The Pursuit of Happiness as a Teacher: Step 1
The Pursuit of Happiness: Self Care Essentials
Self-care is the act of both recognizing and understanding your physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional needs while doing what’s necessary to restore a sense of well-being. As teachers, we tend to neglect the importance of implementing self care in our daily lives both inside and outside the classroom. Without regular self-care and mindfulness, you’ll find yourself oftentimes more vulnerable to stress, fatigue, anxiety, and depression.
The first installment of this topic outlines some of the physical essentials and tips of self care in regards to training, exercise, and recovery so you can take time out of your busy schedule to practice self-care in order keep yourself sane, healthy, and happy.
Make a Plan: The Power of Intention
Teacher burnout is REAL!! Lesson plans, staff meetings, interventions, evaluations, and student behavior issues can and WILL take over your day. If you don’t give yourself time to check in with yourself on a regular basis, you may feel a sense of disconnection from yourself and your goals. The more you avoid your own needs, the more overwhelmed you can and/or will become.
Setting weekly or even daily intentions whether in training, work, and with other life responsibilities takes no more than five or ten minutes, and it keeps you connected to your goals, aspirations, and needs. In short, this means taking a moment to pause before the day begins and asking myself what I want to get out of it.
Consistency: Chase the Habit Not the Result
Consistency and structure are BOTH key components when it comes to setting intentions, attaining goals, and creating a long term view of who you wish to become and when it comes to wellness, finance, socially, or any other area of life. Chasing the habit revolves around consistency, structure, and routine.
The way we as educators begin the process of change in our lives is through awareness and intentional daily action. By creating realistic goals, setting intentions, and focusing on the process rather than the result, we can bring attention to detail to our own thoughts and actions that brings us closer to our aspirations rather than further away.
To achieve our goals, we need to identify the steps that will get us from point A to point B. To stay committed to those steps, we need the right focus and MINDSET to get us there.
Without the right mindset, it’s easy to get distracted or talk yourself out of your goals. That’s why you need an intention. It’s a reminder of what you’re capable of. It helps you NOT be swayed by your thoughts when they try to convince you that other things are MORE important. Sometimes LESS is more.
STAY READY: Make Adjustments NOT Excuses
LIFE happens and there will be times you're probably going to get distracted from your goals, aspirations, and weekly intentions. Our brains respond to whatever gets thrown at us in the moment, so it will take conscious effort to remind yourself of the intention you set for the week and stay present in your mindfulness. Your schedule might change from day to day or week to week. However, you need to make a non-negotiable NO MATTER WHAT plan that you will not make excuses that will enable you to keep and make yourself a priority in your pursuit of self care. This selfless approach is essential in every aspect of life. From wellness to helping others attain their own personal goals and aspirations, we can’t be at our BEST if we have nothing to give by not taking care of ourselves.
If you want to get started with your self care goals. I am here to help. If you join us inside my membership The Platform you can get the help you need straight from me! Here is the link to check out The Platform and how it can change your life.
https://www.rollentsmithiii.com/free-trial
