Thinking About My WHY

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my WHY. When I got into teaching, I thought like most people; here's a chance to impact the lives of children. I study best practices, attend conferences, read the latest professional works, and share that love of learning with the adults and children I interact with each day. Literacy/Instructional Coaching is amazing, but it's "what" I do and "how" I do it is very similar to how most Literacy/IC's do their work.

You see, the "what" and "how" are easy to identify. Establishing the "why" is much more challenging. Simon Sinek says it best, "People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe." I've been getting out of my car before entering my campus for the last 5 years and simply repeating in my head, "find opportunities to learn and grow today and get people thinking critically about their craft." This mantra has helped me think about my own purpose in education and in life and in some ways, I was close to identifying my WHY long before this post.

I was recently asked to do a Keynote presentation for a cohort of student teachers at Canisius College here in Buffalo, NY. As I considered the six points I felt were necessary areas for any educator to begin developing, I became entranced by my first point which is "Start with Why." I watched Sinek's TED Talk again, thought about the golden circle, and immediately thought of how this applies to my life and my work as an educator.

Here's what I came up with:

The point is, there is much to consider as we think about our WHY. By establishing my WHY and digging deep into my beliefs, I am able to improve my craft and get buy-in from those I learn and grow alongside each day. 

Let me know what you think and if you create your own golden circle, please share! "We all deserve someone to think and reflect with in order to reach new personal bests and grow our craft!"