It Is Never Just About You

It Is Never Just About You dan skognes motivation blogger speaker teacher trainer coach educatorLet’s face it: We are born selfish. “MINE” is one of the first things you hear coming out of a kid’s mouth, and many of us seem to hang on to that mentality throughout our lives. The funny thing is how we judge others for being self-centered without really looking in the mirror. We all have that tendency…even me. OK…I said it!  LOL.

Selfishness is an inborn trait but does not have to define who we are. When I am teaching kids I constantly look for ways to get kids to help one another and share ideas and things. I teach them the power of serving. Yesterday I was tying a shoe for a kindergarten kid. Later in the day when I asked a kid to tie his shoes, he said he did not know how. A friend of his immediately knelt down and tied it for him. It was a very cool moment and reminded me to model what I expect.

Kids are like little sponges and they are continually soaking up information. Their little brains are going 90 miles an hour putting facts together and figuring out what this thing called life is all about. Here is one thing I know for sure about kids: if you tell them something it may have a punch, but if you model it for them it has lasting power. When you show them how to serve, give, and love one another it will transform them.

Isn’t that what we want as teachers? Don’t we want to transform kids into productive, healthy, and happy human beings? Of course we do. It starts with showing them…modeling for them how it is supposed to be. They may or may not get it at home, but at least I know they will get it in my class. Part of that process is being genuine and admitting when you make a mistake. That has great power as well. Let kids know when you mess up and if you offend someone, let them see you apologize for it. They WILL remember that lesson, trust me.

Next time you see someone being really selfish, you can correct them, but take time to look in the mirror and make sure you are not guilty of the thing you are correcting in others.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

2 Responses to “It Is Never Just About You”

  1. queendjh says:

    Great article and reminder to those of us who don’t have children. Thank you Dan