Urban Prep - We Believe.

100 percent of school's first class college-bound
CHICAGO — For each boy, the new school offered an escape and a chance at a life that seemed beyond reach.
Krishaun Branch was getting D's, smoking reefer a lot, skipping school twice a week. His mother was too busy working to know what he was doing. He liked to fight and hang out in the streets; having relatives in gangs was his armor.

This is the beginning of an AP story I just read about a high school, started on Chicago's south side four years ago, with their first graduating class--ALL young men are heading to college.
Given the reality that only 1 in 40 African American males will finish college, Urban Prep having a goal to send 100% of their students off to college seemed far-fetched.
But when you have a vision, like the founder of Urban Prep, Tim King does, anything is possible.
As I watched the video of these young men, describing where they came from, what their mindset was, and then their transformation over the last four years, I am inspired.
It's a mini-lesson in success, including:
*the effect of positive self-talk
*the importance of dress
*the power of association
*the result of perseverance

Who knows what the future holds for these men? They may not all graduate college. Or they may not all be able to find their dream career afterwards. But I do know that they are different people, equipped with a different way of thinking, than who they would be without these experiences over the last four years.

Experiences of:
*being shown another way to live
*having a purpose, a goal, a target
*working hard and not taking anything for granted
*belonging, having a sense of community
*being valued, loved, and encouraged
*having others believe in them
and finally,
*believing in themselves.

Know Thyself

One of the more disturbing realizations I've come to about myself is that my attention span isn't that much longer than that of my almost-five-year olds.

I've been reading a book in which the idea of setting goals was written in great detail. I reflected on the dozens of books I have read and the hundreds of audios I have listened to which addressed goal setting and its importance to order to move forward and be who you want to be.

Why have I been so unsuccessful in setting goals, when I am fully aware that it's important? Why am I disheartened to set 30-day goals, 3-month goals, 1-yr, 5-yr, 20-yr goals?

Then it hit me. I have failed in setting 24-hour goals. How could I possibly hold in my consciousness 30 days, let alone 20 years, when I haven't even mastered, on a consistent basis, one day?

Discipline is the key.

And all discipline is, is remembering what you want. I know what I want (aka dreams). I know what I don't want (aka nightmares). Oh, but it's not knowing what you want, it's remembering what you want.

That's when I realized that I forget several times a day.

In the past, I've written down what I want. The challenge was, I'd forget to read what I'd written down, and I'd get swept up with the day-to-day demands on my time and attention.

So this time, I wrote what's important to me on a very red piece of paper that sits in my kitchen (where I seem to spend an awful lot of time). And rather than post it, like I've done in the past, the paper sits on the counter, having to be moved out of my way many times day and night. And as I move it, I read it.

I've set two alarms on my cell phone. One in the morning and one at night, bracketing my day, to remind me to read these desires of my heart.

Remembering what I want then affects the way I plan my time, and the thoughts and attitudes I choose to dwell on.

So though it's a bit embarrassing that I'm almost as easily distracted as my Kindergartners, it's empowering to know this about myself, and adjust accordingly.