Wallace Wattles said, "You must always learn to see yourself as a great advancing soul."
This is a beautiful message, and its impact is powerful.
A doctor who sees him or herself as a great healer will help others to live vibrant lives of good health. A religious leader who spreads a message of peace, love and acceptance is an advancing soul. A business leader who sees himself as always moving forward in a positive way inspires his employees to be the same. A sales person who knows that her product is amazing and will improve the lives of others is advancing. The fact of the matter is that we all have the capacity to be great advancing souls no matter what we do.
As a teacher, I cannot inspire my students to greatness unless I am aspiring to greatness myself. The reason why I became a teacher in the first place was because I wanted to change the world one person at a time. I believe this sentiment is common in teachers, and though our students may not know what they will be yet, they know that they are on the way to something amazing. This is why schools tend to be wonderful places, vibrating with positive energy.
In my effort to advance and help others to advance, I am always looking for ways to do my job better. I recently attended an educational workshop called "The Leader in Me." This is a program that applies the principles of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, written by Steven Covey, to elementary schools. First, teachers are taught to live the 7 Habits, and then the entire school embraces the philosophy. Each child learns to see himself or herself as a leader, that is, as person who is talented and intrinsically motivated to be the very best that they can be. The program has been phenomenally successful and has spread to schools all over the world. I am looking forward to better applying this in my own high school setting.
The key point is to be intrinsically motivated. That is what Wattles is talking about. We see ourselves as advancing, and we challenge ourselves to continually advance. No one can make us do this, we have to want it. Covey teaches us how to put this into practice in his 7 Habits masterpiece. We need to be proactive, we need to set goals that are important to us, and we need to prioritize our time and effort. Once we are advancing, we are able to bring others with us, creating an amazing synergy where everyone feels valued and everyone wins. Of course, we also need to take care of ourselves and reenergize. These are the keys to success in any walk of life.
Covey admits that he invented nothing. He simply studied the way great people have lived through the ages and pointed out what they all had in common. The beautiful thing is that such greatness lives in each of us, regardless of our profession or stage in life. If we first see ourselves as great and advancing souls, we too can experience the rapture of living each day with purpose.
