I Matter and I Pledge to Choose Myself

In Tom Rath's excellent book Are You Fully Charged, he made a point about self confidence based on the work of Timothy Judge and Charlice Hurst about the life long health and monetary benefits of self confidence. One way I try to instill self confidence is for students to take control of their lives. Instead of telling kids don't do this or that, I created this document I call, "I Matter and I Pledge to Choose Myself" which is based on psychological, educational and leadership readings. My thinking behind this document is to give kids mental ammunition to push forward when encountering something they may find to be difficult.

To choose myself, I will make the time to finish anything that needs to be finished before class starts.  Meaning, I will come to class, on time,  ready to learn.

People like me do things...we are ready, we work,  we finish and we encourage others do the same. One way to ensure this is by appropriate uses of my electronic devices.

One thing I will do to finish is to change “should have” to “did.” I will no longer say “should have” to talk about my list of things to accomplish. Done. Next point.

I will get rid of excuses. Every time I think or say, “but,” it will become “and” in my thoughts, words and actions.  Embrace the power of “and.”

Time out for a quote from Seth Godin:

“People don’t believe what you tell them.  They rarely believe what you show them.  They often believe what their friends tell them.  They always believe what they tell themselves.”  

The last sentence in the quote is why I will fire my old boss (the pre 2016 me).  My old boss used language which cut me down.  I am the boss of what I do and I do not want to work for or with someone who uses language which cuts me down.  If I worked for anyone else who talked to me like that I would hate it.  I will not talk to or think of myself using belittling terms.  Instead of thinking or saying: “stupid,” “idiot,” or “moron,”  I will think something such as:  “How smart am I to figure it out?” or  “I bet there are a lot of people who wouldn’t have solved that!” Come to think of it, I will not use language tearing down others either. No meanness.

When I have a problem I will ask myself,  “Can I do it?  Yes I can, because I have solved a problem like this already.“  I will answer the question...everyday.

My signature below is evidence of my promise to myself, my family, my classmates and my teachers that I will choose myself everyday and that I agree with the points above.  

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student parent/guardian