Monday Motivator #23 2024-25

Make Kindness the Norm, Not the Exception

In a world full of opportunities to connect and uplift one another, kindness has the power to shine brightly. What if we made kindness the norm—the foundation of how we live and interact every day?

Random Acts of Kindness Week, February 9–15, 2025, and Random Acts of Kindness Day, February 17, 2025, are perfect reminders of how thoughtful gestures can spark joy, inspire change, and create lasting impact. Let’s celebrate this week as a chance to embrace kindness as a daily habit and a way of life.

1. Kindness Builds Stronger Connections

Kindness fosters trust, empathy, and connection. When kindness becomes a daily habit, it creates a ripple effect that strengthens relationships—whether at school, in workplaces, or at home. By making kindness the norm, we cultivate an environment where everyone feels valued, supported, and inspired.

Real Impact:

• Schools: Students and teachers who practice kindness create a more inclusive and supportive learning environment, boosting confidence and collaboration.

• Workplaces: Teams that prioritize kindness experience better communication, higher morale, and greater productivity.

• Homes: Simple acts of kindness, like expressing gratitude or helping with daily tasks, strengthen family bonds and nurture positive relationships.

2. Kindness Improves Mental and Physical Well-Being

Engaging in acts of kindness has been scientifically proven to enhance both mental and physical health. Performing kind deeds releases feel-good hormones like oxytocin and serotonin, which help reduce stress and increase happiness. Regularly practicing kindness can lead to lower blood pressure, improved mental health, and even increased lifespan. By making kindness the norm, we not only uplift others but also promote our own well-being.

Quick Stats:

• Stress Reduction: Consistently kind individuals have 23% less cortisol (the stress hormone) and age slower than the average population.

• Enhanced Mental Health: Engaging in acts of kindness produces endorphins, the brain's natural painkiller, leading to decreased pain and improved mood.
  Increased Happiness: A 2020 survey found that 63% of adults reported improved mental health when kindness was shown to them, and the same percentage experienced mental health benefits from being kind to others.

3. Kindness Creates a Ripple Effect

Witnessing or experiencing kindness inspires others to pay it forward, creating a chain of positivity that spreads far beyond the initial act. This ripple effect has the power to influence entire communities and even spark systemic change.

Example:

A simple but profound act of kindness—like offering a genuine compliment or helping someone in need—can inspire a chain reaction of giving, reminding everyone involved that kindness is alive and well

4. Kindness Breaks Down Barriers

Kindness transcends differences in culture, background, and beliefs. By making kindness the norm, we create an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome and respected. Kindness bridges gaps, fosters understanding, and helps us see each other as humans first.

Why It Matters:

• In a divided world, kindness reminds us to take care of each other.

• It encourages compassion to everyone.

5. Kindness Inspires Action

When kindness is the norm, people are more likely to step up. Whether it’s helping a neighbor, supporting a cause, or standing up against injustice, kindness as a baseline encourages us to take meaningful action.

Takeaway:

Kindness isn’t passive—it’s a choice that leads to tangible change. When it’s normalized, we’re more likely to create a better world together.

How to Make Kindness the Norm

1. Start Small: Incorporate simple acts of kindness into your daily routine, like offering compliments, holding the door open, or lending a helping hand.

2. Model Kindness: Be an example for others, especially children, by showing kindness in your words and actions.

3. Amplify It: Share stories of kindness to inspire others and spread positivity.

4. Create Systems: Advocate for policies and practices—in schools, workplaces, and communities—that encourage and reward kindness.

What Truly Matters

Making kindness the norm isn’t just a lofty ideal—it’s a practical, powerful way to improve our world. When we choose kindness as our default, we create an environment where everyone can thrive. It’s not about waiting for the extraordinary; it’s about recognizing that everyday acts have extraordinary potential.

Together, we can make kindness the norm, not the exception. And that’s a world worth striving for.

https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-ideas

Monday Motivator #22 2024-25

In a commencement speech, Denzel Washington said, it’s not about having a plan to fall back on, “If I'm going to fall, I don't want to fall back... I want to fall forward. This is what I mean. Reggie Jackson struck out 2,600 times in his career, the most in the history of baseball, but you don't hear about the strikeouts. People remember the home runs. Fall forward. Thomas Edison conducted 1000 failed experiments. Did you know that? I didn't know that. Because the 1001st was the light bulb. Fall forward. Every failed experiment is one step closer to success.”

We are still champions!

Becoming a champion is not something you become when you win an award. It is not that medal around your neck or the plaque on your mantel. Becoming a champion is a way of being. It is a journey. It is a choice, as Dr. Jerry Lynch says in The Way of the Champion. “It starts now by acting as a champion…committing yourself to the habits and ways of a champion, and choosing to engage in a lifestyle that demonstrates such qualities and characteristics on a consistent, daily basis.”
Many people want to be champions. But wanting does not make one a champion; action does Great achievements comes from excellent habits. Greatness is a lifestyle, not a hobby.
Over the years, I have coached, mentored, met, studied and learned from champions in sport, business and life. My travels take me all over the world, and my passion to meet and study the best of the best is far from being quenched. Here is what these athletes, coaches, and incredible men and women have taught me, which I hope you will use to inspire your own athletes:

• Champions know that “Well done is better than well said.” Ben Franklin said it first; champion’s actions say it every day.
• Champions possess fearlessness; they are unafraid to come up short and understand that adversity and even failure are opportunities to learn. Ordinary people are far too worried about what people will say about them when they come up short, so they never really go all in.
• Champions have a tenacious focus on the process, the grind, that daily and weekly commitment to excellence. Ordinary people focus on the outcome and love to point fingers when it does not go their way. Champions find joy in the crucible.
• Champions control the controllables. While the not-quite-champs complain about officials, or field conditions, or bad coaching decisions, or cheating opponents, champions get back to work. They take care of their own house: show up early, stay late, focus on the process, get 1% better every day.
• Champions see the opponent as their partner in achieving excellence. The word competitor is derived from the latin word meaning “seek together.” Opponents are not to be feared or hated; they are fellow travelers on this amazing journey.
• Champions ask not “what can I get from my team” but “what can I give?” I can give 100% effort every single day. I can give my team a positive attitude, I can give my team a better chance to win not matter what position I play, or how many minutes I earn.
• Champions have the will to prepare relentlessly in case their big moment ever comes. They are committed to being ready when the universe says “it’s your time.” Not-quite champs hope that big moments don’t present themselves in “the offseason.” Everyone wants to do what it takes on game day to win; champions are willing to do what it takes six weeks, six months, even six years before kickoff.
• Champions are humble. Just like the two-time defending world rugby champion New Zealand All Blacks, they “Sweep the Shed’ and are never afraid to do all the little things it takes to be at the top. Not-quite-champs, on the other hand, leave the picking up of cones, or carrying the water jug, to the underclassmen and the bench players, because, well, “I have earned the right to not do my part.”
• Champions don’t focus on winning; they focus on competing. Every. Single. Day. They are willing to do, and likely have already done, what others hate to do, and consistently avoid.
• Champions understand that excellence is a way of being, not something you do. Your habits are a way of being. Your attitude, love of teammates, and celebration of the success of others is a way of being. Your joy in play is a way of being. Your mindfulness and accountability is a way of being. You are a human being, not a human doing.
  
  Being a champion is different. It is living in a way that assures you will become the best you are capable of becoming, and time after time achieving personal best performance on and off the field. It is living in a way that gives you the best opportunity to be on a podium, but also leads to something far greater: The satisfaction of knowing that you did your best, that you spent yourself in a worthy cause, leaving you with no regrets, and fully aware that becoming extraordinary is a choice that you have made. That is the way of the champion.
  https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/the-way-of-a-champion/

Monday Motivator #21 2024-25

MO SW-PBS has identified Eight Effective Classroom Practices that have been shown to impact academic learning time and ultimately student achievement while ensuring a positive learning environment. Implementing these evidence-based practices has been shown to maximize learning for all students while minimizing discipline problems. Once implemented, there may be students that benefit from intensifying them more specifically to support specific behavior needs.

More information on the Effective Teaching and Learning Practices:

https://pbismissouri.org/tier-1-effective-classroom-practices/