Happy Independence Day!
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend with your family and friends, celebrating the founding of our country. Yesterday I was in a total of four airports trying to get from Cleveland, Ohio, to Austin, Texas. It definitely was NOT a direct flight! But getting to family and my final destination was worth the wait.
I started out a month-long vacation last week in LAX at 3:30 am. I flew with a friend to an amazing five-day spiritual retreat. I’m so grateful for the time away to be rejuvenated and inspired.
It was in the airport that I got my first “aha” of the trip. We got to LAX before the TSA or ticket lines had opened, so there were tons of people standing around waiting. I know how these things work, so I asked someone if they were in line, and then when they said yes, we got in line behind them.
Come to find out, we were all standing in back of someone with a big pile of luggage who had no clue they were in the front of a line. The actual line we needed to be in was much further down.
It didn’t take us too long to figure this out, thankfully, but it made me think.
How many times in life do we do what everyone else does without asking questions?
OR without asking the right person?
One of the things I love to do is read business self-help books. So many of the authors include something about how they wish the educational system could change to utilize new research they have found.
For instance, I just finished the book Limitless by Jim Kwik. He is a brain coach and helps people be more productive. He shares ideas about motivation, speed reading, and even eating for brain health. There are a bunch of things that I want to look deeper into. Every other page I was thinking, “Why don’t more people know about this?” and “How can we incorporate this into educating our students?” I can’t wait to incorporate it into my classes for adults and kids!
Yesterday I started listening to another book – The Extended Mind by Annie Paul. Another good one! Already I’ve heard things that are inspiring me. She shares how thinking outside the box – actually outside the brain – helps exponentially. “Extra-neural” resources like movement and the physical spaces we are in can make a huge difference!
Asking people like Jim Kwik and Annie Paul and all the experts they quote – people that make you think – will get you to the right line that will get you where you want to go.
Do you have a question, and do you need the right person to ask?