“The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.”    –Zig Ziglar

Individual behavior creates experiences for those around you.  How do people experience you?  When you think about those individuals who inspire you, how do you experience them?

As Zig Ziglar shares, the foundation stones of balancing success are simple.  Balanced success . . . balancing personal and professional . . . balancing individual and organizational . . . balancing family and work . . . it all requires discipline, dedication, and purpose.

Be honest.  It’s simple . . . speak and act in truth.  Don’t act to deceive or trick those with whom you interact.  Have impeccable character – know who you are and be true to yourself.  To be of the highest character you must first know who you want to be – then be discipline in living that life.  Live a life of integrity; be consistent and humble.

Have faith – and be willing, when asked, to share your faith.  Faith is essential to purpose; live a life of faith.  Love one another – and never be ashamed to love those whom you serve.  Be loyal . . . your character and integrity are at stake.

Look at this list . . . identify your strengths and weaknesses.  Look in the mirror and ask “who do I want to be?”  How do you want others to experience you? Now, lay the stones of your foundation.

“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”  -Bill Gates

One of our values is a passion for growth – the relentless pursuit of excellence.  This value is predicated on a foundation that good is never good enough.  Yes, we want to celebrate our successes – we want to share in our victories and growth.  We also want even better for the future.

We work with children.  Our children require personal attention, nurturing, and inspiration.  Success with a child today is merely a starting point.  Today’s success is the foundation for tomorrow’s growth – just as today’s failures are the foundation for tomorrow’s improvement.  We can never become complacent with success because we continue on our journey together.  We continue to persevere and strive for greater successes.

Just as failure isn’t the end, success isn’t the finish line.  Successes are merely victories along the way.  Each individual success or failure is a learning opportunity . . . each day is another opportunity to continue on our journey together.  Being discipline-driven, living our lives with purpose and meaning requires the focus and dedication to fight the seductive power of short term success and to commit to the journey.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”   –Henry Ford

Each school year is a process; it is a journey we begin together at convocation in August.  It is easy to come together.  Our school year is a marathon – we all start together in the shoot, waiting for the first day, eager for the students to arrive.  We are together; we are on the same page at the beginning of each year.

Keeping it together during the grind of a school year is progress.  The warm end to summer, the autumnal breeze, beautiful foliage, Ohio State football . . . we are able to progress together during the first part of the school year.  When the holiday season arrives it becomes more of a challenge; we sometime struggle to keep it together.

It is when we work together, when we learn from our failures and celebrate our triumphs, that we really accomplish success.  Joy and fulfillment aren’t individual emotions; it is the service and collaboration is true success.  Life is a team sport; let’s be exceptional together instead of being ordinary apart.

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”   – Henry David Thoreau

Our attention is fleeting.  Our world is cluttered with information, sights, sounds, and alerts.  We are easily distracted – from the ping, beep, and vibration of an iPhone to the ultra HD television monitor with Dolby surround sound.  Life is happening around us . . . what are we actually seeing.

Living a discipline-driven life is taking the time to focus on what is most important.  We look at everything; we are distracted by thousands of inputs throughout our day.  We must focus on what we want to see.  We must listen to what we need to hear.  We must feel the emotions we need to control and manage.  Create the time in your day – Press Pause – and get focused.

Building relationships is an investment; it is an investment of attention, care, and character in someone else.  You must see the individual you are talking to, hear their words, and understand their emotions to build the requisite foundation for trust.  Keep your eyes and ears open . . . truly hear and see the people in your life.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”   – Albert Einstein

Knowledge is limited.  It is important, but not most important.

Imagination is limitless.  The potential of imagination is the energy for the future.  Our imagination, our ability to dream, is what will create the future.

As educators we must impart knowledge for without it we don’t have foundation.  Our students wouldn’t have a place to start.  We must also know that what we impart – the knowledge – is only the beginning.  While we may know more than our children, our children are imagining a better future.

We must provide a strong, solid foundation for our youth.  There are non-negotiables for students in our classrooms.  We must also empower, encourage, and inspire the imaginations in our classrooms, for that is our future.

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” – Oscar Wilde

You know the people . . . the people that when they walk into a room everyone is happy to see them.  These people exude positive energy; they seemingly make every situation a little better.  They bring light to darkness . . . they empower others, create optimism, and inspire joy.

You also know the people that you can’t wait to leave the room.  The individuals, that you said out loud or in your head, “thank goodness” when they leave.  These people are energy vampires.  They exude negative energy.  In fact, it takes energy to even deal with them.  They try to pull you below the line.  They tempt your inner demons and stir impulsive behavior in you.

Who are you?  Honestly, when you enter a room how do people feel about you?  You can control how people feel about you.  You can control the energy, the aura, you provide to others.  You can control how people experience you.

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”  – Epictetus

So . . . the heuristic E+R=O isn’t an entirely new concept.  Epictetus, a Greek philosopher who lived AD 55-135, may have beaten Tim Kight to the punch.  Now I don’t have the Greek translation, but I bet it is something along the lines of “we can’t control the events in our lives, but how we respond to each event determines the outcome.”

Our work to live discipline-driven lives, our work to bring life skills as well as academic skills to young people, and our work to intentionally respond to events in our own lives isn’t new.  We are simply putting a process in place . . . we are engaging in a system . . . to help us be more successful.

Pressing pause, getting our minds right, stepping up, and the R-factor disciplines are merely a system to help us live what Epictetus knew . . . we need to be responsible for our actions.  We need to have discipline responses to what takes place in the world around us.

Our work isn’t new . . . we aren’t introducing new concepts.  In fact, we are making life easier by sharing common systems and vocabulary.  We are a team – we are singular culture in a complex world.  Our response to the complexity of the world around us will determine our success.

“It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes.”  -Thomas Aquinas

I love to laugh.  I reflect back on Mary Poppins and think about the tea party on the ceiling and the joyful song “I love to laugh.”  It puts a smile on my face and a tune in my heart.  http://youtu.be/pOMqqI-kzHY

I enjoy a good joke . . . I enjoy the playful banter of colleagues who enjoy each other’s company.  It is important – in any profession and in any role – that we take the time to build relationships that extend beyond the work.  Great organizations support each other, know each other . . . great organizations laugh and cry together.

Life is more than work and work is more than life.  Discipline-driven doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy each other, we don’t laugh, and we don’t joke around.  Part of being disciplined in our lives is finding the time – the right time – to simply enjoy life together.