The Importance of Encouragement

I don’t remember a whole lot about the specific lessons I learned in high school, but I do remember the Pythagorean Theorem.

The Pythagorean theorem is the one that provides an equation to calculate the longer side of a right triangle by summing the squares of the other two sides. Or written as an equation:  a² + b² = c².  My geometry teacher, like so many others over the past several centuries, challenged my class to come up with a proof. Maybe some of us tried, but none of us succeeded.

On Sunday evening “60 Minutes” featured a story about two high school girls who successfully solved the problem using trigonometry, something mathematicians had thought impossible. The media coverage of their accomplishment has been extensive.

When asked why people were so impressed, the girls responded, “because we’re African American… And we’re also women… oh, and our age.”

But these girls come from a very long line of barrier-breaking students who attend St. Mary’s Academy in New Orleans, a school that was founded on the premise that the girls who attend can accomplish anything.

The message the girls hear from the minute they walk through the door is that their potential is boundless.

This blog is not about math. It’s about capital E – Encouragement. I believe that a strong dose of encouragement significantly increases anyone’s chance of success, even when faced with serious setbacks or obstacles.

When we try to protect our children from Failure (the real “F” word) by not offering encouragement, we are paving the way to lack of success.  This is true not only for our children, but ourselves as well.  Perhaps the best way to avoid failure is simply not to try in the first place. But it is also the best way to never achieve any of your dreams and goals.  Ever.

Which is why I encourage parents and students everywhere to use Encouragement. It is a basic, and yet pivotal tool for success.

Why?  Because it works. Just look at the two high school students who solved a math problem that mathematicians thought was impossible for almost 2000 years.

They are my proof.

Alan

PS.  Additional proof.  Every student at St. Mary’s Academy in New Orleans over the past 19 years has graduated and been accepted to college.