Dr. Bill Brennan, cofounder and former co-owner of School Leadership 2.0, and newly appointed Superintendent of Massapequa Schools recently participated with some of the district's high school students in a very unique project.  His report on this process and the written essay he created is published below and will give every school leader some real insight.

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This morning I took part in one of the most inspiring learning experiences I’ve seen in 23 years. These kids were amazing and it was an honor to participate with them. This was extremely hard and I encourage everyone to give it a try. Learn more by researching - This I Believe

Building My Courage Muscle

Dr. Bill Brennan, Superintendent of Schools

It’s an emotion that every single human experiences, yet one most people avoid having to face when given the option. Can you guess which emotion I’m talking about?

Fear.

For me, I believe fear equals opportunity.

Life’s been a journey, and now at 45 years old, I have more appreciation for the journey than I do the destination. As I reflect, I’m going to use a few animal creatures to help explain where I’ve been and how I made the leaps forward. This is a story about ducks, the African impala and zebras.

Ducks are interesting creatures. On the surface they look calm, but under the water they’re moving like crazy. This was me. I had my facade of this perception of solid strength, but inside, the worrying and anxiety tried to take over. Worrying had been junk food for my fears. I changed this by paying attention to my thoughts and becoming more self aware. Being still and noticing when I worry has taught me how to tune into this mostly useless emotion and use it to my advantage.

I used to be like the leaping African Impala. Not literally of course! The impala can jump 10 feet in height and 30 feet in distance. Amazing, right. Sadly, I have no ups, but what’s so interesting about the African Impala is that it won’t jump at all if it can’t see its landing on the other side. Paying attention to the fear of the unknown and leaning into it, has taught me why it’s there and how to use it to my advantage.

I am a creature with primal instincts and my reptilian brain always says run from fear. The good news is that I don’t have to listen to that brain. Honing this self- awareness has caused the big shift.

What's awesome about being a human creature is we have a unique superpower called self-awareness. When the signals of fear show up, I start channeling the mantra “fear equals opportunity” and I am able to shift my intention in that moment.

We need to be more like zebras, with the exception of fighting off lions. I became curious about zebras after discovering the book, “Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers” by Robert Sapolsky.

The premise of the book is that zebras don’t sit around worrying about things. As creatures living in the wild, their biggest concern is to respond to the lion that is chasing them - in the moment. Zebras won’t worry about the lion that almost caught them last week, or the one that might chase them in the future. They are in the moment, because their survival depends on it. Fear is their response to living another day.

For me, fear equals opportunity, unless of course I’m on an African Safari and I have a lion coming after me. Fear is a lifesaver and when I started to lean into my fears, my courage muscle began to grow.

Everywhere we turn there are signals telling us we are in danger. If you let the unconscious mind control you, fear will take over. Turn off your unconscious, auto-pilot mind and turn on your conscious mind. Pay attention to any self-doubt, activate your courage muscle and lean into the opportunity masked as fear. Recite the mantra “fear equals opportunity”. Rinse, repeat. You are building your courage muscle.

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