Welcome to the Wolff Learning Blog!
F- Find a Way
The #WolffWay
W- Work ethic
O- Off time
L- Lead with integrity
F- Find your passion
F- Find a way
F- Find a Way
Find ways to get the job done. Be resilient. This may require you to take healthy risks and get off the porch.
So far, we've talked about work ethic, off-time, leading and living with integrity, and finding our passion. All of these things culminate in finding a way to get the job done. With that said...
I haven't always gotten the job done. I've missed the mark. I've come up short more often than I'd like to admit. I've failed often. BUT, it wasn’t because I didn’t get back up after getting knocked down. It wasn’t because I was afraid to take a healthy risk. It sure wasn’t because I was afraid to get off the porch. Heck, I don’t even know where the house is, let alone the porch.
Finding a way to get the job done requires resilience. The idea of being resilient might be one of the most underused terms in mental health. We talk about it in the context of mental toughness, but not always in terms of being mentally healthy. Resilience is necessary to be both mentally tough and healthy. Challenges are presented to all of us, all the time. Ask yourself the following questions when you find yourself face-to-face with a challenge:
- What are you going to do about it?
- How are you going to respond?
- Are you going to take control of the situation, or let the situation control you?
- Are you going to control what you can control?
- How are you going to find a way around or through the obstacle?
- Are there smarter or better problem-solvers who can help?
As educators, leaders, and parents, we have to teach and inspire our students, teams, and children to get back up... to find a way. This may require working independently or with a team. Maybe it’s a combination of both (success!). This often means letting people fail and teaching them how to learn and grow from the experience.
Resilience is a skill. Teach it. Be open to learning it.
Finding a way may require thinking outside the box. It may require getting off the porch.
I have a saying: We can’t keep running into a wall and wonder why our head hurts. Stop running into the wall. Either think outside the box, or find someone who does. This does not mean we get reckless or irresponsible. It does mean looking for opportunities to take healthy risks. It does mean getting off the porch.
Work like hell to get the job done. If you don’t get it done, do three things with it:
- Know you gave it everything you had.
- Learn from it.
- Grow from it.
Take what you’ve learned and figure out how it can be applied to another situation. Find a way...
You got this.
