Anticipating Success
Are you affected by what happens to you? Or do you affect what happens to you? Which would you prefer?
In The Art of Possibility, authors Rosamund and Benjamin Zander remind us of our tremendous ability to attract what we want in our lives by being purposeful.
After 25 years of teaching, Ben Zander observed that students would be in such a chronic state of anxiety over the measurement of their performance that they would be reluctant to take risks with their playing. announced at the beginning of the semester that each student in the class would be getting an A for the course. However, they were asked to fulfill one requirement to earn this grade. Sometime during the next two weeks, each student was to write him a letter post-dated by a year, which began with the words, "Dear Mr. Zander, I got my A because...". In the letter they were to tell a detailed story of what would have happened to them within a year that was in line with them receiving an A in his class.
In other words, Zander asked the students to place themselves in the future, looking back, and to report on all the insights they acquired and milestones they attained during the school year, as if those accomplishments were already in the past.
Zander tells us that “the A is an invention that creates possibility for both mentor and student, manager and employee, or for any human interaction. The practice of giving an A allows the teacher to line up with her students in their efforts to produce the outcome, rather than lining up with the standards against these students. In this way, the instructor and the student, or the manager and the employee, become a team for accomplishing the extraordinary.
Zander reminds us that “It is dangerous to have our musicians so obsessed with competition because they will find it difficult to take the necessary risks with themselves to be great performers. The art of music, since it can only be conveyed through its interpreters, depends on expressive performance for its lifeblood. Yet it is only when we make mistakes in performance that we can really begin to notice what needs attention.” You don’t have to be a musician to appreciate the value of his wisdom.
So write yourself a letter, dating it a year from now. Project yourself into the future as you write a letter about all the insights you will have acquired and the milestones you will have attained during the year, as if your accomplishments for the next twelve months were already in the past. Chances are you’ll be able to reach your goals more effectively.
Source: Adapted from A Slice of Life by Eugene Loh
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馆主想也是吧。如果能够将心思放在未来、为人生设定目标，那生命就会是有意义的。我们不都希望自己是有意义地活着吗？
加油哦！
^_^g
In The Art of Possibility, authors Rosamund and Benjamin Zander remind us of our tremendous ability to attract what we want in our lives by being purposeful.
After 25 years of teaching, Ben Zander observed that students would be in such a chronic state of anxiety over the measurement of their performance that they would be reluctant to take risks with their playing. announced at the beginning of the semester that each student in the class would be getting an A for the course. However, they were asked to fulfill one requirement to earn this grade. Sometime during the next two weeks, each student was to write him a letter post-dated by a year, which began with the words, "Dear Mr. Zander, I got my A because...". In the letter they were to tell a detailed story of what would have happened to them within a year that was in line with them receiving an A in his class.
In other words, Zander asked the students to place themselves in the future, looking back, and to report on all the insights they acquired and milestones they attained during the school year, as if those accomplishments were already in the past.
Zander tells us that “the A is an invention that creates possibility for both mentor and student, manager and employee, or for any human interaction. The practice of giving an A allows the teacher to line up with her students in their efforts to produce the outcome, rather than lining up with the standards against these students. In this way, the instructor and the student, or the manager and the employee, become a team for accomplishing the extraordinary.
Zander reminds us that “It is dangerous to have our musicians so obsessed with competition because they will find it difficult to take the necessary risks with themselves to be great performers. The art of music, since it can only be conveyed through its interpreters, depends on expressive performance for its lifeblood. Yet it is only when we make mistakes in performance that we can really begin to notice what needs attention.” You don’t have to be a musician to appreciate the value of his wisdom.
So write yourself a letter, dating it a year from now. Project yourself into the future as you write a letter about all the insights you will have acquired and the milestones you will have attained during the year, as if your accomplishments for the next twelve months were already in the past. Chances are you’ll be able to reach your goals more effectively.
Source: Adapted from A Slice of Life by Eugene Loh
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
馆主想也是吧。如果能够将心思放在未来、为人生设定目标，那生命就会是有意义的。我们不都希望自己是有意义地活着吗？
加油哦！
^_^g
