“There is an infinite difference between a little wrong and just right;

Between fairly good and the best; Between mediocrity and superiority.”

Orison Swett Marden

Self Control There is no better time to take up this character value than the month in which kids across America return to the classroom for a new academic year.

It is time for new first-graders, fourth-graders, seventh-graders, high school sophomores and seniors to take on new academic challenges, new relationships and new life lessons that will build their character rudder!

As the 2007-08 school bell rings, who among America s millions and millions of K-12 kids will have a leg up in their classrooms, on the athletic field and in social settings with their friends? Which ones will seize the moment continuously? Who will leap and leap again into all kinds of new life learning experiences with confidence and competence?

We can know one thing: student success will not be defined by new wardrobes or new laptops, as important as these may appear. Nor will this year s success be necessarily defined by last year s trials and triumphs. No, the reality is that the achievers will march to an inner drumbeat of self-initiative that will be witnessed by parents, teachers, coaches and even friends as self-control. Self-initiative on the inside seen as self-control on the outside equals success.

Self-Control has a guidance system for every achiever. The guidance system is sure and steady. When self-control is visible, two behaviors are in play and visible to all:

Self-Restraint: I take care of myself, physically, mentally, emotionally. I understand the iron-clad relationship between my thoughts and actions.

Self-Discipline: I put controls on how I use my time to accomplish what I need to accomplish daily.

These two behaviors can be encouraged by character mentors, most specifically classroom teachers and school site coaches. The teacher and coach who mentors for self-control has interest in a child s discovery of the need to understand how what I think plays out as what I do. Learning this critical life axiom is the ongoing educational enterprise of all K-12 educators. Similarly, continuous coaching is needed by character mentors to help kids discover the relationship between choices and use of time. Time management is a cornerstone lesson of self-discipline.

From mediocrity to superiority, the pathway is self-initiative and self-control.

Russell Williams

PASSKEYS FOUNDATION

– Russell T. Williams