An Inspiration from Second-Graders:
I wanted to re-post this blog piece that I wrote when my son was in second grade (2013).

Kiddo’s teacher sent home a note about how the class had struggled with working through a really hard task. She stopped the work and asked them to give her a list of how they could become really good at something. She said they were so excited that their hands shot up and she couldn’t write fast enough. They came up with an amazing list. The list was so inspiring that I posted it on our refrigerator for years:

WHAT DO YOU DO TO GET REALLY GOOD AT SOMETHING?

• Practice
• Say it a lot
• Say what you’re doing
• Watch what other people are doing
• Try it again, try it again
• Never give up
• Don’t do the opposite
• Do it for many years
• Join in a team
• Just do it
• Focus
• Never say never

I looked at this list every day for years when I was struggling with a task. I continue to be amazed about how wise young children are nowadays. Their inspiration is boundless and we forget that as adults. We should take a minute and listen. We should make our own lists and see what we come up with to help us do the tasks we need to do. I hope we can learn from them and continue our quest for completing really hard tasks. Never Give Up! Never Surrender! (Galaxy Quest for all you non-geeks!)