I was working on a different column several days ago, when I received an update from Instagram from a renowned speaker who is an educator that I follow. I got to see him first hand as a keynote speaker at a national educator’s convention a few months ago. His name is George Couros and although I had never heard of him prior to attending his session, he was a very compelling speaker and his personal story was equally motivational too. The social media post had a quote attached to it, “Your attention needs to be on who you are becoming, rather than who you have been”, by Gary John Bishop. After seeing this, I decided I needed to write a new column and the old one will be finished at a later time. This quote made me think for a couple of days about those words and it took me on a trip through memory lane of my own life. When I began to think about the who I have been before, I can vividly see different versions of myself. My younger self was always focused on me and as youth always dictates many of the things I found to be important, were rather superficial as I look back today. I remember high school as an uncomfortable time due to the many things that a teenager goes through and feeling that I did not fit in. Interesting how this feeling is still alive and well today in the lives of youth, so I guess some things don’t change as much universally. My college self, was also very me oriented, however, it showed me a world that was so different outside of where I was born, along with many interesting people that came from a variety of backgrounds than mine. I learned to appreciate all of the differences that could exist in others and yet in this one educational institution, we could all be the same. When I started my career after college, it was all work and absorbing everything I could learn in order to be more competitive as I strived to enter into the world of leadership and my constant question to myself was, “how could I make this team even better?”. The answer to this has and always will be that I have to be better myself, in order for my team to want to follow me. Learning new philosophies about leadership and looking for capacity building opportunities are also never ending. Hence, here we are as I looked through some stages of my past self and still, I struggle with the answer to who am I becoming. Well, I can honestly say that I am still a work in progress, however, wisdom has allowed me to make more calculated decisions about the next version of myself. My priorities have definitely changed and what has impacted them have been my ability to see others around me grow and become better versions of themselves, that I aspire to further professional growth too. The fact that age shows us how important health and peace of mind are for instance can create a great source of personal joy with lasting benefits. Also, the enjoyment of simple things such as a get together with close friends that you haven’t seen in a while, while laughing so hard that you begin to run out of breath, are among my favorite past times in my world today. I will leave you with this open-ended question, as you can mull over the answer that is best for you. In it, I hope you find not only some nostalgic memories of who you once were, in addition, I hope you too are finding that the most important things that matter in your life, you still can have an impact on. I am here to remind you that it is never too late to change, have a different perspective and most importantly find everyday joy when striving to live a purposeful life. You are the captain of your own ship and you can determine when to set new sails for a different direction, if you find that it is needed. Keep challenging yourself to be that better version of you, while giving yourself some grace for any shortcomings that existed in your past. None of us are perfect, so we all continue to make mistakes periodically. The key now is to make sure the same mistakes are not repeated and that you continue your due diligence in carving out the path you want to travel, while paying no mind to anyone who disagrees with your plans. Ultimately, we are responsible for our life’s choices and how we proceed as a result, is for us to contend with. I wish you much success as you peel the next layer of who you are becoming and may it bring you much fulfillment in knowing that it will be a great next version of you.
