It is said that in this world there are ‘doers’ and ‘dreamers’. The ‘doers’ tend to innately get things done, while ‘dreamers’ lack key executive functions, so their creative dreams stay in their minds. It is the combination of being a dreamer AND a doer that can be exciting. How does one become one of those?
It helps to have role models.  As Father’s Day approaches, I want to honor my father, Dee Beattie, for being an inspiring dreamer and doer.  One of his dreams, by many standards was a bit…eccentric. Mostly by himself, he built a three bedroom, 5,000+ square foot house that included an indoor 40-foot swimming pool with a diving board and whirlpool.
The eccentric aspects of this project require a bit of context to fully comprehend. The property was located near the end of a ten-mile dirt county road. When my father started this project there was no electricity on the property. Phone service wasn’t available until we moved in, some twenty years after he began. This was a sparsely inhabited rural mountain valley. And, you need to know that my family was often strapped for cash. It’s a challenge to make a living in such a rural location. But he did it: he built his dream house. How? Goal-directed persistence and little by little…
Only recently did I fully appreciate how he was the source of my ability to dream and do. He showed me how to dream big and then tackle that dream in tiny pieces. That’s what we did with our newest EFS class designed for teachers: Building Executive Function Skills in the Classroom. It was a full year ago that Madeline Wyse, Paige Morabito and I spent five days at the Oregon Coast to brainstorm and plan out our dream for helping teachers better understand the brain, executive functions and how to teach about them.
I can’t believe the number of hours we have put into the creation of this course. Just creating the videos took an average of one hour for each minute of finished video. And there are lots of videos! Will it be worth all of that time? We think so. We are really proud of this course. Please forward the link to any teachers you know.  Help us to bring executive function support to students experiencing this pain!
Are you a ‘doer’ who needs to pause and dream a bit to start working on a new project?  Are you a ‘dreamer’ who needs to sit down and make a plan to take the first step? If so, think of a role model that you might have, and contemplate how they have gotten things done, little by little. Let them be a source of inspiration!
We would love to hear about your dreams and first steps. It is very satisfying to be a dreamer AND a doer.
Marydee
