From the Head of Senior School

As we embark on the long weekend, and get closer to the mid-year break, it’s a great time to evaluate the levels of success over the past two terms. There are many ways to define success. Admittedly, we all want to be successful in our lives. No matter what our career or personal aspirations may be, we all hope to attain an element of prestige, achievement, and fulfilment.

A major part of success involves never settling for less. I’d say it goes even further to include NEVER SETTLING. Great success depends on the will and drive of the person involved. No matter how much you believe luck and circumstances affect one’s chance at “making it”, this is far from the truth. The person most in charge of your success is YOU. Conversely, YOU are also the biggest obstacle preventing you from achieving that success.

So how does one reach the pinnacle? How can I become everything I desire in my life? How can I reach all my personal goals, and even go beyond my wildest dreams?

Simple. You must become allergic to the idea of being average. Mediocre “success”, satisfactory work, and substandard results cannot be enough for you. If they are, retrain your brain right now. You need to develop an allergy to average. Success depends on being extraordinary and outstanding. In a word full of mediocrity and “just enough” you must become exceptional. You must be and want more than enough.

If you’ve been accepting less than phenomenal from yourself and from your work, you must retrain your brain to reject this. Changing your brain and your ingrained habits is a difficult process, but with commitment and a focus on your new, higher standards, soon you will come to find yourself accepting only the best from yourself and others. In this way, you’ll be honing your allergy to average effort, average performance, and average results. With even the smallest tasks, invest 100% of yourself with the thought that you’ll accept nothing less than the best work of your life.

Further than becoming allergic to average, your brain also must be rewired to reject negativity. Extraordinary success cannot be obtained without real positive thinking; hard work and effort must be supported by optimism and determination. If you start looking at things in more positive terms, you will find that reaching your goals becomes easier. Your dreams seem more obtainable when you are looking through the eyes of positive self-trust and having faith in good outcomes.

Becoming allergic to average will alter your behaviour and thoughts at the subconscious level, gradually changing everything you do to point you towards great success.

How does this translate to school? Is it too late? Why can’t I make a start? Why do I get started and fail to keep going? How do I combat procrastination?

These are all great questions that need answering. Taking onboard an ‘Allergic to Average’ mindset will be the first step to gaining the answers. Please take the time to check in with your daughters. How are they travelling? Are they feeling confident in their own ability to tackle the challenges in all subjects? Do they have good habits in place that have served them well over the first six months of the year? How will they prepare for a successful Term 3? How do they stay positive throughout the colder months?

A collaborative approach to seeking answers to these questions is always the best approach. The willingness to complete a personal review is the first step in becoming allergic to average.

Wishing all our families a great long weekend.

– Neil Scotney
Head of Senior School