My 6 first months as President
I am coming up on closing the chapter on my first 6 months as the President of NEXT School Foundation and boy has it taught me a lot. I imagine 6 months from now there will be a whole new set of lessons. One of the great things about being a job that you love is being able to not only make changes in other peoples lives but benefit from it driving changes in your life. I have tried to get better about capturing this season of my life and so I will from time to time attempt to reflect back on experiences. The end goal of course is improving myself, education and hopefully those who stumble upon this.
…………………..5 tips on getting the most out of your day……………….
Just bring yourself to meetings, leave the phone in your pocket.
I am the biggest violator of this one. I am addicted to technology that is not a surprise or a secret. Breaking that addiction is post for another time. What I have found it that I can cut my meeting time down when i am not constantly fidgeting with my phone. Now before people start saying that there was a time when this was not a problem I get that. In fact I probably fall into that age bracket but I spent my twenties in and our of Iraq so my reality is the stranglehold devices have on the professional world today. Plug in, just plug in before or after your meeting. Next time you are in a meeting leave your phone in a bag. Use a pen and paper to capture whatever may need capturing.
You are only as powerful as the respect you give your network.
I am nothing without my network. My network is nothing without me. Do everything you can to build a product and meaningful network. It will be the difference between success and failure. This requires saying no.
Being to busy is an excuse, not a reality.
It took me a bit to remind myself of this one but everyone is busy. Try being more deliberate of adding structure to your life. Create a timeline and do everything you can to not sacrifice that schedule. I map out each hour of my day from the minute I wake up till when I go to bed. Try it for a week. See where it goes.
Create mental breaks for ideation
This is a non-negotiable. Develop a system where you are in your “thinking zone” and use that time whatever that may look like to dream. Life is nothing without ideas and forward thinking. For me I find this time on my bike.
Marry Digital with Analog
Both of these have a place in life. Three things I always keep phone, mac book and a StarWars moleskin. It is 2017 I don’t believe that there is a reason to not do both. Any idea, plan or item of action finds itself on a white board and in my Google drive. I encourage you to blend both.
