Seriously. I love learning. I wish I could say I have always been that way, but to be completely honest, I haven’t. I was always very good at playing the game of “school,” but I never had a genuine love for learning as I grew up. I was driven to do well by my desire to please my parents, my teachers, and my coaches, and I knew that if I wanted to “be successful” in life I had to “do well in school.” I had what Dr. Carol Dweck would call a very “fixed mindset,” and it stuck with me all the way through my college years.

I was a good student, but I focused on achieving, not learning. I hated reading with a passion. Again, I was good at it (maybe just “good enough”), but I hated it. Being a double major in history and psychology was not good for someone who hated reading, but I managed to survive. Thankfully, I had a few professors who were masterful presenters that could keep my attention, and I had the motivation of my football coaches and my teammates to keep me in those books that I had such a disdain for. I remember the night I graduated from college. I was very proud to be graduating from a great university, but I still remember thinking, “Man, I’m so glad I will NEVER have to take another class again.”

As an educator, all of that is a little bit embarrassing to admit, but there is a lesson to be learned here.

I did not start reading for pleasure until I was in my late 20’s. I was a young football coach, and a friend of mine started sharing some stuff he had read by a guy named John Wooden. I thought it had value, so I decided to check it out. I quickly devoured one of Wooden’s books. Then another. Then a couple of football-specific books. Then there were Tony Dungy’s books and Jeffrey Marx’s “Season of life.” Then I started reading stuff from Lou Holtz, Bobby Bowden, and other hall of fame coaches. The next thing you know, I had started building a small library of books on leadership, coaching, and motivation, and not only was I reading all of these books, I was LOVING them.

What changed? Why did I now have this newfound love for reading? I found something I was passionate about! I saw the value in investing the time to learn, and I knew that what I was learning was not only impacting my own life but also the lives of the students that I served. That changed EVERYTHING for me. Wooden, Bowden, Teaff, and Holtz quickly shifted to Dweck, Pink, Gladwell, and Gordon. The next thing you know, I had earned my master’s degree in education administration, and I had begun making plans to begin working on my doctorate in the future (so much for never going to class again).

The vision I now have for my future is so much different than what it was 5-10 years ago, and that is the direct result of falling in love with learning.

Last night I finished reading “Innovator’s Mindset” by George Couros, and that’s what led me to write this post. So much of what he wrote about in his book resonated with me. There are many students (and adults!) out there that are just like I was. They are good at the game, but they are not learning about or pursuing their passions and dreams. Why aren’t they? Because we, as educators, are not providing them with enough opportunities to do so. We are not connecting them with enough authentic learning experiences. We are not challenging them to be the creators that they are capable of becoming. I say “we” because I am the guiltiest of sinners.

I wrote this post for a couple of reasons.

First, I want to challenge all of us to pursue a passion. Everyone should have something that they are passionate about, and they should be sharing that passion with the world. Get out of your comfort zone, and find a way to share your passion with an authentic audience (even if it is a very small one). You’ll be amazed at how much better the act of sharing will make you, and you never know where that might take you.

The second reason I wrote this is for the educators out there that might be reading this. I want to challenge all of us to put ourselves in our students’ shoes, to really try to think about learning from their points of view. In his book Couros challenges each of us to ask, “Would I want to be a student in my own classroom?” That is a powerful question, and I think that question can drive us to some phenomenal improvements in the way we engage our students.

Even though the school year is more than 75% complete, we still have the opportunity to finish strong, and we will most definitely have the opportunity to help someone fall in love with learning. Take advantage of those opportunities.

One final side note:
I cannot say enough about the way Couros’s book challenged my thinking as an educator. It is a great read. His book sits solidly in my personal top ten, and if you are in education (regardless of position/title), this book is definitely worth your time.