London hated to see me coming. She was a fourth-grader who attended the first elementary school I worked in. In fact, I remember my first day on the job when a colleague introduced me as the new teacher’s assistant in town. London turned to me, greeted me with a dead-pan expression, and in a monotone voice blurted out “BLAH.” From day one, London was not a fan of mine.
But as with all my students, I put in the extra work to build rapport with her. And by the middle of the year, she would at least ask me for help on her assignments.
On one particular week, London’s teacher introduced a new topic called “find the missing number.” I was actually surprised at how engaged London was on the topic. Each day she solved the math problems with relative ease and even asked me for help when she needed it.
Until Friday…
On Friday, London’s teacher threw the class a curveball.
First, she wrote this problem on the overhead projector:
36/___ = 9
London raced to fill in the number “4” on her paper. No problem.
On the second question she wrote:
72 – ____ = 64
London wrote in “8”. Piece of cake.
Then her teacher threw the curveball:
7x=63.
A hush fell over the room.
Suddenly I saw a lightbulb coming on for London and I just knew that she got it. Her eyes grew to the size of silver dollars and with a look of panic, she blurted out:
“I can’t do that…THAT’S….ALGEBRA!!!!”
London. Completely. Panicked.
A topic she excelled at all week quickly turned into a monster under the bed. All with the introduction of one letter – the dreaded x.
London was fine as long as she was finding the missing number. But as soon as the variable was introduced, her entire perception changed.
London had silently convinced herself that she could not do it–that she could not do algebra. She closed herself off to the possibilities of attempting to solve the problem. What London failed to realize is that she had been doing it all along. London had been doing algebra all week!
Dealing with variables – or changing situations – is one factor that accomplishing dreams and solving algebra problems have in common. The key to dealing with change is knowing the right steps to take. Knowing the correct sequence in which to take those steps.
Eventually, London mastered algebra and the variables no longer made her spaz out. She took control of her thinking and made it work for her instead of against her.
What things are making you feel out of control? What variables do you want more control over?
Coaches act as thinking partners to help remove the fog and bring focus to a changing situation. You can schedule a Coaching Preview and begin to gain control of the variables in your life.
MY FUTURE IN FOCUS 
Love the pic: ACT. Yes!
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