Who I am… Who are you?
This is the title of a talk I gave to our AVID 7 and 8 students today. Not all of them were there as there was a rehearsal for the upcoming choir concert so I thought I would try to re-create the message here and maybe they might see it.
Who I am… Who are you? Two Stories about goal setting and my life.
I ask myself the question “Who are you?” all the time but the first time I remember answering that question seriously and honestly. It was May 19, 1991 and I made a commitment starting with I am… I was in 7th grade. Who I was back in 7th grade is not exactly the same as who I am today and will not be who I am in 5 years, 10 years or farther into the future.
I decided to share with you six of my many I am statements today. You see in order to make it through life you have to set goals and evaluate them. Sometimes you need to adjust them too. I have written these I am statements about who I am in my journal. I write in this as a way to keep track of my goals. Sometimes it is good to write them down on a piece of paper and carry them with you too. Other times it is important to share your goals/I am statements with good friends who can encourage you along your journey. Mostly I like to write them down like this:
I am a learner.
I am an achiever.
I am strategic.
I am valuable.
I am beautiful.
I am prosperous.
Now you should know that the wrong “I am” can keep you from rising to your potential so be sure that it is the right I am. I want you to know that I know who you are. I sat on the AVID site team and I helped choose you to be part of the AVID program at Valley View. I believe in you– in your talent, in your gifts and in your future. I believe that you are special and that you can change the world. But you cannot live life haphazardly. That means day to day or crazy. You have to have plans and know where you are going in order to get there. You will experience set backs but you have to learn how to bounce back. I did and you can too.
Back when I was a senior in high school I thought I would go to college far, far away but something changed that plan and I had to adjust. It ended up being better for me anyway. Things will come up but if you have a plan you will figure it out and stay on your path.
So let’s rewind to 1987. I was about 9 years old. My bedroom was neon pink and I had a poster of Michael Jackson on my wall. He was my favorite artist and I like to remember him as the man in that poster with the curly hair and the white suite laying next to the white tiger. Michael Jackson put out a song called Man in the Mirror. I remember listening to that song and it helped shape my I am statement back in 7th grade. You can watch the video here: Michael Jackson- Man In the Mirror . Notice the lyrics and the images of what was happening in the late 1980s.
Songs like Man in the Mirror shaped who I wanted to be back in 7th grade. I wanted to have a stable job with health insurance. I wanted to travel the world. I wanted to make a difference in the world. Now fast forward, I am 35 years old. I have a good job with health insurance, I have travelled to Africa, Europe, Central and South America. I have overcome obstacles and I believe I have made a difference in the world. Now I have to adjust and make more plans, dreams, goals- I have to define my “I am” again.
Today I want you to think about your attitude regarding who you are because your attitude determines whether or not you achieve your goals. It determines whether or not you live day to day or with a purpose. I want you to take a mirror and take some time to answer these questions:
1. Who am I?
2. What are you about? (What is your purpose in this life?)
3. How will you know? (What is your evidence? How will others know?)
Remember I have goals. I have clear goals for my next 3 months and 6 months. I have goals for 3 years and 5 years. Depending on what I am able to achieve will let me know how I have to adjust my goals, but I have a plan and I know where I am going in my life. Now is the time to figure out who you are and what your goals should be.