From the Training:
Certified Safe & Loved Practitioner

Jim Rohn was hired by a large, successful company to provide elite-level leadership training to some of its key people.

During the training, he was asked:
“What do you predict the next five years will be like for our business?” 

The person was probably hoping for some unique insight into the market that would give him an advantage over his competition. 

Instead, Rohn said, “It’s pretty much going to be like the last five years. Opportunities mixed with hardships.” 

It may not have been the answer the person wanted, but I think it was brilliant because it was so simple and so true. 

Opportunities mixed with hardships.

The same prediction can be made for this school year. 

There will be opportunities to reach students, build relationships, strengthen relationships, learn new skills, validate old skills, and accomplish things you haven’t even thought about yet. 

And there will be hardships. 

Students will struggle. Parents will get angry. Staff will become frustrated. Plans will fail. Things you thought were fixed will break again. Some days will be harder than you expected, and a few problems will probably show up that nobody saw coming. 

That’s not a negative way to begin a school year.
It’s an honest one. 

The Stockdale Paradox says we must be brutally honest about our current reality without losing the undying faith that we will prevail in the end. 

I think there's great value in entering a school year the same way: optimistic about the outcome, but with our eyes wide open about the journey. 

So as this school year begins, here are 3 things worth remembering. 

1. Decide right now that you are bigger than the problems you will face. 

I don’t mean that you’ll be able to solve every problem. 

You won’t. 

Some problems don’t have solutions, at least not the kind we would like. 

Being bigger than the problem means the problem doesn’t get to decide what happens to you. It means not letting it change you into something you don’t want to be. It means that you will prevail, regardless of what comes.

2. When you see a hardship, train yourself to look for the opportunity too.

Hardships have a way of taking up the entire picture.
But the hardship may not be the whole story. 

When my police department eliminated community policing, I was devastated. I loved being a community policing officer and probably would have remained one for the rest of my career. 

I didn’t want that hardship. 

I didn’t welcome it. I thought the department was making a mistake. But that hardship opened a door for me that I am still grateful for today. 

Because of it I found my calling in law enforcement and became a school resource officer. 

When hardship shows up this year, deal honestly with the hardship, but keep looking around it. 

There may be an even bigger opportunity standing right beside it.

3. Don’t add unnecessary weight to hardships.

Imagine a student makes the basketball team. 

They love it and are having a great experience, but suddenly their grades begin slipping. Something needs attention, but basketball may not be the problem. 

The student may simply be experiencing growth and hasn't yet learned how to balance everything that comes with it. 

Take basketball away and you may turn something positive into a punishment. Ignore the grades and you may allow a manageable problem to become a bigger one. 

Not every uncomfortable moment means something has gone terribly wrong. 

Sometimes people are growing. Sometimes a good idea needs an adjustment. Sometimes something worthwhile is simply difficult. 

How we respond to a problem can determine how people experience it. Hardship is difficult enough on its own. 

Be careful that your response doesn’t add unnecessary weight to it.

I think it’s a guarantee that this school year will have hardships. 

But it is also going to bring opportunities, and some of those opportunities may actually come from the hardships you wish never happened. 

So deal with the hardships, but don’t become consumed by them.
Confront what needs confronting. Adjust what needs adjusting. Endure what must be endured. And let go of what doesn’t deserve your energy. 

Most importantly, keep looking for the opportunities.
They’re coming too.