Latest / Amazing Life Breakthrough / Ep 68 | Back to School, One Thing at a Time

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Ep 68 | Back to School, One Thing at a Time · Amazing Life Breakthrough

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, here we are again.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's back to school time in the Pacific Northwest, which for many schools around here typically means getting started right after Labor Day.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: And today, September 8th, 2026, there are a whole lot of people waking up with a little more going through their minds than usual.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're a parent trying to get a grade schooler out the door with the backpack, lunch, water bottle, school supplies, paperwork, and hopefully two matching shoes.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have a middle school or high school student who has an entirely new schedule to figure out, new classrooms to find, teachers to meet, lockers to remember, buses to catch, sports practices to coordinate, and perhaps a whole new social world to navigate.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you're the student, maybe you're starting college and suddenly you're thinking about tuition, financial aid, books, class schedules, parking permits, housing, meal plans, professors, assignments, and exactly where that classroom is on a campus that seemed a whole lot smaller when you toured it six months ago.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: There is just a lot happening at once.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I think that is what makes starting something new so stressful.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: It isn't necessarily that any one thing is impossible.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's that your mind is trying to hold all of it at the same time.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: What if I can't find my classroom?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: What if I forget something?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: What if I'm late?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: What if I don't know anybody?
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: What if the teacher is difficult?
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: What if my child has a hard day?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: What if I pick the wrong class?
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: What if I can't keep up?
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Before you know it, you're not just dealing with Tuesday morning anymore.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: In your mind, you're trying to survive the entire school year before you've even made it through the front door.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Amazing Life Breakthrough.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Steve Klein, and this is where we talk about the meaningful discoveries and everyday life lessons that help us find our purpose, navigate the challenges in front of us, and hopefully learn how to live life to the fullest.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And today, as a new school year begins for so many families and students, I want to talk about something really simple.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to figure out the entire year today.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: You just have to figure out what comes next.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes we underestimate how much energy it takes to uh start something new, even when it's something good.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: A new school year can be exciting.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: New teachers, new subjects, new opportunities, maybe seeing people you haven't seen all summer.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: For college students, it could mean a whole new level of independence and the beginning of a chapter you've been looking forward to for years, but exciting and stressful can exist at the same time.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: You can be looking forward to something and still feel nervous about it.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: You can know that you're capable and still feel uncertain.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: You can be a parent who knows your child is going to be okay and still feel that little tug when you watch them walk into that building.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Starting new requires adjustment.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: And adjustment takes a little time.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Think about everything that happens during those first few days.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: You're learning where things are.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: You're learning people's names, you're figuring out the schedule, you're discovering which teacher wants assignments turned in online, and which one wants them somewhere else.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: You're learning how long it really takes to get from one side of campus to the other.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Parents are learning new routines too.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Pickup times change, sports schedules begin, homework starts showing up, lunches need to be made, calendars get filled, and suddenly that relaxed summer rhythm disappears.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: So if things feel a little frazzled right now, maybe the answer isn't to somehow become perfectly organized overnight.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the answer is simply to narrow your focus.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: What is the next thing, and not how am I going to handle the next nine months?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: What do I need to do next?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a student and you're worried about finding all six classrooms today, just find the first one.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you're going to college and you're thinking about every assignment listed in every syllabus, start by figuring out what is due first.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a parent and you're already imagining homework battles, school projects, conferences, sports schedules, holidays, and everything else that is coming, come back to today.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Get through breakfast, get everybody where they need to go when they come home, ask them how their day went.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's enough for today.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: There's another part of starting school that isn't listed on the supply sheet, and I think it may be one of the most important parts.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Give yourself and the people around you a little room to adjust.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: The first day doesn't have to determine the whole year.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you went to the wrong classroom and maybe the lunch didn't go as planned.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe your child came home disappointed because the person they wanted in their class wasn't there, or maybe you didn't understand half of what the professor said about the semester.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's the beginning.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Beginnings are allowed to be a little messy.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: We sometimes expect ourselves to immediately feel comfortable in places that aren't comfortable yet, but familiarity comes through repetition.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: You walk the hall once, then again, then again, and pretty soon you don't have to think about where room 214 is.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: You sit next to someone you don't know, then you say hello, and maybe a few days later you know their name.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: You look at a complicated class schedule, and within a couple weeks it simply becomes your schedule.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: What feels unfamiliar today may feel completely ordinary before long.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there's a lesson in that far beyond school.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever we enter a new season, we tend to judge it too quickly.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: We have one difficult day and think, I don't know if I can do this.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe you don't know yet, maybe you're simply new.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: There's a big difference between being incapable and being unfamiliar.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Being unfamiliar means you're learning.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: So here are a few things I would encourage you to remember as this school year begins.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: First, simplify what you can.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to solve everything today.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Write things down, use the calendar, pack what you can the night before, figure out tomorrow's priority instead of worrying about next month's problem.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Second, expect a little awkwardness.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Someone is going to get lost.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody will forget something.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody may sit at the wrong table, go through the wrong door, or discover that the morning routine needs a little work.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's not failure, that's adjustment.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: And third, pay attention to people.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes the thing that makes a new place finally feel okay isn't finding the right classroom or remembering the schedule.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's finding one person who makes you feel like you belong, someone who says hello, someone who shows you where to go, someone who introduces you to somebody else, someone who notices that you're new and makes the effort to include you.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to talk more about that on Thursday because I remember being the new kid myself.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: I changed schools in the middle of third grade, and I still remember how much it mattered that there was someone there who helped make that unfamiliar place feel a little less unfamiliar.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about that next time.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: But for today, here's your challenge.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're going back to school yourself, sending a child back to school, helping a grandchild, or simply starting some other new chapter in your own life when you begin feeling overwhelmed by everything that might happen, bring it back to one question.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: What is the next thing I need to do?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Not the next 20 things, just the next one.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Find the classroom.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Open the book, introduce yourself, pack the lunch, ask the question, take the next step.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because a school year isn't lived all at once.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Neither is a college education, a career, a relationship, or a life.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: They're lived one day, one decision, and sometimes one slightly confusing hallway at a time.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And if you know a parent, student, or college student who could use a little encouragement during this first week back, share this episode with them.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And follow or subscribe to Amazing Life Breakthrough because on Thursday we're going to continue this conversation and talk about something many of us have experienced at one time or another.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do when you're the new kid?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for spending this time with me on Amazing Life Breakthrough.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Steve Klein, and wherever this new season is taking you, give yourself a little time to find your way.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, as always, to live life to the fullest.