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The Oxford English Dictionary defines the American Dream as “the ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.”

I have been thinking about this since President Joe Biden’s visit earlier this month.  Whilst, I like the idea of hard work being rewarded and everyone having equal opportunities, I worry that the American Dream also delivers a message that puts career success on a pedestal or encourages dedication to the job at all costs. 

Lots has been written about channeling your passions, climbing the ladder and finding the perfect job.

So, I was intrigued to hear about a book called “The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work” by Simone Stolzoff which I think presents a new way of thinking about success and our dreams.

Read on to discover more…
Sinead

This month the President of the United States, Joe Biden, visited Ireland for 4 days.  President Biden has Irish roots and his visit included meeting with relatives as well as more formal duties like marking the 25 year anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.  

The term “American Dream” was first used in 1931 by James Truslow Adams and can perhaps be summed up with a quote from Joe Biden’s Democratic National Convention speech of 2020; “I’ve always believed you can define America in one word: possibilities. The defining feature of America: Everything is possible. That in America everyone, and I mean everyone, should be given an opportunity to go as far as their dreams and God-given ability will take them.”

Although, he has his detractors, I think Joe Biden is admirable.  He is perhaps an example of the American Dream himself as it is believed that when he was just 22 years old, he told his girlfriend that he intended to become a US Senator and then President.  His, is not a rags to riches story, as he was from a middle class family but he did overcome the challenge of having a stutter (reportedly by reciting Irish poetry).  Also, he has experienced many tragedies in his life but remained dedicated to public service.  He has recently indicated that he intends to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination to run for a second term as President despite being 80 years old.  

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Recently, I listened to a podcast from The Happiness Lab presented by Dr. Laurie Santos.  Dr. Laurie is Professor of Psychology at Yale University.  Her course “Psychology and the Good Life” is one of Yale’s most popular and has been adapted to be offered as a free resource from Coursera.  

The podcast I listened to was from 23rd Jan 2023 (S6 E4).  Dr Laurie interviewed Simone Stolzoff about his forthcoming book “The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work”.

For me, this presented an alternative to the constant striving and productivity chasing implied by the American Dream. 

Simone likens people’s extreme investment in their work to the type of dedication we might see to a religion.  He highlights how much of our identity is taken up with what we do for a living and the dominance it has in our lives.  He advises that our attitude should be “more about having an approach that what you do for work is not the entirety of who you are as a person.”

He uses the analogy of diversification of a stock portfolio and urges us to consider diversifying our identities so that we are not all consumed by our jobs. 

“The Good Enough Job” is one that allows us to have energy and time for other pursuits.  He argues this is also beneficial if we were ever to become unemployed as having other elements to our identity acts as a hedge against the feelings of despair that might arise if we lost the one thing that made up our identity.

Simone interviewed 100 different people researching for the book to try to understand how we could have a better relationship with our jobs.  From what I have heard so far, I think it will make interesting reading and I look forward to getting a copy once its released.

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“People work all the time, and so they aren’t sure of who they are when they’re not working. But because they aren’t sure of who they are when they’re not working, they end up working all the time.” Simone Stalzoff
 

“So how do I want to spend the rest of my life, I want to spend as much time as I can with my family, and I want to help change the country and the world for the better. That duty does much more than give me purpose; it gives me something to hope for.”  Joe Biden

This is the link to the free Coursera course, The Science of Well-Being, offered by Dr. Laurie Santos and Yale University

This month, we will change our clocks to move to summer time.  Some people use the phrases “spring forward” and “fall back” to remember which way we adjust the hour change.

By “springing forward” in March, we basically lose an hour of time.  Time is such a precious resource, losing an hour is not desirable.

Like many people, I have been obsessed with time and maximising it for many years.  I have been a multi-tasker always chasing greater productivity.

However, I am slowly realising that this constant pursuit of the perfect balance and productiveness of time is perhaps futile.  I have been influenced by the output of Oliver Burkeman and others and I hope you enjoy some of the observations below.

Wishing you a month of having all the time you need 🕰⏲⏱⏰⌚⌛

Sinead 

Oliver Burkeman is a journalist and author who lives in Yorkshire in the UK.  He is in his late 40s and for much of his life he has been interested in increasing productivity and trying out new methods to do things more efficiently.  Oliver’s book, “Four Thousand Weeks, Time Management For Mortals” was published in 2022.  Having spent many years chasing productivity increases using different hacks, Oliver shifted his thoughts to question why we feel the need to be ever more productive.

He has interesting observations around how people feel about mortality.  If we are always clearing the decks, getting organised and ready for the things we want to do in the future, then there is a sense that we have plenty time.  Perhaps its our way of tricking ourselves into thinking we are immortal.

In the final column Oliver produced for The Guardian newspaper, he wrote the following:

“It follows that the attempt to “get on top of everything” is doomed. (Indeed, it’s worse than that – the more tasks you get done, the more you’ll generate.)

The upside is that you needn’t berate yourself for failing to do it all, since doing it all is structurally impossible. The only viable solution is to make a shift: from a life spent trying not to neglect anything, to one spent proactively and consciously choosing what to neglect, in favour of what matters most.”

In the month when we “lose” an hour, we could embrace Oliver’s philosophy that there will always be more to do and therefore liberate ourselves from the feeling of having to get everything done. 

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In listening to a recent recording created by Oliver Burkeman, I was struck by his comments on saving time or waiting until we have enough time for something.  It’s so obvious now but the fact of the matter is I’m not sure I was consciously aware of this until I heard him say it. 

We can’t accumulate time ! 

What we have is right now.  Time is not like money or assets, we cannot put it aside for later or a rainy day.  Oliver suggests that it might be freeing to think about being fully present in the moment.  We just have this moment and then the next moment (we hope) and so on.  If we are worrying now about something that might happen in the future, perhaps that is a waste of this moment?

In the spirit of making the most of time, I have tried to be brief this month. 

I’ll finish with a comment from my own experience of  following a couch to 5km programme about 10 years ago – if you want 2 minutes to seem like a very long amount of time, start running !

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“Instead of saying “I don’t have time” try saying “it’s not a priority,” and see how that feels. Often, that’s a perfectly adequate explanation.” Laura Vanderkam
 

“The world is bursting with wonder, and yet it’s the rare productivity guru who seems to have considered the possibility that the ultimate point of all our frenetic doing might be to experience more of that wonder.”
 Oliver Burkeman

“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.” attributed to Albert Einstein although not verified

In the month in which we celebrate Valentine’s Day, I thought I would research a little about it’s origins. 

And I have taken the unusual step of offering some dating advice!

Sinead 💌

The origin of Valentine’s Day is not very clear.  It has been attributed to different historical festivals and events that are connected by romance, fertility and love.

There may have been 3 different saints called St. Valentine.  All are believed to have died in pursuit of their causes.

One story relates to 3rd century Rome, where the Emperor at the time believed that, for optimum performance on the battle field, soldiers should be single men.  However, legend has it that one priest, Valentine, continued performing marriage ceremonies for couples even when marriage had been outlawed for soldiers.

The pagan festival Lupercalia was celebrated on 15th February and this occasion is associated with fertility, so perhaps this also influenced our modern celebration of Valentine’s Day.

There are many species of birds which mate for life, including owls, swans and eagles.  St Valentine’s Day, celebrated on the 14th February, may have become associated with romance because avian mating season tended to happen in mid February.

Despite the vagueness of it’s origin, Valentine’s greetings have been shared since the middle ages with written greetings coming to prominence from around 1400 onwards.

In the modern Western World, Valentine’s Day is the second busiest time of the year for the exchange of cards and gifts, second only to Christmas.

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Now for the dating advice…

Part 1 – Who to date
“The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron is a book that I have enjoyed reading a number of times.  The book is set out like a 12 week course designed to help us to rediscover ourselves and our creativity.  One of the pieces of advice that Julia offers is that we should have a date with ourselves every week. Julia calls this an artist’s date.

Julia advises us to block off the time and do something we enjoy.  The date should not be our weekly grocery shop (unless that’s something we particularly enjoy) or completing any other task on our to-do list.  The date should be enjoyable and mindful, perhaps going for dinner or coffee by ourselves, going for a walk, painting or listening to music. Anything really, just so long as it is just ourselves investing time and enjoying a date with ourselves ❤.

Part 2 – Who not to date
My second piece of advice is adapted from a recent newsletter shared by author, Oliver Burkeman.  Oliver references a book called “The Path of Aliveness”, by Christian Dillo in suggesting that we shouldn’t invite our negative thoughts to stay for tea. 

The analogy is used to highlight that fears, worries and doubts are always hanging around.  By not pouring them a cup of tea, figuratively speaking, perhaps we won’t dwell on them, or ruminate over them.  Feeling unwelcome, hopefully those thoughts will pass by more quickly allowing us to return to a happier mindset.

So , block off some time, and do something fun, with !

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“Be healthy and take care of yourself, but be happy with the beautiful things that make you, you.” Beyoncé 

“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” Marthe Troly-Curtin

“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” John Lennon

I hope your New Year is off to a good start.  Regardless of where you are in terms of resolutions and new habits, I hope you enjoy January’s Belief Building.

Earlier this month, I read a newsletter called do5ive.  Page Grossman, the author, questioned the need for New Year goals.  She outlined what I thought was a very compassionate approach to 2023 resolutions. 

Her goals are adjustable! 

She intends reviewing them every month and making changes as she sees fit.  I liked her quote “Your goals aren’t meant to fix you. You’re not broken”.  Her advice is to focus on discovering who you are rather than fixing who you are.

If you do want to initiate some new behaviours that you want to be able to maintain, read on for advice from Steven Bartlett on how to ensure your new habits stick.

Best wishes for 2023!
Sinead

Steven Bartlett is a 30 year old entrepreneur.  He was born in Botswana and moved to England when he was 2 years old. 

He dropped out of university after just 1 lecture but has gone on to have many business interests, particularly in the field of technology and social media. 

The podcast he created, “Diary of a CEO”, is one of Europe’s most listened to podcasts.  He published a book ‘Happy Sexy Millionaire: Unexpected Truths about Fulfillment, Love, and Success’, in 2021.  

It’s reported that he watched the BBC’s business investment TV programme, Dragon’s Den, from its first launch, when he was just 12 years old.  When he was about 20, he tried unsuccessfully to be a contestant as he looked for investment for his own business.  Now, he is one of the investors on the TV  show, becoming the youngest ever Dragon in 2021.

There was a time when he was delighted after he found £13 in loose change as it allowed him to buy himself food when he was broke. His fortunes have changed dramatically in the last 10 years and his net worth is currently estimated at £300 million.

Steven continues to invest in people and projects that are at the cutting edge of digital progress and human advancement.

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Steven Bartlett offered the following 5 insights about habit forming on the podcast “Diary of a CEO” earlier this month (podcast #208).

1.Stress/Sleep – it’s almost impossible to maintain new habits if we are stressed or not getting enough sleep. Steven advises not introducing an ambitious new habit unless we are managing our sleep and stress.

2.Cue – Many of our habits are things we do on autopilot. We have cues which induce us to behave a certain way. We associate certain places or environments with certain habits. James Clear, author of ‘Atomic Habits’ has advice which overlaps with Steven’s. They advise to do things like have your sports clothes laid out in your bedroom so that when you get up, you automatically put them on and then this acts as your cue to exercise.

3.Replace not remove – Steven tells an interesting story about how his father gave up smoking. Steven’s father always reached for his cigarettes as soon as he sat into his car. He only smoked in the car and kept his nicotine of choice in the pocket of his car door. He broke his smoking addiction by replacing the cigarettes with lollipops. When he got into the car and opened his usual box, he found the lollipops that he had put there himself the day before. So he sucked on a lollipop instead of a cigarette and never went back to smoking.

4.Have a big enough reason – This will motivate us to keep going, whether we are doing something for our health or our family or our future self. Steven mentions his own fitness here explaining that he used to get fit to look good on summer holidays and then return to his poor exercise and eating habits for the remainder of the year. Whereas now, he maintains better habits year round as his motivation is to live a long and healthy life which he believes is a bigger and better reason than his previous reasons which were purely based on image and vanity.

5.Willpower is not enough – Steven reports on studies which demonstrate that we have limited supplies of willpower. We need to keep our goals realistic and attainable to avoid getting exhausted. It might be more sustainable and successful to have a series of smaller incremental goals rather than go all out after a challenging objective.

Steven finished the podcast episode with a bonus suggestion. He describes the secret power of posing a question. For example asking yourself do you want to be able to run 5km? reminds us of who we are becoming and may help us stay on track with our habit when we are lacking in motivation.

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“One person can change your life, that person is you”. Steven Bartlett

“Depending on what they are, our habits will either make us or break us. We become what we repeatedly do.” Sean Covey

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.”  James Clear

If you are curious about manifestation, you might be interested in Roxie Nafousi and her book “Manifest” which I write about below.

My simple understanding of manifestation is that if you believe in something strongly enough, you see the opportunities and take the actions to make it happen.

For many books, articles, podcasts, etc about manifestation, belief is the starting point.

When I created this newsletter, Belief Building, I hoped it might offer inspiration to grow self belief and belief in possibilities.

Thank you for believing in Belief Builder, I hope you continue to get something out of it and I wish you a festive break full of believing!

Happy Christmas 🎄
Sinead

Roxie Nafousi is 32 years old.  She was born in Oxford, England in July 1990.

She is now a self-development coach and author.

In her 20s, as a blogger and influencer, she had a party focussed lifestyle.  She socialised with celebrities including singers, models and cast members from TV reality shows.  She dated the artist, Damien Hirst, for 2 years whilst he was 25 years her senior.

In interviews, she describes her 20s as a time when she had low self worth and was abusing her health with illegal substances and alcohol.

In 2018, she began changing her life after listening to a podcast about manifesting.

Her book “Manifest – 7 steps to living your best life” was published in early 2022 and almost immediately entered the Sunday Times best seller list.

In the book, Roxie explains how she turned her own life around using manifestation techniques.

I have read Roxie’s book and also many reviews of it.  Some reviewers are critical about the new life that Roxie now lives, citing how privileged and well connected she already was.

I’m more positive about Roxie and congratulate her on her success.  She has written a very readable, easy to follow book, which describes the guiding steps she took to make changes in her life.

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Roxie uses tools like vision boards, affirmations, journaling and a gratitude practice to help her in the pursuit of her goals.

“Manifesting is a self-development practice.  It’s about being proactive, taking action, stepping outside your comfort zone, aligning your behaviour, looking at the way you treat yourself day to day, your habits, your routines and being able to embrace gratitude for all that you have already.” Roxie Nafousi

The 7 steps to manifesting which Roxie outlines are:

1. Be clear in your vision
2. Remove fear and doubt
3. Align your behaviour
4. Overcome tests from the universe
5. Embrace gratitude (without caveats)
6. Turn envy into inspiration
7. Trust in the universe

I have read other similar books, for example, Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” which is inspiring and interesting, although a more challenging read as it was originally written in the 1930s.

The term “manifestation” has trended on social media in recent years.  Podcast hosts and authors, such as Oprah, Gabby Bernstein and Mel Robbins, offer resources that introduce manifestation. 

Roxie’s book, with its distinctive orange hardback cover, is an uplifting and easy reading route to acquainting yourself with this concept.

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“Everything is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it.” Jack Canfield

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” Henry David Thoreau 

< “I promised you a miracle
Belief is a beauty thing
Promises, promises
As golden days break wondering >

< Everything is possible
In the game of life
A burning dream
You can be Queen
Everything is possible...” > Simple Minds – Promised you a Miracle

At the start of the year when I had the intention to send this monthly newsletter, I compiled a list of inspirational people who I thought I would write about.  This month, it feels appropriate to honour  the brave and inspiring Vicky Phelan.

As we watch to see what country will win the World Cup, I include a personal note about trying to win the World Cup of hip replacements. 

Thanks for the good wishes, jokes, book and TV recommendations that are keeping me going as I recover.  

Sinead

A number of years ago, some students and I were working on understanding the concept of critical thinking.  We discussed Vicky Phelan as an example of someone who used critical thinking. 

She questioned when it wasn’t easy.  She challenged authority and experts.  She dug deeper than the surface level information she was being given.  She did her own research into topics where she was not the expert. 

If you read Vicky’s autobiography, you’ll see that she questioned and challenged many things over the course of her life.  She showed bravery where many of us would have shied away from controversy and challenge.

She died earlier this month at the age of 48 leaving a legacy that I don’t think we can even fully appreciate yet. 

Whilst perhaps most well-known for exposing the cervical cancer screening wrongdoing, she campaigned for the rights of others and added her voice to many issues right the way through her own illness. 

A truly inspirational woman, may Vicky rest in peace. 

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Before, I had hip replacement surgery on 17th October 2022, I was very focussed on priming myself for the best and fastest recovery ever.  I was doing regular exercise to strengthen the muscles near the hip joint.  I was aware of eating well and stocking up on vitamins and creams all of which would be beneficial for me and ensure I would be Sinead 2.0 as soon as possible after the operation.

Then I had the surgery and came home from hospital ready to get going quickly.  I thought I would be driving and going for long walks within a few weeks. 

However, I had complications which meant I needed a second surgery on 25th October. 

Back in hospital, I felt a bit of a failure.  I was deflated. 

In the context of the orthopaedic ward in hospital, a 50 year old, not on any regular medication, is considered young and fit.  I should have been making a speedy and successful recovery and not dealing with set-back. 

Given my pre-surgery physio and preparation, I thought I was going to be the best example ever of a successful hip operation.

Lying in my hospital bed, my mind drifted.

If I were consoling a friend, I’d say things like we don’t always need to win everything, we are not perfect, we’re human and we need to be kind to ourselves and not always expect perfection.

Then I thought, how can I expect my children, my students or anyone I interact with to not pressurise themselves to be “winners” at all costs if the behaviour I’m showing them is that I wanted to be the “winner” of hip replacements.

I started to focus on acceptance.  

So now, I’m recovering slowly and I’m not in any race with myself or anyone else to be Sinead 2.0. 

In fact, given that I had 2 surgeries, maybe I’m heading towards Sinead 3.0 but at a self-compassionate pace!

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“The world is changed by your example, not your opinion.” Paulo Coehlo

“Individuals who are more self-compassionate tend to have greater happiness, life satisfaction and motivation, better relationships and physical health, and less anxiety and depression.”Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer, The Transformative Effects of Mindful Self-Compassion, 2019

“Every sunrise, every sunset, every blessed day. They all count. Every one.” Vicky Phelan

This month is significant for me as I can no longer be advertised as having all original parts.  

I have a new hip.  I’m recovering from surgery and really looking forward to being back to fitness and strength.

My hip replacement operation has inspired this month’s newsletter and I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for all the prayers, well-wishes and advice.  Progress is slower than I had expected but it’s still progress!

Until November
Sinead 

Roald Dahl was born on 13^th September 1916 in Wales.  His parents were Norwegian.  His early life experiences laid the foundation for many of the events and characters we encounter in his books.  When Roald was less than 10 years old, his father as well as one of his sisters passed away.  Roald spent many years feeling homesick at a boarding school which he didn’t enjoy.  Roald worked as a fighter plane pilot during WW2.

Roald was involved in a plane crash in 1940 which resulted in injuries to his head, spine and hips.  Throughout his lifetime, Roald had a number of surgeries to deal with these injuries.

Roald wrote his first book ‘The Gremlins’ in 1943.  This did not prove to be successful for him.  He followed that with books directed at an adult audience.  His success soared during the 1960s when Roald turned his attention to writing children’s books.  His books were comical and dark but had elements including children getting revenge on cruel adults which appealed to young audiences.

Roald did his writing in a hut at the end of his garden in Great Missenden, in Buckinghamshire, England.  He kept a number of unusual and specific items on his desk and these are now available to see at the Roald Dahl museum in Great Missenden where the contents of his writing hut are displayed.  Among the items is a part of Roald’s femur bone which he was allowed to keep after hip replacement surgery. 

Sadly, such souvenirs are now considered bio-waste so there is no such interesting item on my desk!

Some elements of Roald Dahl’s life and views have stirred up controversy but he did leave the world with a genre of books that children the world over enjoy.  He also invented close to 300 new words, however I doubt many of them are used in our day to day lives.  That said, I have heard scrumdiddlyumptious more than once, although never in the context of my own cooking!

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To Before I had my surgery, I read “Kindfulness” by Padraig O’Morain.  This book is about being your own best friend.  It’s not a guide to self-improvement so that you might love yourself when you are “improved”.  It’s about accepting and loving yourself as you are now. 

This book was easy to read and relatable and Padraig offers simple but effective steps to consider on the self-compassion journey.  There’s a wealth of advice in the book, so these are just some of the points that resonated with me.

Self-compassion and acceptance go hand-in-hand but that doesn’t mean we need to be accepting of a situation that is not beneficial or is suboptimal for us.  It does mean that when we don’t constantly criticise or berate ourselves, we have more energy for making things better.  Also, if we accept that nothing works out perfectly every time, we are more willing to take a risk and try.  Those who are unwilling to accept anything less than perfection become frozen in inaction and negative self-talk.

Recognising that whatever we are experiencing is also being felt by others is what Padraig describes as common humanity.  Generally, speaking we would not criticise or speak harshly to others in difficulty.  Padraig draws on the work of Dr Kristen Neff who suggests that maybe we are extra tough on ourselves because the harshness is taking place in our heads and not being said out loud.  We can notice that, just as we have forgotten to buy milk at the shop, so have many others.  We wouldn’t belittle and attack them verbally for such a minor mistake, so Padraig advises we should take a gentle tone of voice with ourselves too.  

The third and final element I’ll mention from Padraig is our Bombu nature.  I hadn’t heard of this before but it comes from a Buddhist concept which essentially encapsulates the fact that despite our best intentions, we can’t get everything to 100% perfection all the time.  We get in our own way because we have conflicting aspirations, we want to eat healthily and have good sleep habits but we also want to go to a celebration and enjoy the party food and stay up late.  I think “bombu” translates as “ordinary person”, so I think this is a great way of saying we’re human and humans aren’t perfect.  Padraig suggests instead of calling yourself an idiot when you make a mistake, just say “that’s our bombu nature” and use “our” as its all of us, not just an individual.

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“A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” Roald Dahl from The Twits

“We are imperfect beings who need not demand perfection from ourselves – such a demand is bound to fail! When you stumble, when you forget, when you say something silly – it’s bombu nature and it’s okay to be that imperfect being.” Padraig O’Morain

“Friendship with oneself is all important because without out it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.” Eleanor Roosevelt

As I tend to associate the month of September with education, this month’s newsletter profiles some world renowned teachers. 

I could name quite a few teachers who have motivated and encouraged me and I know those of us that work in education really hope we bring a spark of inspiration to our students.

If you are studying this month, you may be interested in the advice of Benedict Carey, who wrote the book “How We Learn”.  Read on for Benedict’s tips on maximising your learning potential.

Have a good month!
Sinead

The following educators have gone above and beyond their day to day role.  They are the three most recent winners of the Global Teacher Prize.

The winner in 2021 was Keishia Thorpe an English teacher in Maryland, United States.  The vast majority of students at Keishia’s school are from low income families and she teaches students who do not speak English as their first language.  Keishia came to America from Jamaica so had her own experience of being an immigrant in the US.  Her contribution to her students includes redesigning the curriculum to make it more relatable, founding a sports organisation to help students gain Track & Field scholarships and she also dedicates time to helping students apply for other college scholarships.  In the academic year 2018-2019, her students won scholarships worth almost $7 million at 11 different colleges.

Ranjitsinh Disale, a primary school teacher in Maharashtra, India was the winner in 2020.  He has been particularly influential in using technology in education and in promoting education for girls.  In the 10 years that he has been at his school, female participation in education has increased from 2% to 100%.  Girls that were previously getting married at the age of 12 or 13 are now continuing with schooling.  Ranjitsinh initiated using QR codes with textbooks to make education more accessible for all learners.  This hybrid approach also helped during Covid related lockdowns.  His innovations have been rolled out across India and he is an advisor in Education at the World Bank.

2019’s winner was a Maths and Science teacher from Nakuru County in Kenya.  Peter Tabichi is also a Franciscan Brother who donates 80% of his salary to support students.  His school is located in a rural area which faces droughts and floods, as well as poor infrastructure and facilities.  Peter has improved opportunities for his students by creating a Peace Club and a talent nurturing club.  His involvement in the science club has meant 60% of his students are now qualifying for national competitions.  Enrolment and progression to university have all increased significantly via Peter’s influence.

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To Do or Not To Do – Is that the question?

If you are facing into a new academic year or a new course at work, you may be interested in the wisdom from “How We Learn?” by Benedict Carey.  Benedict is a New York Times journalist who wrote this book in 2014.  The book is an engaging look at the biology of the brain and the science of learning.

Specifically, Benedict challenges the notion that hard work and constant study are the only routes to academic success.

He offers the following (based on the science he has researched) as worthwhile approaches to learning.

1. Vary your study location and time – different study environments aid retention and memory.
2. Space out your study time – it is better to study for an hour a day over three days than have one three hour study session on one day. 
3. Practice doing tests –also called retrieval practice as the brain goes to the extra effort of remembering information to answer a question.  This extra effort does more to retain information than simply going back over study notes or marking a passage with a highlighter pen.
4. Distraction or taking a break can be a good strategy to make a breakthrough in problem solving.
5. Interleaving – this is a study method that involves mixing related topics or question types rather than being 100% focussed on just one piece of material.  Benedict argues that this approach may also help us be more prepared when something unexpected occurs. Perhaps because it gives us experience with switching and adapting.
6. The next piece of advice sounds like something all teachers say – “start projects early, don’t leave things to the last minute”.  Benedict gives us the science behind why this is a good idea.  He uses the words “interruption” and “percolation” to explain the strategy. Benedict argues that once we make a start, we activate interest and then we become aware of other pieces of information, conversations etc. that might relate to our topic – we become tuned in and start to absorb and analyse our topic.  Psychologist, Bluma Zeigarnik, conducted a study in the 1920s which concluded that we find it easier to remember incomplete tasks rather than those we’ve finished.  So if we can start early and interrupt ourselves, our goal remains at the forefront of our minds and we allow the information we research to percolate in our brains.  The overall result being, we complete our task with greater motivation and we create a higher quality project than if rushing through the whole thing the day before the deadline.
7. If you haven’t already guessed it, the final learning tip is…sleep!  I like this quote from Benedict, “I think of sleep as learning with my eyes closed.”

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“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” Socrates

“The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you”. B.B. King

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty”.Henry Ford

Can you think of anything that’s impossible?

Hundreds of years ago it was impossible for humans to fly through the skies. 

However, there were some who believed it could happen.  Today the volume of people at our airports shows clearly that the impossible became possible.

Maybe whatever you think is impossible now can be achieved if you believe it can and don’t give up hope on it?

Wishing you a month of believing and possibility…
Sinead

P.S. If you know anyone else who would like to receive this monthly newsletter, please feel free to share it.  The link to subscribe is here

Elizabeth (Bessie) Coleman was born on 26th Jan 1892 in Texas.  She was the 10th of thirteen children born to her mother Susan, a maid, who was of African American descent and her father George, a share-cropper, who was of mixed African American and Native American descent.

Bessie was very bright at school but did not have the means to complete third level education.

She moved to Chicago to live with her brothers when she was 23.  Hearing about airplanes used in World War 1, sparked her interest in becoming a pilot, although many people told her this would be impossible.

At the time, females and African Americans were not permitted to attend flight school in America.  But Bessie was determined and had the belief that one day she would be a pilot. 

She worked in 2 jobs and took French lessons in order to achieve her dream of learning to fly.  In June 1921, Bessie earned her pilot’s licence in Paris, France.

For the next 5 years, Bessie performed as a stunt pilot becoming famous across America and Europe.  She was adamant to never perform where there was segregation and Bessie became an inspiration in breaking down gender and racial discrimination.

Tragically, Bessie died at age 34 in 1926 due to a fault with an airplane engine.  Bessie has been honoured in many ways since then. 

In 1992, the first African American woman to go into space, Mae Jemison, carried a picture of Bessie with her on her inaugural trip.

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Humankind’s fascination with flying is believed to date back to 400BC when early kites prompted inventors to think about how humans might be able to fly.

Around 1500 Leonardo DaVinci studied and wrote extensively about flight.  He was fascinated with flying machines and created designs, mostly based on his study of birds and how they flew.  Many believe Leonardo was a genius and credit him with having a vision for flight long before it became a reality.

Whilst not a winged structure, the first human carrying flying machine was a hot air balloon which travelled over Paris in the late 18th century.

In 1903, the Wright Flyer, the invention of brothers Wilber and Orville Wright was the first controlled aircraft to fly. 

For the following 2 years, the brothers worked continuously at improving their flying machine. By 1905, the Wright Brothers had an aircraft available for sale but they had no customers. 

Many questioned the brothers’ achievement and cast aspersions on their characters as well as their invention. 

Undeterred and with unwavering belief, the brothers persisted with promoting their aircraft.  Their fortunes changed in the following years, as orders for the planes increased and the Wright brothers achieved celebrity and fame.

Aeronautical engineering developed rapidly after that and less than 60 years later, Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet astronaut was the first man to travel to space in 1961. 

Not wishing to be left behind in the space race, President John F. Kennedy, then president of the USA, committed in the early 1960s that the US would build a rocket to take a human safely to the moon and back before the end of the decade.  When the president asked senior officials at NASA what would that take, the reply he received was “the will to do it”, i.e. as long as one believed it could be done, it would be done.

In 1969 the USA achieved this goal when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

Currently, space tourism is on the radar for adventurous travellers (albeit very wealthy ones) as space trips begin to be offered commercially by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galatic, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Whatever your thoughts are about a journey to space, you have to admire the strength of belief that these inventors, engineers, presidents and billionaires have.  Their plans would have seemed impossible initially but they believe in their ideas and they are making them happen!

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“The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air.” Wilbur Wright

“What we find is that if you have a goal that is very, very far out, and you approach it in little steps, you start to get there faster. Your mind opens up to the possibilities.”  Mae Jemison

“Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, ‘It can’t be done.”  Eleanor Roosevelt