Chapter 15
Gordon used an analogy of Abraham Lincoln and how he overcame so many negative events in his life. He was still able to unify the country and change its fate.
- "I am not bound to win, I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light that I have."-Abraham Lincoln
Chapter 16
George went into work on Monday after he handed out the bus tickets on Friday. The people he expected to not be on his bus were but he had 3 people that weren't on his bus. He had no idea what to do with them so he just let it go. Everything about the day was terrible because only some people were on the same page.
- You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. You can try all you want to get everyone on your bus but you can't make them jump on.
Chapter 17
Rule #5: Don't Waste Your Energy on Those Who Don't Get on Your Bus
If you worry about the people not on your bus, then you won't have time for the people who are on your bus.
- Relating this to teaching; it can be hard (thanks Ms. Rippole, another of my virtual mentors)! I think that a teacher could run into a problem here as you can't ignore some students but stay with the others. If you teach, you need (at least try) to teach all students not just the positive, ready to learn ones.
- Dr. McLean, my out of state virtual mentor, said “There is a fine line at times between helping a student and burning yourself out on them.” Knowing myself, I will have issues with that until I get used to juggling all of it. It’ll be hard but it’ll be worth it in the end.
Chapter 18
Energy Vampires are people who drain your energy from you (all of the negative people).
Rule #6: Post a Sign That Says NO ENERGY VAMPIRES ALLOWED on Your Bus
George has to have meetings with his vampires and with the 3 wolves that aren't on his bus.
Chapter 19
The Ultimate Rule of Positive Energy is not part of the 10 rules but is so much more important than them. It is "Your positive energy and vision must be greater than anyone's and everyone's negativity. Your certainty must be greater than anyone's doubt."
- You have to be completely focused on your positive energy. You can't waver from your goal, you have to stick to it no matter how hard it is.
- This is going to be hard during student teaching. I think that it will also be hard once I get into teaching "on my own" or whatever situation it turns out to be. I will have to work through it and go to my mentors for advice. If I am being honest, I know I am struggling with this right now. This is my last summer showing animals in junior shows (thank you FFA for letting me do what I love!) and I am more sad that I won't be able to do it again rather than being thankful for what I have done. I need to focus on what I can give to future showmen and women and how I can channel the sadness (negative energy) to happiness for the future (positive energy).
Chapter 20
George talks to his Energy Vampires but has a lot of nervous energy.
- I have always been told that if you are nervous, that means you care a whole awful lot. This is me mainly thinking about right before I go into the show ring with any of my animals. I get told I care too much. Oh well, I love it!
George fired a couple of his non bus riders and got hit hard with the truth. A couple of people told him that he had always been thinking of himself and not caring about his team members.
Chapter 21
In this short chapter, George had a dream in which his bus was saved at the last minute from impending doom. He just has to "trust that great things are happening."
Chapter 22
A quote from the book and I think a very popular quote was, "The goal is to not be better than anyone else but rather be better than you were yesterday."
- Yet again, I will relate this to showing my animals. I did pretty well at the Butler Fair (at least in my showmanship classes as I won pig showmanship and that's not even my main species). This month is filled with me working towards making my animals look the best that they can. The big thing that I am doing is going on a strict exercise plan with my 2 market lambs. It'll make them look better as well as serving as a weight loss "program" for me! Plus I'll be walking my pigs and steers close to every day as well.
Chapter 23
E-motion is energy in motion. Only let positive things influence you. Whatever makes you happy is what you need to do; even if it makes you look silly. George knew something was still missing from his team and their positive energy. Joy said he needed heart.
Chapter 24
It's all about heart. You need to be passionate and "lead with heart." This will help your team to have an overall more positive attitude. The "heart's electromagnetic field...can be detected up to 5 to 10 feet away" (page 100). This is why you can "see" others' emotions and how they feel about certain situations.
- The way it is described in the book reminds me of, "wearing your heart on your sleeve." Maybe someones energy field is just stronger in general or as emotions become higher, the energy field becomes larger.
- I put my heart into showing my animals and I can only hope that younger showmen can see that and will do the same in the future. This is so true in how I handle my last year as a junior showmen.
Chapter 25
CEO= Chief Energy Officer
Anybody on the team or at work can be this type of CEO. This doesn't happen quickly as you have to work at it. No matter who you are you can take on this role and be a positive energy role model for the people in your life.
Rule #7 Enthusiasm Attracts More Passengers and Energizes Them During the Ride
Don't let fear stop you from being filled with positive energy and excitement. Page 108 says, "Enthusiasm comes from the Greek word entheos, which means 'inspired' or 'filled with the divine.'" Be filled with positivity and be happy! Show what you love to do by being extra excited...but not fake.
Focus on yourself and your energy will do all the work for you.
- Ms. Rippole advised me on this that it is true. She said that it changes the attitudes of the students and gets them ready to learn and listen.
Sara, thank you for including a mix of quotes, key points, and rules to remember for each chapter. You did a much better job of including and integrating feedback from your virtual mentoring team into your writing. As you begin to draft your last post, I challenge you to include your own examples for how you plan to incorporate and relate the key message from each chapter into your teaching and the agricultural education classroom.
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