Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the 68th Annual ASCD Conference in Chicago.  The conference attracted over 10,000 attendees with over 400 sessions on just about every topic related to education you can imagine.  I was struck by the number of passionate and engaged educators from across the country that are working hard everyday to help their students and their communities.

One of the keynote speakers was Freeman A. Hrabowski.  He is president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, which has made a name for itself educating students of all types in the area of science, math and engineering.  He paraphrased a quote that I had heard before, but it reminded me that as educators and leaders we need to stay focused on how our our thoughts can impact our ability to help our students.

He stated,

“Watch your thoughts, as they become your words.  Watch your words, as they become your actions.  Watch you actions, as they become your habits.  Watch your habits, as they become your character.  Watch your character, as that becomes your destiny.”