“MAMBA TEACHING”: PURSUING OUR CRAFT WITH PASSION & PURPOSE

The 3 ‘Ps pretty much characterize the energy and zeal that I have exerted in my life to achieve the most important milestones. The 3 ‘Ps are the reason why I was able to earn my college degrees, marry the lady of my life, become a self-published author, and have a successful career as a teacher and ‘edupreneur’. In order to pursue any goal, you need to define your mission for doing it and determine whether you’re ready to face whatever challenges you might encounter. The 3 ‘P’s model is a framework of interdependent concepts designed to keep you grounded as you navigate the grueling roads of your educator journey. Given the depth of this conceptual framework, we will closely examine each of the three principles, namely pursuit, passion, and purpose.

THE PURSUIT

For anyone who is in pursuit of a goal, they embrace the process and exercise a level of discipline that enables them to endure any obstacles that come across their path. Furthermore, they approach the process with the understanding that anything they receive is earned as a result of their diligence and commitment to achieving their goal. They do not believe in “hand me downs” or taking shortcuts to the finish line.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word pursue means “to find or employ measures to obtain or accomplish”. In this case, the act of pursuing requires the individual to take proactive steps towards achieving a specific goal. To truly understand the power of the pursuit, one can examine the legendary work ethic of my all-time favorite basketball player, National Basketball Association (NBA) Hall-of-Famer and the late Los Angeles Laker great Kobe Bryant. The average basketball fan could easily identify Bryant’s greatness and athletic dominance every time he stepped foot on the basketball court.

On the surface level, it was obvious that he was the best player on the court on most nights but there was one distinguishable trait that separated Kobe Bryant from most NBA superstars. It was the insatiable desire to be the best version of himself not just on the basketball court but in every facet of his life. He called this desire the “Mamba Mentality”. On April 2017, Bryant wrote and published a short piece entitled, Obsession Is Natural, on the Players’ Tribune…