My oldest is very bright, but he’s all over the place. He can’t pour a bowl of cereal without spilling half the box. He’ll make his bed by throwing the blankets on the bed and walk away with the pillows on still on the floor.
He’s got straight As in every honors class, but barely got a B in art and “reading.”
His handwriting is a disaster. He writes right up to the end of a line and crams in the last of the word.
I say all of this to provide some background.
Yesterday, my wife is going over his science homework. He’s had 4 days to read a short passage on nonrenewable vs renewable energy sources. It’s a mess. His answers are technically correct, but it’s almost completely illegible. His answers are as brief as humanly possible, and he rarely puts periods at the end of sentences.
As my wife is torturing him with these critiques, I’m reviewing a lab report he just got back with a grade of 82%.Reading through it, it’s the same work as his homework. All of his answers are “correct.” Which means in his mind he understands the concept and has given just enough to show his understanding. The knowledge is there, but the work is poor.
I realize that it’s all the same thing. It’s making the same mistake over and over and over, and then getting mad at everyone else.
It’s like going through a math test where you know everything, but you never put a negative sign in front of any of your answers. You get a 65% on the test and get mad at your teacher.
A bit of ancient wisdom pops into my mind.
How you do anything is how you do everything.
Up until that point, I knew I wanted him to make his bed well, but I didn’t know why. The why is because of the habit of work. The habit of doing your best work. It’s so important to cultivate that habit. I wish you could turn it off and turn it on, but you can’t. It has to be in everything you do. In every breath.
It’s not easy, but it is the way.
Now that we’re working on cultivating good habits, let’s work on cultivating the habit of gratitude and generosity. Two other key personal characteristics that translate into success.
No esoteric discussion here. I’ve got a tangible method for you.
From December 1s through December 16th at midnight, I’m going to give you two copies of The Final Step when you order one. The second one is to give to a friend. Hopefully, it’s a friend who has helped you in some way. That way you can practice gratitude and generosity with this one act.
I’m working on updating the messaging, but at the moment you won’t hear about the buy one get one deal anywhere except in this email, but I promise you it’s in effect. I’m updating the webpage today.
Email me the receipt and the email address of the fortunate friend of yours, and I’ll add the digital material in for them. It’s all manual so give me a few days to get it done.
Oh and today is the last day. Only purchases up until midnight tonight will qualify
Head on over here to get it:
Brian Wallace
