Resilience in the face of challenge.
Triumph and Disaster (part of the experience).

Nothing in life including success can be guaranteed, even if we have given it our best effort. What our best effort or Tohea does guarantee is the best chance of success, being the best version of ourselves. Our best efforts give us the chance to learn and be better today than we were yesterday and at Rutherford, we know this to be what winning really is.

Striving for personal excellence is really all about the work habits and the resiliency developed, these are the true rewards for the effort made. It is about the intrinsic character developed and not so much about the individual grade or outcome.

Winning and the long-term path to happiness and success is about meeting with triumph and disaster and treating those two imposters just the same. Just keep focused on what is important now, the next step from where you are now.

Those of us who know the game of snakes and ladders, we understand that when we play the game most of our moves are rolling the dice and moving forward in slow increments heading for the top of the board. Then there are ladder moments or moments of triumph when things accelerate and then there are setbacks when you hit a ladder and slide back down the board.

Regardless of the previous move, the next roll of the dice is what is important. Stay in the game, roll that dice and understand that whether it be triumph (ladder) or disaster (snake) all you need to keep on doing is roll the dice.

In life, we have to learn that for the most part, life is about rolling the dice every day, and moving forward in small but determined increments day by day. There will be triumphs (ladder moments) and disasters (snakes).

The more we learn to take ownership and responsibility for what we can control the better. Strive for personal excellence, which at Rutherford means to be best version of ourselves that we can be.

How do we be the best version of ourselves? It starts by being here all the time on time. We can then take another positive step toward this when we turn up planned, and we contribute our 50%. If we are on time and planned, we have a much better chance of being switched on and giving the mahi expected of us a proper nudge. Little steps in the right direction daily and learning to accept that we will meet with triumph and disaster along the way. Finally, I urge that you remember to treat those two imposters (triumph and disaster) as opportunities to learn and be better today than you were yesterday.