Have you ever set a goal and accomplished it?
I set a goal to finish 36 books in 2019, and I did. That came after setting a goal in 2018 to finish a number of books (I don’t remember how many), and not reaching it. Even the fact I don’t remember the number from 2018 but do remember the number in 2019 tells you something.
My focus shifted. I no longer wanted to just have a goal, I wanted to accomplish my goal.
So I made a spreadsheet at the beginning of 2019 and recorded the books I finished. Every time I finished one, I would add it to my last, and update my count at the bottom of the page. And something amazing happened. I met my goal.
It’s actually not that surprising that I met a goal as I was tracking it consistently. It makes sense to most of us. Why?
Because we move toward our focus.
Focus is the difference between setting a goal and achieving a goal.
And the same is true for developing student leaders. If we don’t have a focus to guide them towards, then how are we helping them grow? It’s the difference between some books and 36 books.
Spend some time today narrowing your focus. Decide what you want students to aim for, and how you can help them hit that target. Then, put the target out there and continually remind them it’s there.
Ultimately, if we want to develop student (and adult) leaders, focus is the key.
What’s one way to do that? Implement the three questions and continually ask how they’re answering them. Over time, they will start to see opportunities and meet them instinctually.