from school in Honolulu. I had a comfortable childhood. I didn’t have to learn how to survive under difficult situations.

Then I went to a boarding school in Switzerland. I learned from people who cared about me.

AT SCHOOL I was isolated from my family for 16 weeks. I could go home for a month in December, April and July. The rest of the time I was in a boarding school where I had limited pocket money (so i couldn’t eat in restaurants with friends). I spent fifteen minutes every morning thinking about the words selected by a teacher .. we called it “Morning Meditation” and it was a highlight of my dray. I learned some lovely ideas and heard quotations that I still use in my life.

I never let schooling get in the way of my education.

Whatever is true, pure, lovely, honest, just and of good report, think about those things. Philippians in the Bible.

What could we learn if we flipped around one of our traditions? Usually we receive gifts on our birthday. what would be different if we GAVE gifts to people who mean something to us on our birthday? This would mean that we would receive gifts throughout the year from people who are having birthdays.

Do you see the power of a morning “thought for the day”? This is why I am asking you to carry a camera and to record anything that Will Sutherland says. Someday he will retire or he will die. Both of those events will take place. Until then you are the only person who has the equipment and the mission to capture the words of a great house mater. Will Sutherland has the ability to use tools from his 20 years of house mastering and his lifetime of thinking about the Betty Sutherland School of Raising Young People… and he does not have a set of recommendations or a collection of his stories.

http://tinyurl.com/falsefriends2000

Will Sutherland has an ebook:

I hope you will take time to read this book.

Will Sutherland paid you the highest compliment that I know … and please remember that I once applied to get into his house and he refused to take me. He would like to keep you on after your visit ends at the end of April. You will have been there three months and the local authorities will want you to move on, but Will is thinking about how to make you a student and so that will qualify you for a student visa or some sort of arrangement.

Selling Sweets

That is a great honor, Jason, and you are receiving guidance that millions of young people who lack direction need. Will Sutherland has guided hundreds of people with his suggestions, helping them find new careers. I hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to be a recorder of his voice. Will’s voice has a special urgency that says, “You better listen to this now or you might have to hear it again when the cosmos is less patient.” Will has the ability to deliver useful information (that parents try to deliver) in a way that young people can hear it — if you can’t “get it” from a parent or relative, then you will probably hear it and understand the advice when Will speaks it.

I would like to have more of Will’s stories on video. This is why I sent you to France … to capture the videos. Yes, I’d like you to have the same strong moral center, the same respect for my body that I have. I gained that respect while at Aiglon College. I could have descended on a path of pleasure, but I heard what John Corlette and other teachers told me about the body and the mind. I was given a mind to develop. My way of saying “thanks” to the Universe for letting me live here is to develop that mind. I try to put good, pure, honest, just and true things into my head. I try to put good things in my body. I avoid large amounts of alcohol and other drugs because I respect my body. My mind might be bored, but I don’t use my body to entertain my mind.

Our lives are what we make of them.

We are what we eat (and think, and hear)

What I say becomes my reality. I don’t use bad language because I don’t want to attract that energy of negativity and harshness to myself. That’s why I don’t listen to crap music (rap) which is harsh, but I focus on lyrics that have value.

Here is one reason why I’m a teacher:

Everybody's running, but half of them ain't looking

What's going on in the kitchen, but I don't know what's cookin'

They say I gotta learn, but nobody's here to teach me

If they can't understand it, how can they reach me

I guess they can't, I guess they won't

I guess they front, that's why I know my life is out of luck, fool

Coolio in those lyrics is saying that teachers don’t take time to listen to him.

I’ll be direct: Will Sutherland will die before I do. I want to use his voice to train teachers. I want to go into my library of quotes from Will to share his wisdom with students and parents who are looking for advice. instead of me telling “what I remember Will Sutherland said,” I want to give them what Will said.

Your mom asked me to take you on as a project. I agreed to invest myself in your development because of her. When I first met you, I thought, “I don’t know why I said yes to the mother.” There is so much of you that is sweet and nice and lovable, but there is so much that is annoying and disappointing. Let’s focus on your choice of using weed and tobacco and alcohol. If you continue to put those poisons in your body, you will alter what you were born with.

Your lack of precision in your language is “endearing” but worrisome. Lack of clarity in speech suggests a lack of clarity and focus in thought. I am very worried that you will forget to analyze every step of what led to the dog attack. I hope that by sharing these concerns with you openly and with Will Sutherland that you will be moved to write precisely what you did and chose not to do that led to the dog attack.

The ego is strong … that’s good! If a slippery ego can survive the criticisms of hundreds of people, it will endure. To make a change in an ego, strong measures are needed and I want to point out that you have passed an important stage. I feared that you were so committed to being a surfer dude that you would reject what Will Sutherland is proposing. I am no longer worried about you because Will has said that he would like to figure out how to keep you as an assistant for a few more months. Perhaps for another sailing or perhaps (if the authorities will allow) until the end of the summer.

I’m not sure precisely what is available in Will’s mind, and it depends if the marketing effort makes the boat project feasible and possible. But please remember this: Will Sutherland does not invest his time in “a lost cause.” You have hope for your development and Will sees that. You would be on an airplane back home if these words were not true.

Steve

AGAIN, please take time to serve:

(1) write to Davit in Armenia. Try to spend time on Facebook or skype with him to help him practice English. Give him guidance.

ESRAA

Esraa Abdalla <esraa.abdalla4@gmail.com>,

Davit Vanyan <davit.vanyan95@mail.ru>

DAVIT

(2) Carry a video camera when you can. Record moments around the harbor. The sounds of the city and nature are delightful. Those moments can be posted on youtube. If you don’t know how, then I’ll create a special channel called “St Malo by JASON” and there will be at least 200 views for every video you post. or that you send me and then I’ll post the videos.

(3) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE record Will’s voice when he is discussing your future and any time that he is talking. Some of those recordings will be helpful. There is a videographer, Jill Nobels, who went to the same school that Will worked at and I attended, and she wants video footage of “what takes place on the boat.” She’s making a documentary and she’ll be there June 17-21 approximately. GIVE HER THE FOOTAGE THAT CAN CAPTURE WHAT TAKES PLACE ON THAT BOAT. There is magic taking place in your head and you might not be aware of it.

(4) Do not call your friends. Do not chat with them on Facebook. Do not fritter your time away from being present. Imagine that it costs $5 a minute to make a phone call. Only if someone is in the hospital does a call arrive.

IMAGINE THAT You are in Switzerland with a great teacher. You turn to people around you. You can write to your mom, to me, to your friends, but you make it an EMAIL and you write at least THREE IDEAS and you use EXAMPLES. You can write STORIES with DETAILS, and specific things you see and hear and smell and feel. That’s how a mind gets reshaped. Isolate yourself from your previous world and make time (as I have right now ) to write what you are thinking. Then you will become a powerful and helpful person on this planet. People will start to pay attention to what you are saying because they can listen and read and analyze and re-read your words. What did you say six months ago? I don’t remember. NOT EXACTLY. But if you send an EMAIL message, someone can read it 20 years form now and become affected and inspired. Your life on this planet means something when you put your words on paper or in an email message...

IF YOU INSIST that you don’t want to learn how to ten-finger type, then you can handwrite your ideas and take a photo and I will transcribe what I see. That is your choice. but I am VERY inspired by the power of writing to reshape a mind. The brain actually build connections (synapses) when vocabulary is shaped and refined.

the process that Will uses is old fashioned and worked in the 1970s. “Modern techniques” have taken away from the values of the old ways. It is time to record and keep the methods that Will uses so that new teachers can see the value in using Rudyard Kipling quotes.

creating difficult chores for the body so that the mind can be captured.

making the body tired so that the mind can be reorganized.

learning our limits

planned hardships

delayed gratifications

learning to be comfortable with discomfort.

These lessons are taught to students by parents but sometimes parents need to hire someone like Will to educate their children. That worked for me and I hope you agree that it is working for you. Let’s both celebrate this method by recording what Will says and how he guides you so that you can document the method for other young people to follow. “Here are recordings of Will Sutherland that can be used by any young person.” that would be a powerful youtube channel. And YOU could be the person who delivers these lessons from Will.

If you are worried about your privacy, we can edit out your name and your particular details so that you don’t have to be embarrassed. I am happy to share with people the facts that I almost committed suicide, that I was depressed and that I was a lazy fellow who just enjoyed reading comic books and watching TV. I turned into a person who now spends most of my time listening to other people’s problems. It is a beautiful life when I serve others. I am here to serve others.

Zig Ziglar says “You can get anything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want.”

So please please please make lots of short videos. Record the town and record Will Sutherland…..

THIS MESSAGE IS SPONSORED BY VIRALCLOTHES.net

ViralClothes.net has a Facebook set up and you can do with it what you want.

https://www.facebook.com/ViralClothes but listen to Will. that project can wait for your mind to become stronger, focused and open to service.

Steve

I’m posting the PUBLIC portions of this email on my journal. These are my journal thoughts today.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

APRIL 26: Live simply so that others can thrive (Arianna Huffington's presentation)

I wnat you to
redefine success

This is an extract from Arrianna Huffington's book... she did an excellent TED talk about "SLEEP"

Here is the link... you can hear her voice

CLICK ON LISTEN under the photo

Click to Listen

My big idea is a very, very small idea that can unlock billions of big ideas that are at the moment dormant inside us. And my little idea that will do that is sleep.

0:27(Laughter)

0:29(Applause)

0:33This is a room of type-A women. This is a room of sleep-deprived women. And I learned the hard way,the value of sleep. Two-and-a-half years ago, I fainted from exhaustion. I hit my head on my desk. I broke my cheekbone, I got five stitches on my right eye. And I began the journey of rediscovering the value of sleep. And in the course of that, I studied, I met with medical doctors, scientists, and I'm here to tell you that the way to a more productive, more inspired, more joyful life is getting enough sleep.

1:17(Applause)

1:22And we women are going to lead the way in this new revolution, this new feminist issue. We are literally going to sleep our way to the top, literally.

1:32(Laughter)

1:34(Applause)

1:39Because unfortunately for men, sleep deprivation has become a virility symbol. I was recently having dinner with a guy who bragged that he had only gotten four hours sleep the night before. And I felt like saying to him -- but I didn't say it -- I felt like saying, "You know what? If you had gotten five, this dinner would have been a lot more interesting."

2:03(Laughter)

2:06There is now a kind of sleep deprivation one-upmanship. Especially here in Washington, if you try to make a breakfast date, and you say, "How about eight o'clock?" they're likely to tell you, "Eight o'clock is too late for me, but that's okay, I can get a game of tennis in and do a few conference calls and meet you at eight." And they think that means that they are so incredibly busy and productive, but the truth is they're not, because we, at the moment, have had brilliant leaders in business, in finance, in politics,making terrible decisions. So a high I.Q. does not mean that you're a good leader, because the essence of leadership is being able to see the iceberg before it hits the Titanic. And we've had far too many icebergs hitting our Titanics.

2:57In fact, I have a feeling that if Lehman Brothers was Lehman Brothers and Sisters, they might still be around. (Applause) While all the brothers were busy just being hyper-connected 24/7, maybe a sister would have noticed the iceberg, because she would have woken up from a seven-and-a-half- or eight-hour sleep and have been able to see the big picture.

3:24So as we are facing all the multiple crises in our world at the moment, what is good for us on a personal level, what's going to bring more joy, gratitude, effectiveness in our lives and be the best for our own careers is also what is best for the world. So I urge you to shut your eyes and discover the great ideasthat lie inside us, to shut your engines and discover the power of sleep.

3:57Thank you.

Sleep your way

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

A quote by Chuck Palahniuk has inspired one of my students...

“We all die. The goal isn't to live forever,

the goal is to create something that will.”

― Chuck Palahniuk, Diary
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2546.Chuck_Palahniuk

When I asked my students to suggest some quotes... when I asked them to give me a quote that they use to live with, a student named St. Justin Ortiz gave me this quote.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

This young fellow has turned his back, at least for now, on university. He's just not ready.

I heard that a fellow (19 years young) wanted to leave university...

On Apr 22, 2014, at 9:00 PM, David C. Lloyd wrote:

Good to hear from you Steve, below should be all that you need and if there's anything else just let me know.

Audio Script:

Hi, my name is David Lloyd and at the end of this year I will be leaving university to serve in the United States Coast Guard

What were you doing when it suddenly hit you that you could do something else besides university at this moment?

Since the start of college I had changed my major many times, according to what I couldn't do, what others thought I could do, what might help pay for school, and what I thought I might want to do

What helped you make the decision?

The thing that drove me to this ultimate decision was two fold, the first and most pressing was that economically I felt as if college was not a good path to be taking as secondly, I wasn't entirely sure of what I wanted to do and was just wasting precious time and resources maturing in a setting which may not have been right for me.

What did you read or see on TV that gave you the balls to be true to yourself?

What got the ball rolling was when payment for second quarter came rolling by and I just thought to myself, "my lord, I can't keep doing this"

How scary is it to be on a path that is not traditional?

Although it may feel scary at first, Im the type of person that enjoys having a plan laid out for me and now that I know what Im doing and where im going, for a few years at least, it puts me at ease.

Cheers,

David Lloyd

E-1 DEP USCG

That's what teachers of the future do... we get "near peers" to give a mini-lecture.

Here's what I wrote to David:

I love what you’ve written.

I took a gap year between high school and college and then, even at 19, I wasn’t sure. I did the same as you, changing focus, so at 20, after one year of college, I went to learn French in Provence. Oh, yes… many delays after that … I was 29 before I got my bachelor’s degree.

Thank you.

Would it be possible to give your email address to my students?

I will tell them “No more than one email per month, only one question per email.Steve McCrea

visualandactive@gmail.com

It is so cool to see USCG...

I encourage you, reader, to send me a letter addressed to David and I'll forward it to him.

22 April 2014: Be kind, anyway...

Here is the value of CHECKING THINGS OUT before distributing them. I was going to tell people about "Maria Teresa's poem," but then a web search found this information...

http://www.paradoxicalcommandments.com/index.html

http://www.dbooth.org/guat2000/small/teresa.htm

Here is the important part:

[Reportedly inscribed on the wall of Mother Teresa's children's home in Calcutta, and attributed to her. However, an article in the New York Times has since reported (March 8, 2002) that the original version of this poem was written by Kent M. Keith.]

By using "truthOrFiction" and other truth-detecting websites (like Snopes.com), we can become reliable, informed people.

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001

Comments: I like being contrary, so I'll be kind, anyway.

Monday, April 21, 2014

21 April 2014: I am the product of my decisions

I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. –Stephen Covey

I'm thinking of this statement because I carry in my heart the phrase by John Corlette: Our lives are what we make of them.

I hope my nephew hears these words. It took me much longer than his 20 years to get them in my head, but I had a bigger bank account and I could travel away from my mistakes and my lack of integrity.

Integrity = my word. I am one with my word. What you hear is what you will get.

I hope my nephew posts these words near his bed.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

When am I ever going to use Pythagoras? Why bother learning grammar? Why bother with spelling and using big words?

Here are some of the complaints that I've heard from students

1. Math is about flexibility. If you can switch around and see that 16 of 64 is the same as 2 of 8 (multiply top and bottom by 8 and see what happens), then you can divide $64 among 8 people.

2. Spelling is about Communication and GETTING INTO THE HEADS OF OTHER PEOPLE. If we present information in the way that people expect to receive the information, then we can transmit.

Here's what a professor writes:

Technology is a powerful tool that can make learning easier. Some would argue that it's powerful enough to make learning to spell unnecessary. After all, what are spell checkers for? Spell checkers are wonderful tools for the small mistakes that good spellers make and for common typographical errors such as typing "t e h" instead of "the." In the hands of the student with good language skills, the spell checker is a real timesaver. However, it can actually interfere with the learning process. The writer must rely on starting the word correctly and getting most letters right, and the spell checker will not correct when a misspelling is another legitimate word. Therefore, the student who spells "does" as "dose" will not see the red "correct me" line, and will continue to entrench the misspelling habit, and the reader will be confused. The more advanced the writing task, the more likely we'll need to use exactly the right word. When a college student writes "lessening" instead of "listening," that student has not learned to think about the relationship between the meaning and spelling of words. His writing is suffering for the lack, and perhaps his reading is as well. Spell checkers also can't be counted on for giving the right word even when they recognize an incorrect spelling. If a writer types "definantly" instead of definitely, Microsoft Word will suggest "defiantly." "Surpised" will yield "surpassed." The language learner will be more confused, not less. In other words, spell checkers give us reason to teach spelling and precise word usage *more* thoroughly, not less. ⁵

Good use, even mastery, of our complex language does not have to be a thing of the past or reserved for a few. By using the knowledge from years of research and experience and our ever-developing technological tools, we can teach each student to spell well and enable them to read and write fluently. We owe it to our students to give them the skills that are the tools to learning and communication throughout their education and their lives.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.spellingcity.com/importance-of-spelling.html

Some people think that spelling ludicrous as LUDACRIS is cool and we can try alternative spelling for other words. sea hau fahr that wil git u. See how far that will get you.

3. People naturally assume that you are educated when you use a large word properly. But be sure about what you talk about. That means double-checking.

And be prepared to be open-minded. That's another sign of being educated.

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.

Robert Frost

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/robertfros101423.html#kQLwOBjJT3DGWK2M.99

You can also be CLEAR if you don't use the word "stuff"

When you’re faced with a writing assignment, a good vocabulary is an indispensable (very important or necessary) tool. If you have several synonyms (words with similar meanings) in your repertoire (“toolbox”), you’ll be able to choose the best word for the job. Avoid vague words like “stuff” or “things” when you write. These words do not give the reader a good sense of your meaning. Also, use strong verbs that give the reader good information.

Here’s an example:

POOR: People do a lot of things.
BETTER: People perform a lot of tasks.

READ MORE

4. People like to be around people who appear smart. So study SNOPES.com and see how dumb ideas and unexamined information is passed along. See the word "FUNGIBLE" in gasoline boycotts.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/nogas.asp

5. Quoting experts makes you an expert (in the eyes of some people). Use that perception. They have not taken time to memorize important thoughts.

Look what Oprah Winfrey says about quotations:

A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand of a fool.

Joseph Roux

Brendan Francis

Isaac D'Israeli

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/quotation.html#6GBXi0MvABGsvzp8.99

I hope these reflections will inspire students to put time into learning things that are not "relevant to my life." Remember the points above.

1. Math is about Flexibility.
2. Spelling is about communication and getting into the shoes of the listener. Make your words easier to receive.
3. Bigger vocabulary expands your ability to think. People appreciate people who use large words correctly.

20 April 2014: What does it mean to be sensitive to others?

Exaggeration

Lack of data

Propaganda

Here are some observations by a person on a facebook page.

This person appears to agree that listening to others is a way to detract from your

This person wants to ignore the "naysayers" (who want to drag down excellence) and follow your self.

However, what did Robert Burns say?

What a gift He would gie us

to see ourselves as others see us.

what a gift it would be to see ourselves as others see us....

In other words, fear about the opinions of others can actually be good for shaping us. We can listen to the cosmos, to the feedback of others. It could be God speaking to us through the mouths of strangers and family.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Journal 17 April 2014 The words of Zig Ziglar could inspire Melvin to become the helpful, thoughtful person that his mother, aunt and grandmother sees inside him

Here's how I started my day. I saw a SKYPE post by Davit...

davit.vanyan95@mail.ru

The fellow from Armenia who wants to practice English... so I wrote to Melvin, the fellow who is studying to pass his GED (but he is currently learning how to find "his fire" and "initiative" by working with my friend Will at ELSLeaders.com)...

Melvin

People in the USA have many opportunities.

One of the opportunities is that we have the native accent that billions of people want.

The young student in Armenia, Davit, wants to practice English so that he can become a teacher of English in his village. He plans to return from university and help others expand their world.

I hope you will write to him at least once a week, perhaps even include him in your list of people to whom you send your journal entries.

We are each given many opportunities to serve other people. Perhaps it is especially hard to see how taking time to help someone will ever make your life better. I didn’t serve others when I was in my 20s. It was only when I became a teacher that I learned to find the “win win” ….

I heard the teachings of Zig Ziglar.

When I look over my life so far, I recall the words of Zig Ziglar blaring through a car's stereo system: "You gotta have goals" and "Everyone is a sales person. Columbus was a salesman. It's an admirable profession. Sales is what everyone does."

Thirty years later, Dan Pink came up with To Sell is Human.
Here are some quotes that are attributed to Zig Ziglar

You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.

Zig Ziglar

another version:

You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.

Zig Ziglar

Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.

Zig Ziglar

If God would have wanted us to live in a permissive society He would have given us Ten Suggestions and not Ten Commandments.

Zig Ziglar

It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.

Zig Ziglar

To get up by 6:30 am every day means we go to bed before 11 pm

(Very little game playing)

Serving others in the day will show our commitment to making the world a better place.

Your videos and photos will be exhibited by dozens of ways, seen by hundreds and thousands of people. Wes Green just needs something.

To follow through, we have to have the discipline to go to bed before 11 pm.

If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost.

Zig Ziglar

Every choice you make has an end result.

Zig Ziglar

Remember that failure is an event, not a person.

Zig Ziglar

It's not what you've got, it's what you use that makes a difference.

Zig Ziglar

COMMENT: You have an accent that is native to the USA. You speak like someone who understands English. You can help billions of people by putting videos on the web that include you reading from the newspaper.

Tell others about your experience in daily life, especially with things that they can see (Speak naturally, the way you would if you were talking with a friend) … Just make sure you show what you are talking about… point the camera at an object and talk about it....

Honesty and integrity are absolutely essential for success in life - all areas of life. The really good news is that anyone can develop both honesty and integrity.

Zig Ziglar

Integrity is that special state of mind …. “because I said I would.’ That’s integrity. The story of the young man and “keeping his word” is about integrity.

You cannot make the situations in life but you can make the attitudes to fit those situations.

Zig Ziglar

Little men with little minds and little imaginations go through life in little ruts, smugly resisting all changes which would jar their little worlds.

Zig Ziglar

COMMENT: Wes, Noel, Will and I are inviting you into our club. It is a club that we “suffered” through when we were in our teens. We were teenagers and we endured cold and wet, we spent hours walking in the rain and we did this for three years. We became stronger. Our little worlds were pushed to become bigger. It meant that we had to read more, to listen more and absorb more information. We did not have time for playing PONG and other video games. We didn’t have Facebook, action games and mobile phones to distract us.

So it is your choice. We hope you will accept the challenge of avoiding pleasure and building your mind. Let your little world become bigger.

Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.

Zig Ziglar

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The conclusion of today's journal entry is this:

(1) I'm doing what I expect my students to do. (a) record their thoughts and (b) comment about the thoughts.

(2) I'm reaching out to other people to ask them to help people like Davit (the guy in Armenia) and Esraa

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