Today I am super grateful for summertime.
My day started at Starbucks with my friend Deanna. Then we did some yard work before lunch at the German Restaurant. After a really good nap, I read and relaxed some more and we just got back from an icy treat, shaved ice at SnoBeach. Summertime sure tastes good.
While I was with Deanna, she let me tell her all about my presentation at NAESP yesterday. Every detail. Like how I woke up at 4 am and shuttled from LA to Long Beach at 6 am and got to the Convention Center at 6:30 for my 9 am center. How I got it all set up and put a book on each of the tables as a door prize for the one brave soul who would volunteer . . .
for the uplifting balloon activity we'd be starting with.
I also told her how I was greeting guests in the hallway when a man stopped by to tell me that I'd have a better chance of filling the room if I had a better title for my session. In his defense, it was 20 minutes to start time and there was only one participant in the room so far. His advice caught me by surprise, because I thought my title was pretty good, albeit a little long in comparison to the others.
Empathy, Compassion & Kindness:
Success Skills That Will Change School Climate For Good.
It wasn't the length that he was referring to; his suggestion was that I choose my words more carefully, to draw more people in. He said words like grit, motivation, or mindset would be better. I'll be honest; it hurt my feelings a little bit.
As I was sharing that with Deanna, she wondered out loud,
But what you do is more about heartset than mindset, right?
That's it! YES. It's about the 4-Hs.
My session was about how
head (empathy),
heart (compassion),
hands (kindness) and
health (culture and climate).
Just like in the Pledge I learned when I was 9.
To a counselor, the heart piece is pretty important, for sure.
But mindset, grit, motivation and lots of inspiration
were definitely woven in. I promise!
It occurred to me while he was mentoring me that I could flip through my slides and show him that I love mindset and grit, that it's totally in there. At least three times, including the info on this slide from Sylvia Duckworth,
on this slide that I created,
and on this one from Andrea Stephan (click it for source).
But I didn't. I just listened, and thanked him. He asked me for a business card, and we ended up trading books. Do you know his book? It's definitely got mindset written all over it. Click the picture for a You Tube read-aloud.
I've thought a lot about what he said and I feel blessed that he would take the time to stop by and connect with me before the room started filling up.
And out of my processing and reflecting, I learned the word
heartset.
From Deanna. Because I have the summer off.
And the luxury of meeting my friends for coffee and conversation.
What did you do today that grew your heartset?
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