Catching up with friends is an energy boost for the head and heart. Our friends have the capacity to inspire, motivate and soothe because infused within the bonds of friendship is the recognition of shared experiences and complimentary beliefs. Since friends are the people we trust, we can relax in their company and enjoy the moment. It is within this mindful state that confidence, creativity and innovation flourish. Recently I was lucky enough to reconnect with an old school friend who I had not seen or spoken to for over 10 years. Over coffee we shared recent pasts, reminisced over shared histories and contemplated the future. We investigated ideas and examined social assumptions. In other words we chatted for hours, entertaining our hearts and invigorating our minds. The challenge for schools is to recognise and harness this form of energy.

Imagine learning the skills that will lay a foundational mindset which will enable you to accomplish whatever it is that you set out to accomplish. Too often when we are at school we forget that this potent energy force may be channelled equally into social and academic endeavours. The simplest and most tangible example which comes to mind is the ‘study group’. When conceived within a similar mindset to that of the corporate world’s ‘mastermind group’, the study group becomes a powerful vehicle for blending and creating critical thought processes.

Too often schools are viewed as institutions responsible for the dissemination of knowledge. Teachers teach, students learn and knowledge is restricted to what can be ‘remembered’ and regurgitated in a test. However, in reality schools should be the hub where young people gather the tools they need for their future. Today, content information is easily accessed by those who have the skills required to find it. More importantly, understanding or ‘knowledge’, is available to those who have developed the skills of critical analysis and critical thinking. Thus, it is not ‘knowledge’ which is the key, but ‘aptitude’. What must be remembered is that this is not a ‘new’ feature of 21st century living. Rather, it is a principle that has existed for a very, very long time.

This was made blaringly apparent to me when, stimulated after chatting with a friend, I reflected on my own school days. I realised that some classmates who did not ‘succeed’ in school, did succeed in life. Conversely, some who achieved at school have not achieved the same pre-eminence in the ‘real world’. Of course, some who were successful at school have achieved in life and some who struggled, have continued to struggle. The obvious message here is that ‘success’ or ‘failure’ at a school, in particularly the ability to perform in school examinations, does not provide a direct correlation to an individual’s ability to ‘perform’ in life. Rather, what does have an impact is ‘mindset’. Attributes such as creativity, flexibility and courage, when combined with qualities such as determination, persistence and critical thinking, merge to promote constructive thinking programmes. In other words those who have a proactive mindset are more likely to achieve what they set out to achieve than those who simply wait for opportunities to come to them.

Schools have the opportunity to help students develop these opportunistic thought processes because schools are places where friends gather, information is shared and ideas are generated. You may like to envisage a scholastic ‘coffee club’ or ‘study mastermind union’. In this case you will find yourself recognising that moments shared with friends are powerful moments and if you were to harness this energy imagine what you could achieve.