Tag Archives: Exam

1 in 9: Making Room For Change

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In our daily lives it is easy to lose sight of what our purpose is. We wake up, eat breakfast, go to school, go home, eat dinner, go to bed and do it all over again.  Day in and day out, our routine becomes a part of us, and sometimes the mundane work of repetition is what inhibits our ability to be creative or create  new things.

What if we changed our way of thinking and rather than woke up each day and wishing for the day to already be over, if we could live in the  moment for once? What would it look like if we took the time to learn new concepts and applied them in our daily lives?  What would our day be like if we took the time to enjoy our food and company and engulfed ourselves in meaningful conversations?  What if we didn’t wish for our day to end just as we awoke, but rather embraced what may come as far as challenges and struggles that help us to build our character and well-being as a problem solver and deep thinker.

This is what we call CHANGE.  Change is good and you go first.

When we started 1 in 9, we asked each of you to watch the TedTalk video on Minimalist.  After viewing the video, we asked all of you to start a journey on making small changes in your daily lives that would lead to the value of others and yourself.  Each week we encouraged you to take larger steps into making each week thoughtful and meaningful and most importantly mindful in what you do.  A habit only takes 21 days to for it to stick.

  1.  What activities stuck out to you the most and why?
  2.   What were you able to take away from the TedTalk Minimalist and 1 in 9 activity that you can continue to apply as a leader?

Answer the questions in the comment section below.  Respond to one other person for full credit.

Remember, live for the moment, not the memories and you will find happiness, value, and purpose in your life.

What is TRUE Happiness?

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What is True Happiness and How Do We Find It?

After watching the movie Trolls, there are some amazing leadership lessons that come from it, here are 3 from

3 SOFT SKILLS LESSONS FROM WATCHING “TROLLS”

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soft skills lessons from Trolls

 

 

 

 

 

“You have eat a Troll to be happy” – What?  What a silly concept!  Why would the Bergens believe such a thing?  Then it dawned on me the metaphor and parallel to our lives.  We all grew up with a lot of concept about happiness, such as

  • We need to make a lot of money to be happy
  • We need to be married to be happy
  • We need to own a house to be happy
  • We need to be promoted to be happy

How is that different from the Bergens in Trolls?  We may think their belief – “need to eat a troll to be happy” – is so ridiculously silly.   How can the young Bergens king believe completely that he will never be happy, given the Trolls all escaped?   Well, maybe our beliefs about happiness are also silly and fabricated.  Do we really need any of those things (house, money, promotion, spouse) to be happy?    I have learned, happiness does not depend on any people, circumstance, achievement, or thing.  The Trolls movie is teaching us the same wisdom in a fun and easy way to understand.  It’s brilliant!

Soft Skill lesson 1:   Self awareness

  • Do you know what your concepts of happiness at work and in life are?
  • Jot down 1 or 2 and then ask yourself – what if they are not true? What if you can be happy right now?

“I don’t sing, and I don’t relax. This is the way I am, and I like it. I also like a little silence.”  This is a quote from Branch who was the Troll that lost all his bright colors and was always worried about the attacks from Bergens.   Do we know people like that in our lives?  Those who are set in their ways? Does any of the following sound familiar?  Are you like this?

  • I am already 30, I don’t want to try that. That’s for “young” people
  • You can’t teach an old dog, new tricks
  • I don’t do that. It’s too …. (fill in the blank – hard, silly, time consuming, …)  It’s just not my thing
  • I am too old to ….. (fill in the blank)

As we get older, many of us, have a deep rooted belief that we cannot change any more.  That is absolutely NOT true! The only reason we won’t learn anymore is if we mentally stop ourselves from doing so and believing in these types of “limiting concepts” like the above.

Soft Skill Lesson 2 – Growth Mindset.  We can learn anything and everything until the day we die.   It’s important to surround ourselves with friends and colleagues with growth mindsets.   We can inspire them to learn more and they can inspire us to do the same.   Branch only was set in his way because of a sad event in his childhood.  He needed Poppy to convince him it’s okay to be who he really is again.

King Gristle:Do you really think I can be happy?
Poppy: Of course! It’s inside you! It’s inside of all of us! And I don’t think it. I feel it!

We are all born with the right and the power to be happy.  What an empowering concept!  It was inspiring to see Poppy’s self confidence as she convinced the King that he can be happy too, without eating any Trolls.  Poppy saved her entire race from centuries of persecution, because she was convinced she can do it.  Has she done it before? no.  Did she know how she was going to do it?  no.  Yet, she just knew it.

Soft Skills Lesson 3 – Self Confidence.   We often think confidence is something we have to earn, only after we achieved A, B, or C.  It’s the opposite.  Only when we choose to be confident, can we achieve the most amazing things that we would have never imagined. So choose to be confident in yourself!  You have the power to do it.  When you do, not only can you contribute more to this world, but you can also inspire others to do the same.  This is what Poppy did for King Gristle.

Taken from https://bemycareercoach.com/soft-skills/soft-skills-lessons-trolls.html

 

After watching Trolls, answer the following questions.

  1.  What does the song “True Colors” mean to you when it comes to leadership?
  2. What if we all walked around campus showing our true colors? What would it look like, feel like, sound like? What would that mean for our campus’ climate and culture?  How can we change or what can we do to fix this?
  3. What did the Bergens learn about happiness? How can we apply that to our own lives?
  4. What other leadership lessons or concepts were you able to learn about after viewing the movie?  Here is another link to some other sources about Happiness and the movie Trolls.

Method to the Madness

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As we head into the new year, it is important to spend time reflecting on ourselves as leaders and as a  council.  It is safe to say that without reflection, we can not begin to see where we are going or where we have come from. Reflection can be key to evaluating process, setting goals, fixing problems and finding solutions. More importantly it can be a great tool to evaluate ourselves more closely to be able to grow as great leaders.

Please answer the following questions and limit the writing to about 1-2 paragraphs for each question.  Always make sure to answer the WHY.

 

Part 1:  Please answer and type the following questions, print, and enclose in an envelope and seal. You will turn this in to me on Monday, January 11th.

We will read these and share the last week of school.

1.  Are you pleased with YOUR participation in the meetings and activities that the council and your class has hosted?

2.  What grade would you give YOURSELF for the first half of the year?

3.  What will YOU do to improve your COMMITMENT to the council?

4.  In what areas do you think OUR council needs to improve?

5.  What do you believe is OUR greatest accomplishment so far this year?

Part 2:  Please answer and type the following questions for Part 2 and 3 on the same page and turn into class by Monday, January 11th.

1.  What characteristics describe you as a leader?

2.  When people refer to you as a leader, what do you hope they are saying or thinking about you?

3.  I want others to consider me a leader because…?

4.  People who are considered leaders should be expected to…?

5.  My definition of a leader is…?

6.  My definition of leadership is…?

7.  My philosophy of leadership is…?

Part 3:  Please answer and type on the same page as part 2.  This is due by Monday, January 11th.

For the remainder of this school year…

1.  What is one personal goal you have?

2.  What is one academic goal you have?

3.  What is one council goal that you will initiate?