Adopting a positive attitude toward failed attempts is an important quality of successful people. Successful people fail more often than unsuccessful people, but they treat each failure as a learning experience that takes them closer to success. This is called failing forward. — Michael Josephson
Sneak Peek at Results of Educators’ Survey
(updated 12/4/13) Almost 4,500 educators (including 2426 teachers, 616 principals, 411 school counselors, 225 superintendents, and 79 school board members) have already taken the new Josephson Institute survey on the state of education in America. (If you haven’t already, please take the survey here and please share this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JIEducatorSurvey on Facebook, Twitter or elsewhere to encourage others to take it as well — the …
Greatest Quotes on Character, Reputation and Character Education
— The most comprehensive (nearly 300 quotations) yet selective collection of insightful quotations on CHARACTER, REPUTATION &
MEMO From Michael: How Are We Going to Get Out of This Mess?
I am finding myself out of patience. I have listened to mostly sincere (to the point of self-righteous) politicians and partisan pundits excoriate the people they disagree with. They evade uncomfortable questions and explain why they are taking positions that may be based on principle but have become little more than tactical maneuvering. The focus is on who should get the …
MEMO From Michael: Sneak Peek – Some Surprising Preliminary Results of Our Educators’ Survey
(Updated 11/26/13) Nearly 4500 educators (76 Board members, 225 superintendents, 616 principals, 2414 teachers and 406 school counselors) have already taken the new Josephson Institute survey on the state of education in America. (If you haven’t already, please take the survey here and please share this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JIEducatorSurvey on Facebook, Twitter or elsewhere to encourage others to take it as well — …
Note From Your Teacher: What I Want for You
NOTE FROM YOUR TEACHER: WHAT I WANT FOR YOU I want for each of you what I want for my own children. I want to help you be happy and healthy. I want you to be successful and confident, strong, resilient, and optimistic. BUT I also want you to be the best person you can be. I want you to
MEMO From Michael: Violence and Mass Killings: Our New Reality?
What a sad irony that right after re-living the tragedies of the 9/11 terrorist attacks we are confronted with another senseless mass shooting, resulting in 12 deaths and eight injuries at the Washington Navy Yard. And while we are digesting that, 13 people were shot in a Chicago, apparently the result of a random shooting by a roving gang. Do …
COMMENTARY: Making the Best of Family Relationships
For most of us, there’s something both wonderful and worrisome about large family gatherings. On the good side, we often can experience real pleasure in spending time with relatives with whom we have so many common memories. What’s more, being with parents, siblings, and cousins who have known us since childhood often helps us see ourselves
OBSERVATION: The only kind of lies entitled to the protection of the label “white lie” are those that will not diminish trust if and when discovered.
Why is it that the shade of a lie looks so different to the person lied to than the liar? People who lie, sometimes for personal advantage (including avoiding an unpleasant confrontation) and other times to protect the feelings of the person lied to, tend to see their falsehood in shades of white. People lied to tend to see the …
OPTIMISTS’ CREED. Did you know there is a club devoted to the promotion of optimism? Here is their creed:
Promise Yourself To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only of the best, to work only …
OBSERVATION: If you were given a wish from an all powerful genie as to one attribute for your children what would you choose. There are lots of candidate’s: honor, intelligence, perseverance, common sense, integrity – I want my kids to have all of this. But if I really could bestow on them one attribute I think it would be optimism.
Optimism is the most powerful of the children of positivity (experiencing the world and expressing oneself in positive terms). Its siblings: gratitude, enthusiasm, cheerfulness, hopefulness are other attitudes that not only improve the way we experience our lives, they set into motion actions and reactions that dramatically improve the likelihood of success as well as happiness. People react positively to …
Something to Think About: Why Are Young People So Cynical and What Does This Say About the Future?
Agree or disagree? “In today’s society, one has to lie or cheat at least occasionally in order to succeed.” This is a fundamental and revealing question on our surveys about personal ethics and integrity. Most interesting is that the level of cynicism is closely related to age. In an online survey on integrity (with 16,000 responses) we found that 43 …
OBSERVATION: Hard Times Test Our (My) Principles and Character
Life continually tests our principles and character with unanticipated twists and turns. Right now my convictions about positivity and gratitude are severely tested by economic pressures causing the nonprofit Josephson Institute to sharply reduce staff (from 32 to 16) and re-think how we can continue to pursue our mission in a world where schools have no funds for our program …
HOW TO BE A GREAT SON OR DAUGHTER
What kind of son or daughter are you? Are you as good as you could be or should be? Here’s a guide on how to get in the Hall of Fame. Father’s Day is set aside to honor dads, at least those worthy of being honored. But how often do you think about how well you did or are doing …
OBSERVATION: What if You Had a Bad Dad?
Some dad’s are/were genuinely great – worthy of praise and gratitude. Others were or are outright jerks or villains. Most fall somewhere between these extremes. How well you did in the dad lottery is something you had no influence on. If you got a good one, enjoy your good fortune and be grateful. If your father falls short
WORTH WATCHING AND READING: J.K. Rowling Commencement Speech, Harvard University
Read the complete transcript.
A Letter from Bogota: What Do You Think About CHARACTER COUNTS! in Colombia?
I am writing this post from Bogota, Colombia. I am halfway through a full week of high-level meetings and various presentations to educators, parents and government officials. What am I talking about? Ethics and character, of course. More specifically, I am sharing my thoughts and the Institute’s strategies and programs dealing with character development, parenting, education reform and the corruption …