per-se-ver-ance [pur-suh-veer-uh ns]

–noun 1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

Often times after one my presentations students will come up to me and want to ask me a question. What’s interesting is that the majority of the time it’s never a question that they want to ask. Instead, they just want to share their story and have someone truly listen. No judgment, no advice, just someone to hear their story with an open mind and heart. Afterwards they always ask me to share their story with others in the hope that it will help and inspire someone else.

The stories that I have heard over the past twenty years from teenagers and adults have had a profound impact on my life. When I share those stories they remind all of us about so many life lessons. One of the biggest being – perseverance. Here is an example.

I met Christopher R., a senior at a high school that I was speaking at last week in Pennsylvania. He grew up in a dysfunctional family, was abused until the age of twelve, had to move, and missed 50+ days of school in the 6th grade. He was placed in foster care where, even there, they did not provide clothing or other needs like hygiene products. After seeing so many other kids in the foster home go to new homes before he did, he grew very frustrated, but kept his positive attitude.

After five and a half years of foster care, he moved back to his mother’s house, where after 4 months, he had to move out because of difficulties with his mom. For the past year, his senior year, he has been living with a roommate in a house just outside of town, paying his own rent and expenses. Christopher is doing all of this while going to school and taking part in his church ministry. He will be graduating from high school with the most college credits than anyone else in his school.

He has recently signed an eight year contract with the Navy to be a nuclear engineer. I asked him what advice he would give to others and he answered, “To never let your past define your future, have faith, and persevere.”

Perseverance is a post from: Copyright 2010 Ed Gerety's Dream Big Blog

One of the inspiring things about my profession is the extraordinary people that I have the opportunity to meet around the country. This past Monday was a perfect example. I had the privilege to speak at The University of Southern California with all of the student athletes. This was my second time speaking at USC and the experience was just as phenomenal. Every person that I met in the athletic department was first class and went out of their way to make me feel welcome. The student athletes from the football team to the volleyball team were an incredible audience and very kind.

In my presentation, “Playing Big in the Game of Life” I talked with them about being a leader and making a difference in their community. I shared with them the power of living and leading your life with gratitude, respect, and the law of reciprocity. A law that reminds us to “do unto others as you would have others do unto you” and that what we give out comes back.

One of the student athletes that I met after my presentation is doing just that. His name is Greg Woodburn, and he is a distance runner on the USC Track & Field team. In November of 2006 he started a shoe donation program called “Share Our Soles” (S.O.S). The program is dedicated to collecting, and then washing and donating used (but in good condition) running shoes to underprivileged youth in distant nations and local inner-city communities. By providing these children — many of whom have never before owned a pair of shoes — with running shoes, S.O.S. aims to encourage a love for running and in turn spread its many benefits, from positive self-esteem and increased confidence to improved health and new friendships. To this date S.O.S has collected, cleaned, and distributed 3,107 pairs of running shoes.

Greg’s program is making a world of difference to deserving youth from Los Angeles to Mexico to as far away as Africa by giving them a chance to “lace ’em up, to take a step forward — and never stop running”. He is an example of one person making a difference and living an extraordinary life.

To find out more about this amazing program and how you can help visit:

http://shareoursoles.org

USC On The Run…. is a post from: Copyright 2010 Ed Gerety's Dream Big Blog

http://snipurl.com/7s4fy

Our son Ryan is turning four years old next week. It’s amazing how
quickly the four years have gone by and how our baby is now our little
boy.

This got me thinking about just how powerful the number 4 is. It
takes four years to graduate from high school and look how much
changes from when you start out as a freshman to when you become a
senior and graduate. I went to college for four years and the
friendships, experiences, and lessons learned in those 4 years
impacted my life forever.

When I look at the personal and professional goals that I set for
myself the majority of them are set in the increments of 4. What are
my goals for the next 4 weeks? What are my goals for the next 4
months? And what are my goals for the next 4 years?

How much has your life changed in 4 years? How much has it changed
over the past four seasons?

Because four is a fantastic number and to celebrate our son turning
this special number I’m making my book, “Combinations: Opening the
Door to Student Leadership” available for $4. per copy *plus shipping.

So I invite you to celebrate with us! You can order as many books as
you like. You can order 1, 4 or even 400!

It’s a great gift to give someone for the holidays or a great way to
reward your students and inspire them to keep reaching for their goals
as we go into 2009.

I will gladly sign each copy as well.

Thanks for reading. This offer will end Friday December 19th. After
that it will be gone 4-ever.

Here is where you can order your copy:

http://snipurl.com/7s4fy

Celebrate 4 With Us is a post from: Copyright 2010 Ed Gerety's Dream Big Blog