Your Board Of Directors

Today I'm grateful for gorgeous spring days as

I reflect on what really matters.

I came across this Jackie Robinson quote when I was working on my new author website. It's powerful, for sure, and I think it begs the question: How will I know if what I'm doing matters?

For me, it's about listening to my heart and enjoying that spark of contentment and joy that I feel when I'm able to be of service to someone or when something I've said or done resonates. I've always been a big believer in the old adage: The life we lead is the lesson we teach.

But it's also pretty easy to go down the rabbit hole of wondering:

Is what I'm doing really making a difference?

And then, as if by serendipity, a perfectly-timed affirmation like this one,

from Colleen, a teacher (and friend!) across the U.S., in Wisconsin:

The thoughtfulness of her words touched my heart

and imprinted the importance of our impact.

You could say I've been a mentor to her despite our distance;

we met a decade ago at a conference in Wisconsin,

then I got to stop by and visit her at school a few times,

and we even got to collaborate on a writing project

(that sadly no one ever got to see because it lost funding).

I really enjoy mentorship connections like the one I have with Colleen because they create such an amazing win-win; with every nugget of wisdom that I'm able to pass along to her, I feel like I'm equally energized when I get to Zoom with her class, stop in for real, or simply exchange an email now and again. Just knowing she's positively encouraging our future makes my heart happy and gives me hope!

I'm also fortunate to have some in-person mentorship collaborations as well; in fact, I'm off to one of those in just a few minutes. Again, it's someone whom I can totally learn from as well, who simply reached out to ask if I'd be willing to serve as a mentor, guide, friend to her for a season.

So on my walk today I was listening to a Betsy Pake podcast episode and I really connected with what she said about virtual mentors, how she'll select someone that she wants to know more about, follow them pretty steadily for a month, read what they've written, listen to what they have to say, really get to know them. Then, she puts them on her {virtual} Board of Directors, so that when she has a big decision to make, it's those people that she'll confer with, by pondering and asking herself, "What would Sarah think?" or "What would Jim say?"

Such a clever way to feel the heartbeat of those whom you admire

and honor their influence as you go about impacting others.

My Board of Directors includes Michele Borba, Tanya in Montana,

Trish and Julia in Wisconsin, Lisa in VA, Kim in CA, Dr. Jean in SC,

Teacher Toni in KY, my sister in WI, Carol in IL, Jenn here in TX,

Maria in MI, just to name of few of the women who guide me.

A friend of mine recently texted that asking himself,

"What would Barbara do?" helps guide his decisions.

How will we know that what we do matters?

Sigh.

There is always so much light, even down that rabbit hole;

we just need to look and listen for it.