JumpStart Our 100th Issue! (11/25/24)

QUOTE:  "Intentions are the bridge between our deepest desires and reality." (Haruki Murakami)

MESSAGE:  As a Junior high jumper at Cedarville University in Ohio, Joel Smith trained with a bar that he believed was 2 inches higher than it actually was, leading to a belief that he could hit those higher jumps.  His Senior year, he trained knowing exactly what the bar height was.  His record shows that he set stadium records during his third year in school and consistently jumped an average of 4 inches less his final year.  

Stories of a strong underlying belief resulting in winning performances are everywhere in athletics and the basis of every underdog movie out there.  Joel is now a Division I strength coach and uses the research that shows how a combination of emotional connection, visualization, and training is the trifecta of athletic training.  

In every aspect of life, having an intention and connecting that intention to your behavior is what drives success.  Intention can be defined as a set of self-instructions that capture the underlying motivation or commitment to act (Connor and Norman, 2022).  In other words, your intentions are what you tell yourself what and why you are going to do something.

This time of the year is when people really start reflecting on what’s happened during the current year and what could happen in the next.  Here are some ways to set (and keep!) quality intentions:

• Set long-term intentions.  Research shows that long-term intentions are more effective than short term.  Having the intention to make your students into better researchers is more effective than the intention of having them meet the deadlines of a research paper.
• Connect to your identity.  Anything that you can connect to who you are at your core will always carry more power.  Having the intention to live long enough to see your grandchildren grown rather than lose 20 pounds by May will be more effective because it’s connected to the part of you that values family.
• Write them down and speak them out loud.  And by ‘writing them down’ I mean with a pen on paper, not quickly typed in some document.  After you write it down, read it back to yourself aloud - with conviction.
• Visualize it.  Remember that your brain is housed in that small dark container of a skull and doesn’t know the difference between what’s actually happening outside and what’s happening inside.  Visualizing what you feel inside - your emotional response - as your intention shines through your everyday interactions and decisions can be very powerful.  If you’re vigilant and self-aware, you may even feel it in your gut or find yourself smiling.
• Process over product.  It’s the journey that’s important, not the end goal.  It’s our life that we are living for, not death at the end. When you set intentions, remain mindful of the present moment, and cherish the little wins.  As you’re working toward making your students lifelong readers, celebrate the little successes along the way, and the progress they make during their year with you.

​THIS WEEK, TRY THIS:  During a quiet moment this week, consider HOW you would like to behave in the coming months or in 2025. Write it down and speak it to make it come alive.

DAD JOKE:  It's hard to imagine some people actually like to collect old magazines.  They must have a lot of issues.