Trying Something Ambitious- April 30, 2019
"Sometimes failing at something ambitious can be better than succeeding at something easy."
This quote from the soapbox moment of #EduDuctTape really resonated with me this week as I listened on my drive in to work Wednesday morning. It reminded me of around this time last year when I decided to try something ambitious at the urging of my colleague, @PhelanNotes.
She had recommended that I apply to be a School Based Technology Specialist when the pool opened. At first, I was hesitant. This was only my first year in the county- would that be a problem? Was I good enough? Lucky for me, by trying something ambitious (my dream job), I didn't fail- but instead, I have had an extremely successful year- working at a job I love every day!
It made me think about how that mindset has affected me this past year. On Sunday, May 5, 2019, I am running the National Women's Half Marathon for the second time. When I signed up for my first half marathon last year with one of my friends, I wasn't sure I could do it. I used the 13.1 trainer since it had me do intervals of running and walking. Sure, I had trained but honestly, it was just my goal to finish. And I did finish- 2 hr 45 min. I pretty much ran in 2 miles spurts for the first 10 min and then did intervals for the remaining 3.1 miles.
So when I initially started training this year, my goal was to beat my personal record. (PR). I decided to stretch myself and started a 12 week Aaptiv Hit the Half program. It was HARD! There were many workouts in the beginning where I couldn't entirely do the program, and needed to modify it. But as many people say, you fake it until you make it- and that's what I've done. Last Thursday, on day 40 of my training, I ran for 2 hours straight! I wasn't fast but I did it. So with a little over a week until my next half, my goal is to run the whole time!
This mindset hasn't just influenced my fitness- it continues to impact my career. This week, I found out about an opportunity to be an educational specialist. Once again, my mind started to doubt- was I really qualified enough? But with this mindset in mind, I decided that I wouldn't know unless I applied and last Friday morning, I did just that. Even this blog/website was a risk that I wasn't sure about initially..
I can't predict the future- who knows how these latest two risks will turn out. But I do know that I am proud of trusting myself and being ambitious. As an educator, every time we do this and take a step out of our comfort zone, we grow as people and become an essential model for the young people we serve.