Though I am not a school teacher or college professor, I have a goal to teach an introductory college business course. Why college level? The student or a benefactor is paying for their opportunity to obtain an advanced education. They are here because they want to be here.
The second reason for teaching college level students is that for most of them this is a time of seeking, searching and being open to new things and thinking outside the box. Many students are searching for the answer to, "How do I succeed, whatever the field of study?"
The college environment exposes students to new surroundings, influences and circumstances. In their new setting, concepts, values and even thinking processes are challenged. It may be during the college years students learn a person can think and grow rich; that the mind, once stretched like a rubber band never returns to its original shape; a person’s attitude controls their actions, and by identifying a desired effect and working back to identify the causes that created that effect, the student can take action to get the same effect.
As students file into their first class, I give each one a handout that has printed on it seven quotes. These quotes set the tone for the upcoming semester.
• “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by alerting their attitudes of mind.” —William James
• “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” —William Shakespeare
• “To every person there comes that moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder to do a very special thing unique to him. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared for the work that would be his finest hour.” —Winston Churchill
• "Try not to become a man of success, but rather to become a man of value. He is considered successful in our day who gets more out of life than he puts in. But a man of value will give more than he receives."— Albert Einstein
• “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chose field of endeavor.” —Vincent T. Lombardi
• "The key to happiness is having dreams. The key to success is making your dreams come true."
— Anonymous
• “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.” — Abraham Lincoln
After introducing myself and welcoming the students, I start the class by answering one of their big concerns: How do I get a good grade in this class?
I have an unusual grading system; every student begins the class with a score of 100 points—an "A". It is up to the student to maintain that grade by scoring high on tests, turning in well-written papers and on-target class participation.
If the first class was the only class of the course, they would all leave with their "A." But, for all the students I saw taking notes, I would add 10 points, giving them an A+. The reason: "A small pencil is better than a long memory." That is the first great lesson of this class.
Next, while I had their attention, I make a homework assignment. Yes, 15 minutes into the first class I hear a collective groan. Remember, no one said life is fair or easy. The assignment is to bring to the next class a list containing two of your personal strengths and one personal weakness. The only guideline is that students must be honest with themselves. I would offer several examples of both traits. For strengths: achiever, competitor, passionate, caring. Weaknesses could include: procrastinator, unmotivated, non focused, uncommitted.
I give a preview of the lesson that will take place when we cover personal strength and weaknesses later in the course by stressing that It is strengths that you build on to achieve your goals and not improvement of weaknesses. The goal is to minimize weakness as you maximize and leverage your strengths.
Moving on, I cover the importance of time management and stress that the best time to start on their present homework assignment is as soon after class as possible. Begin now to purge procrastination from your vocabulary.
I spend time on high level planning including goal setting, developing priorities, and the importance of focusing. I explain that in future classes we will be drilling down to the finer points in personal planning and the ways to achieve their goals. The path they take may not be my path. We can take different paths to the goal, but we must reach the goal.
Planning should result in focused actions. We evaluate the potential or payoff and rate the action by asking ourselves, “Is this the best use of my time?” “What is the payoff of this action?" "Does it bring me closer to achieving my goal?” If you determine the action has low payoff, eliminate it from consideration and choose another course of action. Be judicious of your time; don’t waste valuable time on actions with limited payoff. You have three capital assets: Attitude, Knowledge and Time.
I assure them that when setting goals they must determine what they will give in exchange for the achieving the goal. These are the specific actions needed to achieve the goal. Here is where you test desire. Are you willing to do what is needed to achieve the goal?
Someone has said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Without a destination and a plan for getting there, you will end up somewhere, but probably not where you want to be. My goal for each student is that they get to where they want to go.
Before the first class ends, I hope to see the light come on for many of the students as they discover that this class is about stretching oneself, always pushing the envelope. Robert Browning expressed the underlining motivational essence of the class when he wrote, "A man's reach should exceed his grasp."
The last minutes of the class, I focus on values and how they drive our actions. Our attitudes and behaviors flow out of our values. Therefore, core values determine who and what we will be. It is a certainty, we reap what we sow. The Law of Cause and Effect is still a law. Therefore, values drive what we do and what we do is what we become.
As the first class ends, I stress that while focusing on achieving your goals, don't miss opportunities that spring up unannounced. These opportunities often appear disguised as problems or potholes on your road to success. Before deciding to alter or change your course vet any new opportunity using your propose as the guideline. Ask, "Will this action bring me closer to achieving my purpose? Success—however you define it— is living your true purpose. Never forget that your purpose is why you are here.
For a typical 19 year old freshman, he or she has another 56 years or 20,440 days to live. Ask any senior citizen and they will say those years fly by. Many people including students in this introductory class will reach their 75th birthday and regret that they had not early in life discovered who they really are and spent more time following their heart and dream.
Here is timely exercise. Take your age and subtract it from 75. The difference is the time you have remaining. Enjoy the remaining years by enjoying every day, every moment of time. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The time is always right to do what is right."
My final words to the class, are, "Let go and grow. Enjoy the moment. Grades, while important, are not the "why?" you are here. When you find the answer to your "why?", you will find what you truly want from life—what you truly want to become."
SUCCESS THOUGHT: Believe in the learning process, not just the curriculum. Success—a degree, position, power, responsibility—is the result of a developmental process that includes: goal setting, defining priorities, focusing on strengths, time management, maintaining a positive attitude, commitment to values and a commitment to execution. The process helps mold, execution is what creates the success.
SUCCESS QUOTE: "Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right." —Henry Ford
SUCCESS ACTION: Add these words and phrases to your "working" vocabulary: Carpe Deim, Commitment, Effectiveness, Enthusiasm, Execution, Excellence, Integrity, Passion, Positive Attitude, Priorities, Purpose, "My pleasure", "How can I help?" "Thank You!
The college environment exposes students to new surroundings, influences and circumstances. In their new setting, concepts, values and even thinking processes are challenged. It may be during the college years students learn a person can think and grow rich; that the mind, once stretched like a rubber band never returns to its original shape; a person’s attitude controls their actions, and by identifying a desired effect and working back to identify the causes that created that effect, the student can take action to get the same effect.
As students file into their first class, I give each one a handout that has printed on it seven quotes. These quotes set the tone for the upcoming semester.
• “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by alerting their attitudes of mind.” —William James
• “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” —William Shakespeare
• “To every person there comes that moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder to do a very special thing unique to him. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared for the work that would be his finest hour.” —Winston Churchill
• "Try not to become a man of success, but rather to become a man of value. He is considered successful in our day who gets more out of life than he puts in. But a man of value will give more than he receives."— Albert Einstein
• “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chose field of endeavor.” —Vincent T. Lombardi
• "The key to happiness is having dreams. The key to success is making your dreams come true."
— Anonymous
• “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.” — Abraham Lincoln
After introducing myself and welcoming the students, I start the class by answering one of their big concerns: How do I get a good grade in this class?
I have an unusual grading system; every student begins the class with a score of 100 points—an "A". It is up to the student to maintain that grade by scoring high on tests, turning in well-written papers and on-target class participation.
If the first class was the only class of the course, they would all leave with their "A." But, for all the students I saw taking notes, I would add 10 points, giving them an A+. The reason: "A small pencil is better than a long memory." That is the first great lesson of this class.
Next, while I had their attention, I make a homework assignment. Yes, 15 minutes into the first class I hear a collective groan. Remember, no one said life is fair or easy. The assignment is to bring to the next class a list containing two of your personal strengths and one personal weakness. The only guideline is that students must be honest with themselves. I would offer several examples of both traits. For strengths: achiever, competitor, passionate, caring. Weaknesses could include: procrastinator, unmotivated, non focused, uncommitted.
I give a preview of the lesson that will take place when we cover personal strength and weaknesses later in the course by stressing that It is strengths that you build on to achieve your goals and not improvement of weaknesses. The goal is to minimize weakness as you maximize and leverage your strengths.
Moving on, I cover the importance of time management and stress that the best time to start on their present homework assignment is as soon after class as possible. Begin now to purge procrastination from your vocabulary.
I spend time on high level planning including goal setting, developing priorities, and the importance of focusing. I explain that in future classes we will be drilling down to the finer points in personal planning and the ways to achieve their goals. The path they take may not be my path. We can take different paths to the goal, but we must reach the goal.
Planning should result in focused actions. We evaluate the potential or payoff and rate the action by asking ourselves, “Is this the best use of my time?” “What is the payoff of this action?" "Does it bring me closer to achieving my goal?” If you determine the action has low payoff, eliminate it from consideration and choose another course of action. Be judicious of your time; don’t waste valuable time on actions with limited payoff. You have three capital assets: Attitude, Knowledge and Time.
I assure them that when setting goals they must determine what they will give in exchange for the achieving the goal. These are the specific actions needed to achieve the goal. Here is where you test desire. Are you willing to do what is needed to achieve the goal?
Someone has said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Without a destination and a plan for getting there, you will end up somewhere, but probably not where you want to be. My goal for each student is that they get to where they want to go.
Before the first class ends, I hope to see the light come on for many of the students as they discover that this class is about stretching oneself, always pushing the envelope. Robert Browning expressed the underlining motivational essence of the class when he wrote, "A man's reach should exceed his grasp."
The last minutes of the class, I focus on values and how they drive our actions. Our attitudes and behaviors flow out of our values. Therefore, core values determine who and what we will be. It is a certainty, we reap what we sow. The Law of Cause and Effect is still a law. Therefore, values drive what we do and what we do is what we become.
As the first class ends, I stress that while focusing on achieving your goals, don't miss opportunities that spring up unannounced. These opportunities often appear disguised as problems or potholes on your road to success. Before deciding to alter or change your course vet any new opportunity using your propose as the guideline. Ask, "Will this action bring me closer to achieving my purpose? Success—however you define it— is living your true purpose. Never forget that your purpose is why you are here.
For a typical 19 year old freshman, he or she has another 56 years or 20,440 days to live. Ask any senior citizen and they will say those years fly by. Many people including students in this introductory class will reach their 75th birthday and regret that they had not early in life discovered who they really are and spent more time following their heart and dream.
Here is timely exercise. Take your age and subtract it from 75. The difference is the time you have remaining. Enjoy the remaining years by enjoying every day, every moment of time. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The time is always right to do what is right."
My final words to the class, are, "Let go and grow. Enjoy the moment. Grades, while important, are not the "why?" you are here. When you find the answer to your "why?", you will find what you truly want from life—what you truly want to become."
SUCCESS THOUGHT: Believe in the learning process, not just the curriculum. Success—a degree, position, power, responsibility—is the result of a developmental process that includes: goal setting, defining priorities, focusing on strengths, time management, maintaining a positive attitude, commitment to values and a commitment to execution. The process helps mold, execution is what creates the success.
SUCCESS QUOTE: "Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right." —Henry Ford
SUCCESS ACTION: Add these words and phrases to your "working" vocabulary: Carpe Deim, Commitment, Effectiveness, Enthusiasm, Execution, Excellence, Integrity, Passion, Positive Attitude, Priorities, Purpose, "My pleasure", "How can I help?" "Thank You!
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