JKLTip How can you set goals to share your voice, your influence beyond your circle to the world?
The world seems so massive until it isn’t. Each passing day we get closer and closer to feeling like we are sitting right next to each other. We can build relationships, positive, or negative with people around the world. We can learn from and we can teach, or collaborate with literally anyone with the phone in our pocket. It’s pretty incredible, and if we can be vulnerable enough to put ourselves out there, to connect with others we can have a massive impact
Socially, what used to be a school, became a city, became a country, and then the world in terms of connection. As mentors, teachers, coaches, leaders of all kinds, we owe it to ourselves, to the professions we work in, but most importantly to our youth to become social media savvy. We need to provide digital opportunities for learning from people who set a good example and who we trust. We need positive role models, the types we would want our kids to learn from to engage with the platforms, to level the playing field on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest and whatever comes next, because if we don’t influence someone else will
It’s not enough to survive this seismic social shift. If we look at social media and content creation for all of the benefits it provides, we can connect our youth with leaders in every space. If we want to learn from the world’s best surgeon, or guitar player, we need nothing more than watch her youtube channel. If we think gratitude, or mindfulness is a priority then we can send a quick message to Eckhart Tolle. It’s really an incredible phenomenon, a massive opportunity and we are nowhere close to tapping it’s potential
In education specifically, this can be a challenge, because change must come from the top, from the support of unions and bureaucracies, not just rogue leaders made to feel we’re doing something wrong. Ethics matter as much, or more than ever, but we must not give up before we’ve started. We can’t give in to imaginary pressures, fear, or lack of vulnerability toward conventional wisdom and traditional boundaries when we know we can have a huge impact.