Christa Avampato

“If you just focus on the work…someday, when you get where you are going, you will look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there. And that will be the greatest feeling in the world.” ~Taylor Swift, 2016 Grammy Awards acceptance speech

We’re surrounded by distractions. At home, in the office, and in the world. They pull our focus, time, and energy.

Here’s the best trick I’ve found—work on something that you love to do more than anything in the world and surround yourself with people who share your desire to do something wonderful with your life. I also make lists of things I want to do and post them everywhere so I am constantly reminded of the work that matters most. Combined, these forces are no match for any distractions. I happily shut off my phone, disconnect from my high-speed wi-fi, and away I go. I love my life. I love my creative projects. I love the people whom I’m luckily and grateful to have around me. That’s my focus.

“There is no special ingredient. It’s special if you believe it’s special.” ~Mr. Ping, Kung Fu Panda

I was flipping through the channels on a snowy President’s Day and came upon the scene in Kung Fu Panda when Po feels so defeated and let down. He’s just realized that his nemesis is stronger than he ever imagined and believes he lacks that something special that would transform him into the Dragon Warrior. Then he learns from his father, Mr. Ping

So often we’re searching for a silver bullet – this one magical element that’s going to make our lives, projects, relationships, careers, and jobs better. We think everyone else has it and we don’t. The truth is that what we’re doing is special if it’s special to us. That’s all that’s required, and that magic comes shining through to others when we’re doing what we’re meant to do. Shine on.

“We are sometimes taken into troubled waters not to drown, but to be cleansed.”

If you’ve ever been in a tough situation, one that seems impossible, unfair, and just too heavy, you may have said something like, “Why me?” I’ve been there so many times. It can sometimes feel like the ground is shifting far too much for far too long. All we want to do is catch a break and catch our breath.

It’s times like that when I think about this quote, and then I remember to float and learn. Some of my most powerful lessons have come from tough times, seemingly impossible times, when I couldn’t see a way up, out, over, or through. Those times have made me fearless and relentless. They’ve made me brave and strong. They’ve made me humble, grateful, empathic, and loving. And those are things that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

So let the tough times roll. And let the joy, the learning, and the grace surround you during all of your times—difficult and happy alike. The light returns, it always returns, if we remember to look and be open to its many shapes.

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

A friend of mine has been trying to get a new project off the ground and he’s facing a lot of opposition. I spoke to him the other day after a very tough day on which someone who is small-minded, insecure, and incompetent did everything possible to make my friend feel inferior. My friend is talented, thoughtful, and capable, and that was a hard combination for this other person to face. Petty people like his adversary take others down to make themselves feel better. They hate nothing more than seeing people do well because there’s a real self-loathing beneath that thin veneer of arrogance and narcissism.

If you’ve faced this kind of person, just know this: karma is the perfect accounting system. The world will eventually treat us the way we treat others. Though I was sad and angry on behalf of my friend, I have no doubt that he is going to be successful. He is powerful and passionate, strong and wise. And he follows one of my very favorite life mantras: Work hard and be nice to people. That’s the way forward. Everything else (and anyone who tries to get in the way of that work) is just noise.

The inspiration that I got from attending the Teacher for America 25th anniversary summit is still going strong. Yesterday morning, I channeled that inspiration and started working on a new education technology idea to help children everywhere to understand the historical context of the world around them—the world that they’re inheriting and stewarding for the generations whom we may never meet.

The idea, which I’m calling Project Rubeus as a code name, was inspired by two panels I attended: “Then and Now: The New Civil Rights Agenda and Education Reform” and “Building a Movement: Learning Lessons from Successful Social Change Movements”. They were multi-generational panels and I was struck by the framing of them as powerful and potent histories of the social movements that continue to fight for justice and equity to this day.

Children need new lenses through which to view history. They need to know who came before them, what those people did, where they lived and worked and marched and raised their voices, what they were fighting for, and why it matters.

There is now so much history that children need to sift, process, contextualize, and utilize, all while being cognizant of the world they live in today. It’s overwhelming for most adults to manage. Imagine how overwhelming it is for a child. Project Rubeus is working to solve this problem for children. I’m excited to work through this idea and see what happens.

“Good things happen to those who hustle.” ~Anaïs Nin

I’ve found that the number of good things that happen to me is directly proportional to how much I put myself out there. I connect, listen, learn, and share. I think of the hustle not so much as something I have to do, but just opening myself up to new possibilities. I love the hustle. When I get tired, I rest. When I need some solace, I retreat. And eventually I gather up my strength again, and I’m ready for the next new challenge. There is so much to do in the world—so many problems to solve, people to meet, places to go, and things to learn and discover. It’s all out there waiting for us so let’s get going.