"A+..." 🏁 On Any Sundays

"Change your thoughts and you change your world."

—Norman Vincent Peale

Benjamin Zander is an English conductor who is currently the musical director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and a classical music professor at the New England Conservatory of Music. His students come from all over the world and each class has the same confused reaction on their first day.

After housekeeping notes, Professor Zander tells the class he has already given them all an A, there's only one condition.

Each student must write him a letter within the first two weeks of class.

The letter must be dated the following May when the class ends.

The letter must start with "Dear Mr. Zander, I got my A because..."

The letter must describe who they will have become by the following May to justify this extraordinary grade.

They must write as if they've fallen passionately in love with the person described, the person they would be and could be if they'd only silence the voice in their head saying they could never do it.
 

When asked why he does this, Professor Zander answered, "Because when I arrive to teach, I am now teaching the person described in the letter. You can give an A to anybody, your spouse's mother, your boss, your waiter, people driving in traffic around you, and once you do this, the relationship is transformed. The grade is not an expectation to live up to, it is a possibility to live into."

One student confessed in his prior class, he scored 68 out of 70, but was suddenly now an A student. He was delighted, and Zander responded, "The 68 is invented, the A is invented, we might as well invent something that lights up our life."

What future can you give yourself an A for today?

What would your letter say?

"I got my A because..."
-GFDD
 

PS. Want extra credit? Send us a copy of your letter and we'll check in during May to see how it's going.