PDREIMAGINED ISSUE 7
Welcome to your last issue of PD Reimagined for the 22/23 season!
It has been quite a year, with it seeming to fly by at warp speed! But since we want to finish strong, we thought what better way to celebrate a finale than to chat with the former bodybuilder, fitness personality, serial entrepreneur, actor, bestselling author, and producer - Jake Steinfeld (maybe better known as Body By Jake)!
But it made us think about what strength really means because it had a slightly different meaning for each of us. For some, it was physical strength reminiscent of Hulk. For others, it was a calm strength with grit and awareness - more reminiscent of Yoda. Then again, it might refer to the confident swagger of someone that simply has a plan and believes in themselves. Perhaps in truth, strength needs all of these things. Confidence, belief, grit, and a little muscle (or at least sweat and tears!).
Certainly, Jake seems familiar with all of the above. Although he describes his early years as an unlikely bet on Mr. Universe (he recounts himself as a "chubby kid with a stutter" and later a "college dropout"), he had an idea, imagined what could be, worked toward it, and persisted when it all felt impossible. This approach made him a success and a pioneer across sectors, including founding the first-ever fitness network (FiTTV), and co-founding the first major league lacrosse league! Yup, he certainly knows what to do with an idea!
Summer can be an excellent time to reflect, so take the time to ruminate on new ideas, make plans, and act on those ideas! You will feel refueled and more energized! As educators, you are the guides to our future thinkers and innovators! What better way to inspire them than to model your own actions fueled by inspiration?
#FoodForThought
Love from the PDR team
Creativity is crucial for innovation and problemsolving. The reason for this may lie in our tie to old patterns and ideas.
As human beings, we are wired to have certain cognitive biases toward the familiar. For example, we recognize "rules" that determine outcomes so that if you see words with missing vowels, you can still make sense of them, especially if the rule was already confirmed for us.
In Beau Lotto and Amy O'Toole's Ted Talk Science is for Everyone, kids included (2012), they ask the audience to read aloud the phrase "Can you read this?", then "Ca y u rea t is?" and different variations thereof. Instinctively, the audience continued to read the exact same phrase aloud as if ignoring the missing letters or automatically correcting the errors left by the missing letters.
Similarly, we are often tied to concepts of what is possible based on what has already been done. This is why play is so important. It removes the rules of what can be and provides the freedom to innovate.
Consider what existing ideas restrict you, and fact-check whether it really should.
The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.
- John Maynard KeynesSpending time ideating (either by yourself or with colleagues or friends) can prompt your creativity and give you a surge of energy that can lift you out of any rut!
But to make the most of such sessions, consider first what the desired outcome should be - what makes you feel strong and confident or feeds your sense of purpose? As Einstein famously said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.”
Just as crucial as the pre-planning is the celebration following action! It is not easy to act on an idea or change old habits, so make sure you break it up into small actionable steps, then try to stay aware of progress and celebrate the small wins along the way!
It may mean that you give yourself a few minutes before bed to reflect and journal, which is more powerful than sharing with your favorite pot plant because, like a "before and after" picture, it gives you something concrete to look back on and recognize how far you have come!
RIDDLE
What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in a thousand years?
The following problems will require you to think outside the box!
1.
Can you figure out what is missing for each X to uncover each word. (hint: they all have something in common!)
3. This sentence contains exactly threee erors. Can you spot them?
Q: What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?
A: ... (Huh? a rhetorical question makes a point and seeks no answer, so a rhetorical joke doesn’t have one either!)