Following in the footsteps of three generations of outstanding educators, I took on the career of a high school teacher in my early twenties.  Being the new kid on the block, I was given two classes out of five that were "at risk" students.  High school students don't usually relish in the idea of math class and most "at risk" kids seem to see math as a total waste of their time.  The challenge was to bring my students up to a standard set by the state of California, so they could graduate.

I turned to my mother, who had a thirty year career as a public school educator, as my mentor.  She inspired me to do what I like to do most…play.  So I created a game for myself and my students, which looked a little like the high jump.  I would set the bar for the minimum standard and once my students got close, I would move the bar.  Over the course of a year, not only did they meet the standard set by the state of California and graduate, some of them even exceeded the standard and went on to college.  Lesson learned, never settle for the minimum standard....always be moving the expectation for what is acceptable to what is possible. Excellence is the only standard!

Today, I find myself in a sales, marketing and public relations career. So many of my peers have  accepted conformity and doing what worked yesterday until it does not work anymore as the acceptable standard.  I find myself playing the high jump game in my post at the nation’s leading Automotive Management and Sales Staff Recruiters and Sales Performance Training firm .  When a staff member is overwhelmed with a perceived impossible task, I help them break it down into step by step achievable goals.  When a goal is set and a minimum standard is met, we move the bar.  The momentum of this individual is always moving forward and our goal lines are always rising.  What the individual once thought was impossible is not only possible, it is our reality.  This challenge keeps the over achievers motivated and the underachievers on the hustle.

It is not the slowest run time or the shortest jump that meets the mark.  Striving further than you once thought you could is how you make your mark in this world.

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