Hey, Coach Bob here to talk about What Matters Most.
Life Ladder
At iMatter we talk about our Life Ladder. There are different rungs of the ladder. I'm experiencing life, trying things, jumping, and looking for new opportunities. You can explore businesses, relationships, ideas, and adventures. I strengthen my ladder every time I go up and down it. When there’s an opportunity, we call that a wall. I put my ladder against the wall, I climb to the top, if it's not the right opportunity or the right time, jump, it's not that far. It's not a failure. Every time I go up and down that ladder of spirit, health, relationships, craft, and community, I'm strengthening my ladder and realizing what matters most more and more. That helps me to make great decisions.
Life Lessons
My wife and I created iMatter to teach our kids about some life lessons that we've learned and continue to learn. My 17-year-old son and 21-year-old daughter continue to teach us. (Thank you, Nick, and Grace). The latest example is my daughter seeing a wall. She was in the Michigan marching band from when she was a little kid. She went and did it and achieved it. It was a great experience, she climbed to the top and was like, “Okay, I did it”. Now, It's time to jump. She jumped with a smile on her face, joined, and then achieved it. What matters most is the music, community, and people that uplift her.
So then she joined the campus orchestra. They put on a production the other night, and they were high-fiving each other at the end, (like they've just won the World Series) it was amazing! So I am learning from her and from that night. She's going to be an engineer at the University of Michigan. She continues to work to achieve that and is three-quarters of the way through school. As you know, what matters most is connection, teaching, love, and uplifting our kids. So, she jumps off that mechanical engineering ladder and strengthens her ladder, realizing what matters most.
You Matter Most
It's not going into education. No, I don't think it’s just to teach some individual kids to change with education, but it’s to help kids know they matter at an early age. There were some amazing teachers that saw her for who she was when she was young, heard her, and connected with her. That made a big difference in her world.
Now she's giving back and she's gotten a ton of feedback, saying “It's not the right decision” “Are you going to make money”, “What about this and education is messed up” and she said, “You know what this matters most”. I just applaud her for knowing who she is, knowing what matters most, knowing why she's here, and doing it with a smile on her face and with passion. As a parent, I'm teaching my kids and I'm proud of all that my wife and I have done.
What's even cooler is I'm allowed to learn from my kids and I'm learning as much from them as they are from me and we're all learning together. So just keep climbing that ladder. Take a look around, and enjoy it. It may be the greatest wall in the world. It may not. If not, jump and do it with a smile on your face. I used to beat myself up for all I failed. No, I achieved and I'm here. It doesn't make sense right now and sometimes it does. Jump. It's not that far.
Thank you Grace and Nick for teaching me.
iM Coach Bob. Thanks for listening. Peace.
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