The Power of Caring, the Precursor Stage to Growth & Development / #education #growthmindset #love #community #family

Not all of us have the same opportunities for educational growth. Not all schools are made the same, and not all home lives have the same developmental supports. This greatly affects how we see ourselves and our place in the community. A child or adolescent hailing from a home life where the father does not raise and instruct risks becoming a child being prepared for failure. We may not all have the same educational backgrounds and receive the same kind of quality education, yet the familial support systems we have have the power to ‘upright’ our vessels. Unfortunately though, parents whom do not care enough exist. I have seen it. Children are left to raise themselves up. Unless they are given another model to learn from, children living in homes where indifference is prevalent are at risk of repeating the same mindset and action patterns as their parents. These situations tend to formulate more in families with limited educational attainment and sparse extended-family support.

In this essay, I put forward that a caring environment is the precursor to human development and that from this vantage point, achievements occur and individuals can begin to focus on fine-tuning how they go about attaining goals.

• The power of caring is a game changer that unlocks the potential of an individual.

Teachers can enter a students life and bring hope, energy, momentum and a sense of urgency which may not be happening outside of school. Having people care enough about us can change everything. In situations where children have a lackluster home life, a caring teachers relevancy becomes more important. The power of caring conveys a non-verbal message that ‘you matter.’ When we feel that we matter, we begin to think differently about ourselves and our community. We begin to feel degrees of empowerment. We begin to feel like we can accomplish and that we are part of the community. Being in a caring environment creates the conditions for developmental growth, and this starts or accelerates our progress. A caring environment gives us room to breathe mentally and emotionally and this alleviation allows us the mindset of focusing on achievement. It is at this point that we can ‘begin our lives.’ For some, this moment comes sooner than for others. Sometimes, due to the absence of a caring construct, the moment never arrives. Those benefiting from an upbringing where they feel they are important and valuable think in different terms. Their self-worth is settled, and so they focus on growth. Herein arrive the next set of hurdles: growth and development.

• How we go about reaching goals is important.

It is not good to settle it in your mind that you will start your life in the second quarter. The first twenty years or so are not simply preparatory for the second and third quarter, though the days therein are filled with instruction and learning. Life is shorter than we think. The days come and go faster than we may appreciate. The question of how to spend our time, and to what life expectations we yearn for becomes prescient. Many a times, these questions are not answered and we ‘fall forward’ into life trajectories not entirely chosen by ourselves. Depending on our familial, educational and economic status, especially that of our parents, the formative years in the first quarter of our lives largely delineate how we enter into that second quarter. The ‘caring environment’ spoken of sets the continued groundwork for our development in the second, third and fourth quarter of our lives, and must be pre-existent in order to attain to the focus of achieving goals and developing effective processes to do so.

To this end, our mental, emotional and physical development directly creates the roads and highways on which we ‘drive’ in the second, third and fourth act of our lives. Changing our mindset from attaining a specific desired outcome to focusing more on how we operate in the process of achievement is of greater priority, and an achievement unto itself. This is the champion or growth mindset, (which is a focus on ‘process’ more so than an end result). It is in the daily ‘in and out’ of our individual journey’s the we rise and fall, soundly reach shore or get ‘washed up.’ Our inner life, made up of our beliefs, immediately create the mental models from which we derive our thoughts and actions. Acknowledging, even changing this ‘mindset thinking’ can then become an on-going, empowering realization that liberates us from perspectives that may be holding us back or not serving us best.

An entrepreneurial, project-oriented mind approaches life’s hurdles with a problem-solving mindset. Challenges and hurdles are always existent. Strengthening and preparing oneself to be adept at systematically overcoming these is essential to the successful entrepreneur, or self-employed person who creates their own streams of revenue. Like a surfer paddling past the surf break and rolling waves, an entrepreneur understands that giving up as soon as the waves start crashing in on them is not the way to surf. Instead, the surfer understands that in order to reach the surf lineup he or she must first smartly maneuver, duck-dive and speed over and under waves. It is a mental, emotional and physical process. The novice surfer may not know how to duck dive, or push there board under water with their arms and knee, in order to use the waves physics to pull themselves through a large wave. Not having this knowledge means that the brunt of the wave hits the novice surfer, pushing them back, forcing them to expend physical energy and leaving them farther away from that surf lineup. Being able to move swiftly through these challenges becomes paramount. Not being able to do so makes the entire experience rather unbearable. Being taught or somehow learning proper process sidesteps most of the turmoil experienced and thereby the mental, emotional and physical energy we bring is safeguarded. Hence, it is all about fine-tuning the processes we use to get to our goals.

For the consummate chef, creating a dish happens in the process. It is a set of parameters that are adhered to. Five people may make a dish using different parameters and creating different outputs. Some may overcook the chicken by three minutes, leaving it dry, while others may not sauté the vegetables with the right base, leaving them too oily, or even half-cooked. It is a chemical equation that is subservient to the mindset of the chef. He or she who enjoys their work will render a higher quality product because the details are important to them. On an innate level, they understand that it is all about the process.

In conclusion, love is the bridge that places hope in us to strive forth onto the next levels. Our basic humanity cared for, and given quality instruction, we move on to focus on the process of becoming better in our occupations. Without feeling cared for and valued by ourselves and others, all else falls by the wayside. So it is, the existence of a caring environment creates the construct, a springboard even, for the furtherance of our growth and development. It is from this ground that healthy mindsets can be formed, and it is from within this caring environment that mindsets and actions can be changed.