[Excerpted from the
Hero Soul ezine on Personal Growth]
I was reading about the success story of Urban Prep Academies, an inner-city Chicago school that achieved a 100% college acceptance rate for its entire graduating class of 107 boys. That’s an impressive figure in itself given the sad state of today’s educational system, but given the fact this was an inner-city school where only 4 percent of the school’s seniors were reading at grade level when they started out as freshmen – now that’s an astonishing achievement!
It got me thinking, what were some of the factors that contributed to such an enormous success, and more importantly, how can we apply these factors to improve our own lives and our communities.
The first thing that struck me was the exceptional staff support available to all students. Each student is assigned at least one staff mentor and all staff are provided cell phones so students can reach them day or night.
The second thing that got my attention was the psychology behind the success. The school has a Creed which is recited by all students in community each morning. Here’s a portion of the Creed:
The Urban Prep CreedWe believe.
We are the young men of Urban Prep.
We are college bound.
We are exceptional-not because we say it, but because we work hard at it.
We will not falter in the face of any obstacle placed before us.
We are dedicated, committed and focused.
We never succumb to mediocrity, uncertainty or fear.
We never fail because we never give up…
WE BELIEVE (To read the full creed visit:
http://www.urbanprep.org/about/creed.asp)
WOW! That’s one inspiring creed! How would your life be different if you had such an uplifting creed to energize you every day? Is there a way you could apply this creed psychology in your workplace, school, or team environment?
If not, then consider developing your own personal creed that you can recite out loud every day. Something short and simple using the personal pronoun I and in the present tense. I recommend laminating it on a business card or recording it on a CD that you can listen to and repeat while commuting to work.
To help get you started, let me give you another example. Here’s a wealth creed that T. Harv Eker has developed. It’s called “Attitudes of Wealth”:
http://bit.ly/czF0gkTo your success,
Sharif Khan
http://www.herosoul.comWriter, Author of "Psychology of the Hero Soul"
An inspirational book on awakening the hero within
Read the latest review on The Hero Soul by New Consciousness Review - Media for enlightened living: http://bit.ly/b55lbS
To subscribe to the Hero Soul ezine, visit http://www.HeroSoul.com and click on the ‘newsletter’ tab.
