Do you have a dream? If you think it is possible, what are you doing to make your dream come true? In 1948, the British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle was excited about the possibility of learning more about space. He had a dream and expressed it by saying, “Once a photograph of the Earth taken from the outside is available, a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose.” Sir Hoyle had a dream of learning more about science by studying space. He dreamed of someone leaving Earth’s atmosphere. We would never have traveled into space without people believing space travel was possible. Ho ..read more

"How can I start developing my leadership skills at my age?" I have heard this question often from teenagers involved in my leadership academy workshops. The students asking this type of question are already one step ahead of their peers who are not searching for leadership skills. Intentionally look for leadership opportunities. You can find those opportunities in school or the community. Join a sports team or club. As a school principal, I had students even start clubs. Those students were demonstrating leadership initiative. Just joining an organization does not mean that you will immediate ..read more

Her face was expressionless, and there was minimal movement from her squinting eyes – just a gaze. She sat balanced in her classroom chair with her head tilted down and elbows resting on the front of her classroom desk. Her left hand was covering an idle notebook that was in front of her on the desk. The notebook was of no interest to her. She glared straight at the telephone in her right hand. Every few seconds, her right thumb moved effortlessly and with great speed from one point of the screen to another. She sat this way for several minutes. Other than her thumb movement, she looked like a ..read more

As she talked to her colleagues, she gazed down at the ground and looked bewildered. "My door was demolished. The intruder must have used a crowbar and brute force to smash through my front door. The burglar went through each room, stealing and strewing my belongings on the floor." We were all shocked and, in our minds, visually imagining the result of the burglary. Could this happen in our home? She continued, "I feel completely violated. I don't feel safe in my home." The incident caused her and others listening to the story to seek knowledge about home invasions. It was a priority to identi ..read more

How can you help a young person who puts forth no effort? Some young people might even share, "I don't care?" As a school administrator and teacher, I observed students who did no schoolwork. Even when educators tried to change the behavior, some students delivered no academic effort. Unfortunately, most educators and sometimes mentors face this challenge. Additional frustration comes when students show no regret when they receive their failing grades. Even if the lack of care is fake, I have yet to find an educator that likes the behavior. As educators and mentors, we are responsible for tryi ..read more

What is a hidden habit? We don't think about some habits. We go through our days and do certain things again and again without thinking. The activities become so routine that we put no energy into improving them. I call these habits hidden habits. Take a moment and think about travel. How far did you travel over the last 24 hours? Most people will start adding the miles between one destination to another. This is logical thinking and will give an approximate answer to the question of miles traveled. Do you feel the Earth move? The constant speed of our Earth keeps us from feeling movement. We ..read more

As the sun was setting, silence and long shadows cloaked the backyard. There were no signs of life at the birdfeeder sitting alone on the tall pole planted in the ground.  Suddenly, chaos of sound and movement erupted. A flock of birds, composed of various species, circled the feeder from multiple perches in the surrounding trees and a fence. It was no longer quiet, and the still shadows were interrupted by in-flight movement. Traveling in a flock provides safety from predators. However, survival kicks in, and birds will show aggression towards each other to be the first to the feed ports ..read more

I saw newly scattered garbage on my driveway in front of my car. My empty garbage container was off to the right of the ground trash. To the left of the trash, the garbage collector gazed at his mistake and mess. Turning abruptly, he was off to the back of the truck, where he athletically jumped aboard and was gone. I was amazed that he had taken no action to pick up the trash on my driveway. Why would he knowingly not take care of the problem? On other days, the garbage collector pulled the garbage container to the truck and efficiently transferred garbage from the container to the garbage tr ..read more

Before you join or enroll your kids in any martial art school, you must identify the motivation for the decision. Why do you want to practice martial arts? Why do you want your kids enrolled? The answers will vary, but overwhelmingly I hear these answers: to learn self-defense skills to have an activity for me to improve physical fitness to improve self-confidence to improve self-discipline No matter the answer, proficiency will take time and a lot of practice. A person must commit to hard work and learning. The quickest way to improve requires training in class and outside of class. Like most ..read more

While meeting with a group of young people, the topic of personal safety came up. We agreed that the behavior of a stranger could be unpredictable. Several of the participants had stories as evidence of strange situations. One youth commented, "Why take the chance?" He lives in a city. He expanded on his comment by sharing a rule: he does not venture into unfamiliar city alleys. His strategy seems wise. It was clear that he had life experience and benefited from alley avoidance. In his city, he knows that more crimes occur in alleys or back streets. In his mind, based on crime statistics and s ..read more