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This month's articles include:

• Listening to Learn (podcast)
• Episode 6: The 6 "Levers" for Improving Performance
• News from the Self-Growth Community
• Ask a Self-Growth Coach
• Self-Growth Tip: Surviving the Holiday Crunch: The Power of Your "Ideal Self"
• What do you know about LEARNING SKILLS?
• Targeting a Learning Skill: Identifying Irregularity
• Lessons We Can ALL Use (from Learn to Learn for Success)
• Can YOU Solve It? A Brainteaser from Quantitative Reasoning and Problem Solving
• Keeping an Eye on Higher Education
• FREE Webinar Series: Trump and Higher Ed: Understanding the Latest

Listen on...

This deep dive into the Theory of Performance provides a comprehensive breakdown of how worthy accomplishments are produced through high-level performance in various learning contexts. The analysis is built upon the integrated Performance Model, which posits that performance—defined as integrating skills and knowledge to produce a valuable result—is the product of six interconnected components: identity, skills, knowledge, context, personal factors, and fixed factors. Importantly, performers control five of these areas, allowing for continuous development and growth. The sources detail that making substantial improvements to performance requires recognizing that these components co-exist and cannot be separated. Optimal performance is achieved by adhering to three axioms: engaging the Performer’s Mindset (an optimal emotional state), promoting Immersion (an enriching environment), and fostering Reflective Practice. By advancing their level of performance through this intentional approach, organizations and individuals realize tangible outcomes, including increases in quality, capability, capacity, skills, and identity, alongside a decrease in the cost and effort required to achieve results.

Based on 1.2.1 Theory of Performance by Don Elger in the Faculty Guidebook). Created with the help of Notebook LM.

Ask a Self-Growth Coach

Even if self-growth isn’t your current focus, the questions and reflections in this article are likely to offer a perspective, insight, or quiet reminder you’ll find useful in your own life.

On December 3^rd the Self-Growth Community opened space for the uncomfortable, the unresolved, and the outright frustrating aspects of personal development. Participants were invited to bring their burning questions, inner contradictions, or quiet disagreements with self-growth culture into the open.



A rotating panel of three experienced self-growth coaches in each session responded to live prompts and participant challenges, offering insight, alternatives, and validation—not prescriptions. Similar questions were paired, and the coaches’ responses were refined into a shared tone of voice using suggestions from the Coach GPT. Paired questions were sequenced using five categories that follow the natural arc of a self-growth journey.

Orientation & Safety

These questions normalize why self-growth can feel overwhelming or emotionally heavy, reframing discomfort as a sign of honesty rather than failure.

Why does self-growth feel like just another thing on my plate, competing with everything else?

Self- growth often feels heavy when it’s treated as an addition rather than an integrator. When practices become extra tasks, they compete with work, family, and rest instead of clarifying what truly matters. That friction signals a drift from purpose toward process. At its best, self-growth simplifies—helping release misaligned commitments and act with intention instead of reaction. If growth is increasing pressure, the question may not be how to do more, but how the process could better support the life you’re already living.

Is it normal for self-growth to feel uncomfortable or emotionally heavier, especially when I’m doing it “right”?



Yes. Emotional heaviness often means self-growth is touching something real. As awareness deepens, misalignment, fatigue, or unresolved tensions may become harder to ignore. That discomfort doesn’t signal failure—it signals clarity. Growth often removes protective numbing before new strength is built. The work isn’t to rush past the feeling, but to stay present and honest. Self-growth isn’t meant to feel good all the time; it’s meant to support truth, agency, and alignment over time.

Design & Readiness

These questions explore how thoughtful design supports follow-through, and how resistance can signal readiness rather than a flawed plan.

What typically derails a weekly self-growth transition—and how can I design my week so intentions turn into action?

Weekly transitions often fail due to under-design, not lack of motivation. Intentions that are vague or disconnected from lived experience rarely guide action when life gets busy. Effective design starts with reflection—what actually happened, where energy dropped, and where progress felt real. From there, intentions need to be concrete and humane. Designing for specific moments and anticipating obstacles turns insight into small, realistic commitments rather than abstract goals.

What does it mean if I still resist journaling or reflection, even when my plan is well designed?



Resistance doesn’t necessarily mean the plan is wrong. Reflection can surface emotions or truths that require more inner strength than is currently available. Sometimes resistance signals overload, mis-timing, or that a tool no longer fits. Rather than forcing compliance, curiosity helps: What feels heavy? What am I protecting? Growth practices should serve readiness, not override it.

Principles vs. Practices

These questions separate enduring self-growth principles from adaptable practices, easing anxiety about “doing it right.”

Is it necessary to use every step in the self-growth methodology?

No. Methodologies are supports, not requirements. Each step serves a function—reflection, intention, learning—but value lies in fulfilling those functions, not rigidly following a sequence. Using every step can help when learning a system, but over time, discernment matters more than completeness.

Are there non-negotiable elements of self-growth—or is it acceptable to adapt practices over time?

There are few non-negotiable practices, but there are non-negotiable principles. Growth requires (i) willingness to reflect, (ii) choosing intentionally, and (iii) learning from experience—but how you do that can evolve. Adapting practices isn’t a lack of commitment; it’s often a sign of maturity.

Ownership & Identity

These questions help reclaim self-growth as an internally referenced journey, not a response to expectation or comparison.

How can I distinguish between authentic intentions and externally driven goals?

Internal resistance is a useful signal. Intentions aligned with who you want to become tend to feel meaningful even when difficult, while externally driven goals often feel draining or performative. Shifting from what you’re doing to how you want to show up restores choice and grounds growth in identity rather than obligation.

How do I stay engaged in self-growth without turning it into pressure or comparison?



Pressure arises when growth becomes socially measured instead of internally referenced. Much growth is invisible and nonlinear. If self-growth feels evaluative, it’s worth asking who you’re performing for. Re-centering on your own values restores growth as a personal relationship, not a ranking system.

Integration & Sustainability

These questions focus on closing a growth cycle with both ambition and permission.

How can I design an annual transition that raises expectations while honoring what actually happened?

Effective annual transitions begin by clearly marking the end of a cycle. Honoring effort, learning, and gaps creates a grounded foundation. Expectations should be high enough to require growth across multiple areas of life—otherwise, the bar is likely too low.

After surfacing resistance and doubt, what’s worth carrying forward—and what can I let go?

Integration asks for selectivity, not completeness. Often, it’s one insight that felt true or one intention that still feels alive. Letting go doesn’t mean abandoning growth—it means releasing pressure to resolve everything at once. The goal isn’t answers, but a trustworthy relationship with your own growth.

It is easy for your to-do list to become a source of guilt rather than a tool for productivity, but we'd like to share a strategy to reclaim your time this season:

Filter your obligations through your "Ideal Self," not your "Ought Self."

This isn’t just “Say NO” more often but something much more useful!

The Concept

• Your "Ought Self" adds items to your list based on guilt, external pressure, and the feeling that you should do something to please others.

• Your "Ideal Self" is rooted in your personal values, your long-term goals, and the person you actually want to be (e.g., a rested parent, a focused researcher, a present partner).

When you strengthen your connection to your Ideal Self, you can establish broad criteria (personal rules) that make saying "no" easier and less emotionally distressing.

How to Apply This Idea (Holiday & End-of-Semester Examples)

Instead of agonizing over every request, measure it against the criteria of your Ideal Self.

1. The Department Holiday Gathering

• The Ought Self (Guilt): "I should go because the Chair is hosting it and I don’t want to look uncommitted to the department culture."
• The Ideal Self (Values): "I value restoration and quality time with my children during this break."
• The Criteria: During the break, I only attend work events if they are mandatory or genuinely bring me joy.
• The Result: You politely decline the invitation to spend the evening at home.

2. The "Urgent" Student Email

• The Ought Self (Guilt): "I should reply to this student's question about next semester's syllabus on December 26th so I look responsive and helpful."
• The Ideal Self (Values): "I aspire to be an educator who models healthy work-life boundaries."
• The Criteria: I do not open my inbox between December 24th and January 2nd.
• The Result: You set an automated Out-of-Office reply and don't feel guilty about the delay.

3. The Extra Committee Request

• The Ought Self (Guilt): "I should join this ad-hoc holiday planning committee because my colleague asked me personally."
• The Ideal Self (Values): "I need to protect my mental energy to finish my manuscript in January."
• The Criteria: I am saying no to all new service commitments until the Spring semester begins.
• The Result: You say no immediately, knowing it protects your research goals.

The Takeaway: The stronger your vision of your Ideal Self becomes, the less power guilt has over your schedule. Use that vision to cross items off your list before you even start them.

What do you know about LEARNING SKILLS?

Targeting a Learning Skill: Identifying Irregularity

As any parent knows, children are naturally observant but often lack the vocabulary to explain why something feels "wrong."But there are LOTS of strategies that can make spot-the-error games enjoyable for everyone:

• Model identifying irregularity: Children learn by example, so verbalize it when you see it. Say things like, "Hmm, that car is driving on the wrong side of the road," or "Look, that streetlamp is blinking while the others are steady." And absolutely be ready for your young one to catch YOU breaking a rule. If you say no cookies before dinner but sneak one yourself, be prepared for them to identify that violation immediately! Teaching this skill means welcoming their corrections… possibly with more humility than you expected.
• Play "Silly Day": Intentionally do small things wrong and wait for them to notice. Put your socks on your hands or try to eat soup with a fork. This teaches them to recognize violations of functional rules.
• Play Categorization games: The classic "One of these things is not like the others" is powerful. Line up three toy cars and a banana. Ask which one is the outlier and why. More generally, asking children "What looks different here?" helps them scan their environment and trust their perception that an anomaly exists.

The SINGLE BEST tool for teaching irregularity in the arts is modeling critical analysis.



• Beyond this, "Genre breaking" can be incorporated into nearly any course. It can be a fun kind of critique where students analyze a piece of work (a painting, a novel, a film) specifically to find where it breaks the rules of its genre. For example, finding modern slang in a period drama or a surrealist object in a realist painting.
• Related is the idea of "The Unreliable Narrator." This allows them to practice skepticism, a central part of identifying irregularity. Students must identify where a character’s story conflicts with the facts presented, spotting the anomalies in the narrative.
• Another strategy is "Anachronism Hunting" in historical texts or movies. Students compete to find objects, language, or attitudes that are outliers for the time period being studied. This tends to work better than standard quizzes because it turns fact-checking into a treasure hunt.

Again, modeling rigorous verification is your single best tool. Additional anomaly-hunting activities in STEM courses can be a great deal of fun.



• The most basic tends to be "Debugging" where students have to look at a dataset, equation, or code to find the intentional error. Remember to intervene on process, not content, encouraging them to look for patterns first so the outlier stands out.
• Far more enjoyable for all, however, is playing "Safety/Logic Inspector." ANY course that has a lab or practical component (this includes computer labs!) can do this. The instructor can set up a workspace with intentional flaws (improperly stored chemicals, a logical error in a circuit diagram, impossible geometry in a blueprint) and task the students to identify the violations of safety or logic. You can also have students do this in groups, creating "broken" systems for other groups to diagnose.

There are many opportunities to engage in pattern recognition in our personal lives—first and foremost when consuming media.



• Catch yourself when you are watching a movie and notice a "Continuity Error" (a glass is full in one shot and empty in the next). Point it out and discuss how it happened.
• Other (fun) ways to practice are "People Watching" games—try to spot the tourist in a crowd of locals. Look for the outliers in dress, walking speed, or behavior.
• In any mystery novel or show, try to identify the "clue" that doesn't fit. What piece of evidence is the anomaly? This is most enjoyable when there’s someone else you can debate theories with.
• And finally, a game: Two Truths and a Lie! This is the ultimate social game for identifying irregularity. You must listen to three statements and identify which one is the fabrication—the outlier that doesn't fit the person's history or character. Make a note of the "tells" (body language or logical gaps) that gave the lie away.

Lessons We Can ALL Use

(from Learn to Learn for Success)

What we offer in our curricula isn’t ONLY helpful in the classroom. The holiday season is typically when we spend more time among family and friends and generally when many of us are feeling stressed or worried. THAT can be a recipe for frustration, knee-jerk reactions, and harsh words (even if we don't speak them aloud). But these reactions aren’t a foregone conclusion; we can learn to respond rather than react. We already help students deal with similar situations by intentionally reflecting on them and identifying pathways through the situations that are more productive than the well-worn ones. In the spirit of “Sometimes we ALL need this kind of help”, we offer the same to you!

From Experience 17: Defusing and Using Evaluation



The CHALLENGE is to identify situations in which you find it difficult to respond productively instead of reacting emotionally (in a negative way).

First:

1. Make a list of situations where you feel you typically overreact or where you're not really in control of your reactions (especially with people who know how to press your buttons or easily trigger you, emotionally).
2. Identify 2 or 3 of these situations to focus on in order to analyze your reactions.
3. Complete a Reaction Report for each of the situations. (The prompts are available below; you're welcome to copy & paste into a document so you can truly work through this exercise!)
   
   Then:
   
4. Analyze your Reaction Reports by completing a Reaction Conclusion Report.

Reaction Report

Situation:

My typical reactions in the past:

How people expect me to react:

Four possible ways I could react:

1.

2.

3.

4.

What would be the most productive reaction?

What did I learn from reflecting on this situation?

What new technique could I use?



Reaction Conclusion Report



1. Why I react the way I do in these situations:

2. How I am going to reduce non-productive reactions in the future:

3. How I am going to respond in ways that I can feel good about:



These are some of the stories and trends we're keeping an eye on.

International student enrollment has dropped sharply, with a 17% decrease in study permit holders from Q3 2024 to Q3 2025.

https://www.collegenews.com/article/international-student-enrollment-rate-in-us-falls/

Colleges have to prove their value to applicants, not just the other way around

https:// www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/colleges-now-have-to-prove- their-value-to-applicants-not-just-the-other-way-around/ar-AA1JlBeQ

Grad PLUS Loans Will Be Ending In 2026

https://thecollegeinvestor.com/58537/grad-plus-loans-could-be-ending-in-2026/

26 Stats for 2026

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/college-experience/2025/12/19/trends-higher-education-student-success-2026

How education changed in one year under Trump

https://hechingerreport.org/how-education-changed-in-one-year-under-trump/

And here are a couple of interesting articles we've stumbled over and found thought-provoking:

Colleges Are Surrendering to AI: Here’s a better strategy for equipping students for the age of artificial intelligence

https://www.persuasion.community/p/why-ill-encourage-my-students-to

The Resonant computing Manifesto

There's a feeling you get in the presence of beautiful buildings and bustling courtyards. A sense that these spaces are inviting you to slow down, deepen your attention, and be a bit more human. What if our software could do the same?

https://resonantcomputing.org/

FREE Webinar Series

Trump and Higher Ed: Understanding the Latest

(from the Chronicle of Higher Education)

Sign up for free today and you’ll automatically be registered for all three new dates, taking place once a month January, February, and March.

Sarah Brown, The Chronicle’s news editor, and Rick Seltzer, author of the subscriber-only Daily Briefing newsletter, will tackle the most pressing issues in higher-ed policy, helping you stay informed and prepared for what’s ahead.

• Session 1: January 21 at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
• Session 2: February 19 at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
• Session 3 (Audience Q&A): March 26 at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT