Please read this again: “The number on your report does not define you.” If you have reached your goals, we congratulate you. Give yourself a pat on the back. But keep your success in perspective. While our main goal at Dux is to help you to achieve spectacular academic results, we have been around the block long enough to appreciate the big picture too. More important than your school report is your life report – and that includes how you respond to success or failure.
Three Keystone Questions
After almost every exercise we do, we ask you to decide:
1. What did I do well?
2. What did I do badly?
3. What have I learned so that I can do better next time?
Don’t limit these questions to Dux activities – ask them of yourself… often. That way you are able to build more resilience.
Resilience
“Resilience rɪˈzɪlɪəns noun
1. the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.”
There are various dimensions of resilience.
Physical – fitness and stamina, nutrition for energy, rest and recovery.
Emotional – calming and focusing, impulse control, emotional regulation, positive emotion, realistic optimism.
Spiritual – values and beliefs, empathy, reaching out.
Mental – self-belief, outlook and perspective, thinking traps, sustained focus, accurate analysis, control controllable.
Think of those people, or even organisations, that seem to recover from setbacks so readily. Lucky for the rest of us, resilience can be learned and developed. According to Forbes, “new brain and behavioural research is now shedding some light on why. Even better, it is showing that we can cultivate resilience in ourselves before we even need it. Here’s a checklist, informed by new brain research:
- Practise overcoming hurdles in everyday life.
- Have a purpose.
- Accept reality with a positive attitude.
- Learn how to improve.
- Meditate (mindfulness training).
- Exercise.
- Develop an abiding sense of humour.
- Build staunch support networks.
- Look for role models.
- Keep your mind flexible.
- Face your fears. Reframe.
- Nurture a fierce sense of self.
- Know when to be kind to yourself.
- Be compassionate.
Numbers to a Fresh Start
At this time of the year, we seem to focus so much on numbers, from the new year’s party the countdown to the percentages on your report. However, let’s look at these numbers:
A year consists of 525,600 minutes. Let’s measure the next 525,600 minutes in love, friendship, journeys planned and lives well lived, through the good and bad.
How do you measure a year in a life?
How about love? Measure five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes of love…
Five hundred twenty five thousand journeys to plan.
How do you measure a life of a woman or a man?
In truths that she learned,
or in times that he cried?
In bridges he burned,
or the way that she died?
It's time now to sing out,
though the story never ends.
Let's celebrate a year in a life.
Dux
If you are looking for a launchpad to an extraordinary 525,600 minutes (and more…), look no further than Dux. Our reason for existing is to give you all the life support you need in order to thrive academically. Contact us today, and get your ducks in a row.
“Dux dʌks noun
The top pupil in a school or class.”
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