Our Lady of Mercy School - Rio - 03/Jun/2014

1. Education
Dreams, Passion, Competence
Eduardo Chaves
chaves@liberal.academy
http://liberalspace.net
Our Lady of Mercy School
Rio de Janeiro, RJ
June 3rd, 2014

3. Sea Turtles
Facts:
They don’t get to know their parents
They don’t go to any church
They don’t belong to any club
They don’t attend any school
They don’t receive any education
Yet . . .
They already know, at birth, how to live their lives
on their own – they don’t need any education !
Because . . .
They are totally the product of their inherited genes

4. Can we do anything
right after we are
born?
Humans
Except, perhaps . . .

6. Humans
Facts:
We live a loooooooooooong time with our parents
We normally go to church - every now & then
We normally belong to a club (or more than one)
We attend several schools for a loooooooog time
We receive a lot of education – or should . . .
Yet, it so happens that, very often . . .
Many of us don’t know what to do with our life 
Or, worse, in the end, make a mess of it   
Why?

7. Humans
Our inherited genes do matter, but they are not all
We are also partially the product of:
Our home
Our communities (church, clubs, etc.)
Our schools
Our interactions with our peers
Our interactions with our culture
SO the various components of our environment also
matter
BUT that is not all either . . . There is still a challenge:

8. How to transform
these two . . .
into
these RICH two

9. or . . .
Into
these HOLY two

10. Dreams
We, humans are also the product of our dreams !
Dreams are much more than mere wishes
Dreams are wishes for which we are passionate and
for the actualization of which we are committed
to developing the necessary competencies
Dreams materialize in the choices we make . . .
To become true, dreams must be transformed into
life projects
People in business call dreams “vision” and a life
project “mission”

11. A Life Project
Personal component
Who we want to be as persons, as human beings
Who we want to share our life with
What friends we want to cultivate
Professional Component
What career(s) we choose to embrace
Who we want to associate or partner with
Social Component
What contribution we expect to make
What legacy we hope to leave

12. Execution
Dreams and life project, vision and mission, will
remain in our mind, or on paper, unless and until
they are executed, transformed into reality
To bring them into reality two more things are
needed
Passion, passionate commitment, motivation
Competence, the ability to act competently

13. Passionate Commitment
The mind is a wonderful thing: intelligence, high iQ,
reasoning, ratiocination, argument, problem solving,
these are all fantastic things to have
But we can have a brilliant mind and be a failure
The mind, by itself, is unable to motivate and move
us, to keep us going in the face of obstacles and
difficulties – especially in the face of failure
We don’t need an emotional intelligence: we need
intelligent emotions: respect for others, cooperation,
solidarity, resilience, patience, persistence, courage
Without them we will not get very far

14. Competent Action
These are perhaps the components most valued
by the 21st century: skills and competencies
Dreams, vision, life project, intelligent emotions,
etc. are necessary, but not sufficient: they are not
adequate substitutes for competent action
Discover as quickly as you can what sorts of skills
and competencies are required to transform your
dreams into reality, and then go and develop them
as well you possibly can

15. Final Counsel
Tomorrow, give yourselves two presents:
Get a copy of the movie October Sky, and watch it !
Buy a copy of Steven Covey’s best-selling book,
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, read it, and
keep it as reference !
And pray daily, following Reinhold Niebuhr’s (and
Ayn Rand’s) suggestion, for these three things:
Courage to do what needs to be done
Resignation to accept what cannot be done
Wisdom to distinguish one from the other

16. Eduardo Chaves
eduardo@chaves.pro
http://liberalspace.net
Slides:
http://www.slideshare.net/edwardkeys/our-lady-of-
mercy-20140603-english-theme-35274757
Thank You!