This week:
Be a Pollinator and a Positive Energy Broadcaster!
The “Green Thing”:
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for …the environment. The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.”The young clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”
The older lady said that she was right our generation didn’t have the “green thing” in its day. The older lady went on to explain: Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.
But we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day. Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.
But, too bad we didn’t do the “green thing” back then. We walked up stairs because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the “green thing” in our day.
Back then we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days.
Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.
Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.
We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family’s $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the “green thing.”
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.
But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the “green thing” back then?
This little plot of dirt has sat fallow and unattended for decades outside the Main Gym at UC San Diego until Laurel D, took it upon herself to create a pollinator garden for Monarch butterflies and other insects critical to our collective survival.
By simply planting, watering and creating a pit stop on their long journey, Laurel has modeled for all of us how we can contribute positively to our complex and threatened ecosystem through a constructive investment and with a caring spirit.
Maybe we can all change the world for the better if we start with small acts of intentionality and kindness…
Start your secret garden today!
Decide to be Vitamin C:
In the 21st century, we tend to privilege Information and subordinate Energy
Our capacity to influence others through our energy alone is palpable and powerful…
Decide to Be Vitamin C
(Excerpt from The Power of a Positive Team)
“You are contagious!
The energy you put into your team and culture determines the quality of it.”
Research from the Heart Math Institute (HeartMath.org) shows that when you have a feeling in your heart, it goes to every cell in the body, then outward – and people up to 10 feet away can sense these feelings. This means that each day you are broadcasting to your team how you feel. You are broadcasting negative energy or positive energy, apathy or passion, indifference or purpose. Research from Harvard University also supports the idea that the emotions you feel are contagious and affect the people around you.
Your team is just as likely to catch your bad mood as the flu, and on the flip side, they will catch your good mood as well.
As a team member, your attitude, energy and leadership are contagious, and has a big impact on your culture and team.
When you walk into the office, or the meeting, or into the school, hospital, or locker room, you have a decision to make. Are you going to be a germ to your team or a big dose of Vitamin C?
Please know that you don’t have to be an extrovert to be positively contagious. Sharing positive energy doesn’t mean you have to be a rah-rah person and bounce off the walls. It means that, from the heart, you simply broadcast the love, passion, positivity, and purpose that you have for your team. It means that you decide to be a fountain of energy instead of an energy drain. It means that you fuel your team with positive energy instead of being an energy vampire that sucks the life out of them.
Great teams are collectively positive and positively contagious. They give and share positive energy to each other, and the more they give, the more comes back to them.
All-Star Teachers Play The Skills Game:
The 90th annual MLB All-Star Game was played on July 9th at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. The American League won the game for the seventh straight year. Players are selected based on their SKILLS by three groups—fan voting, player voting, and the Commissioner’s office.
In schools and classrooms, we call it the SKILLS GAME taught by All-Star Teachers at all grade levels. The “fan voting” includes parents and students. “Player voting” includes teachers and staff. The “commissioner’s” selections are from school and district administrators.
What might you find on a SKILLS SCORECARD?
On one of the older cards, you will find Bloom’s Taxonomy—the “go to game” for thinking skills a few decades ago.
Many of you will remember the SCANS Scorecard, highlighting the need for employee skills in three general areas:
1) basic skills (reading, writing, math, listening, speaking);
2) thinking skills (thinking creatively, making decisions, solving problems, reasoning); and
3) personal qualities such as responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and honesty.
You may have seen the Business World’s Scorecard where people are talking and writing about “soft skills.”
Like it or not, emotions are an intrinsic part of our biological makeup, and every morning they march into the office (and our schools and classrooms) with us and influence our behavior. Executives are starting to talk about the importance of such things as trust, confidence, empathy, adaptability and self-control.”
Shari Caudron, “The Hard Case for Soft Skills”
Currently we have the 21st-Century Skills Scorecard that includes:
- Ways of Thinking (creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and learning);
- Ways of Working (communication and collaboration);
- Tools for Working (communications technology and information literacy); and,
- Skills for Living (citizenship, life and career, and personal and social responsibility).
Two skills that cut across all four categories are “collaborative problem solving” and “learning in digital networks.”
The Fortune 500 Companies Scorecard identifies five top qualities these companies seek in employees:
- Teamwork,
- Problem solving
- Interpersonal skills
- Oral communication
- Listening
Another Scorecard offered by the Pew Research Center showed that adults identified several essential skills that were most important for children and youth to learn “to get ahead in the world today.” These included communication skills as the most important, followed by reading, math, teamwork, writing and logic.
There are two other very essential Skills Scorecards. One is on the topic of Emotional Intelligence (ET) and the other is a scorecard that describes Social Intelligence (SI).
You know well the All Star for Emotional Intelligence. Psychologist Daniel Goleman hit a couple of “homeruns” with his books Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, and Working with Emotional Intelligence. His scorecard included such skills as self-confidence, self-awareness, self-control, commitment and integrity.
In discussing emotional intelligence, Daniel Goleman cites Peter Salovey, a Yale professor who categorized components of emotional and social skills into five areas:
- Knowing one’s emotions
- Managing emotions
- Motivating oneself
- Recognizing emotions in others
- Handling relationships
The scorecard for Social Intelligence is also revealing and relevant.
Social intelligence [social skills] is as important as IQ when it comes to happiness, health, and success. Empathetic people are less likely to experience anxiety, depression, and addictions later in life. They are also more likely to be hired, promoted, earn more money, and have happier marriages and better-adjusted children.
Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D., Board-Certified Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychologist
If we increase social skills, we see commensurate increases in academic learning. That doesn’t mean that social skills (including cooperation and self-control) make you smarter; it means that these skills make you more amenable to learning.
Stephen Elliott, Vanderbilt Peabody Education and Psychology Researcher and
co-author of the newly published The Social Skills Improvement System.
Lastly, there is the Ten Skills Scorecard from the work of Stephen Elliott and Frank Gresham who surveyed over 8,000 teachers and examined 20 years of research in classrooms across the country. They identified these top 10 skills that students need to succeed:
- Listen to others
- Follow the steps
- Follow the rules
- Ignore distractions
- Ask for help
- Take turns when you talk
- Get along with others
- Stay calm with others
- Be responsible for your behavior
- Do nice things for others
“Top 10 Social Skills Students Need to Succeed,” Research News at Vanderbilt University, 9-27-2007
Does this sound like the “skills-game“ teachers are now playing in schools and classrooms? If so, then give these teachers your vote and be sure they are rewarded for being an ALL-STAR.
Ed DeRoche, Director, Character Education Resource Center, University of San Diego.
BLOG, July 2019
How to Keep a Commonplace Book:
A commonplace book, if you’re unfamiliar, is a notebook, digital or otherwise, that you fill with information like ideas from books, notes from courses, thought-provoking quotes, and more. So, today, I learn about how to build a commonplace book. https://www.samuelthomasdavies.com/how-to-keep-a-commonplace-book/
P.S. If you’re interested, you can learn more about the commonplace book here: https://www.samuelthomasdavies.com/commonplace-book/
If you are Local…
Join Us at the Purpose Party Next Week on August 1st and Connect with Kindred Spirits!
Purpose Party 2019
Presented By: Corporate Alliance & Chamber of Purpose
Join the Purpose Community of San Diego at our first Annual Purpose Party on August 1st!
Come out to the Corporate Alliance Hub and mingle with Members of Corporate Alliance, Chamber of Purpose, and guests for a fun evening of socializing and networking.
Branch Out Market will be bringing a fun pop-up selection of handmade and give-back items for you to shop the night of the party. Every purchase makes a difference in the life of an artisan, woman entrepreneur, or beneficiary such as orphanage and school. Come shop and be amazed at the products which are giving back all over the world. High quality and guilt free shopping for sure!
Connect with Chamber of Purpose!
August 1, 2019
Doors Open at 4:00PM
Sign up today, this event will sell out!
| REGISTER |
Connect with the Chamber of Purpose
Thanks this week go to Bob C, Laurel D, Larry H, Ed D, Moshe E, The Purpose Players, and all of you who hold the space for making our world better!
Please pay it forward
Love,
Neville
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria
“As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can’t see how it is.”— Ram Dass
Happy Soul Food Friday! 