Flip Your 20
Molly Kennedy is an amazing interactive speaker (also an Ironman) who came to the New York State Council on Leadership and Student Activities (NYS CLSA) District Conference last March. She told us about âflipping your 20,â which basically represents a paradigm, or a âpair of dimesâ (hence where the 20 came from). She emphasizes getting out of the negative spiral by snapping out of it and moving forward. Flipping your 20 is the opposite of flipping your lid or flipping out in a situation, and it essentially has a positive viewpoint. It really involves believing what youâre hearing (making sure it remains positive) and that neuroplasticity concept.
I still have a note from my Notes app where she asked us to vent and write what we believe others think of us. I was one of the few who presented in front of our smaller-scale group, and she gave me personal advice on how to overcome my situation. Iâm still working on it, but happy to say Iâm making progress, months later! Progress isnât linear!
Do Things Not Only For Your Résumé
Also from NYS CLSA, back in November at our state conference, Mike Smith (an incredible community advocate/speaker) presented his view on doing things not only to put on your résumé, which I was guilty of at times. My early high school teachers advised us to get involved to build our fresh résumés, but I have certainly changed my viewpoint since then due to his presentation. He had us take out our phones and draw diagrams of what we do for our résumés or status, and what we do because we enjoy it. This really opened my eyes as a busy senior who felt obligated to continue participating in some things.
Take Advantage of Opportunities
My science teacher told our very small physics class to go on field trips rather than to sit in class to take notes another day. This was truly an inspiration to me, although it conflicted with my history teacherâs perspective. He said he would support us missing class to take advantage of an opportunity that could change our lives, since it would have a higher chance of changing our lives than Newtonâs laws. In this circumstance, it was my first college tour, but afterward, it was the NYS CLSA conferences, where I heard messages that did change my life.
Everything Happens For A Reason
This powerful quote created my optimism. I now believe that there is a purpose to the order of events in which things are meant to happen. If something didnât go exactly how it was planned, it means that a new addition appeared for a reason.
Carpe Diem
In my senior year psychology class, we had to choose one of the movies written on the board to watch as our final exam. I chose Dead Poets Society because it was the only one I hadnât watched and wouldnât have watched on my own time. This very compelling argument caused most of my classmates to agree and choose that movie too. Their view on carpe diem, or seize the day, stood out to me. I have previously heard about âseizing the dayâ before as a kid, when my mom had a notebook with the quote on the cover, but the phrase didnât have much meaning to me. Again, I really and truly mean to take advantage of opportunities and to seize the day.