VITAL: A METHOD OF THRIVING
VITAL is an acronym that I will explain below. Essentially, this is the distillation of a process that most of my successful students -- and friends -- seem to have followed in their lives.​
The VITAL Method was born of frustration: So many of my essay students who engaged me as Seniors seemed to have had no real plan for maximizing their growth and development. I wanted to give them one.
We always start the essay writing process by identifying the student's core values, then brainstorm on the growth experiences that flowed from them. Some had great ones; more did not.​
So, I decided to start this process a few years earlier, while students still have time to maximize their growth.
(Obviously, Seniors and even older folks do too, but this is within the context of preparing for college.)​
Here is a brief explanation of the VITAL Method:
Values
What do you believe in? What drives you? Not what you want on your resume -- what you feel in your gut.
Identity
What do those values tell you about who you are? What does your internalized self-image compel you to do?
Talents
That stuff you you do? You're probably starting to get good at it. What talents are you developing?
Actions
What specific, intentional actions can you take to get even better? Take them!
Learning
Pause, reflect and understand what you've learned from these actions.
Did your values or identity change? Did you do everything you could to get better today?
Now go back to the beginning with these learnings and do it again. This is a circular process that reinforces a set of habits that lead to success. Taking a 'one day, one task' approach is the key.
This process does not end with admission to college. In fact, that's only the beginning.
True mastery is the product of countless small actions, built upon durable interests that yield sustained habits.
NOBODY achieves mastery by the age of eighteen. But using the VITAL Method, your student can start on the path to it.​ I can serve as an accountability partner to help engrain the habits that lead to thriving. Details when we speak.
