Alright, friends. The summer is over (I hope you had a great time and got some recharge on those batteries!) and the beginning of the new school year is looming large. Are you feeling excited? Anxious? Absolutely dreading it?!
No matter how you’re feeling about it, negative vibrations and emotions can show up in your body. So today, I want to make sure to address those thoughts and emotions in order to help you manage your mind before you get back in the saddle.
Over the past few years, my life has changed dramatically. I’ve been able to create a completely different life seemingly by magic. But what is the real reason for my shift? How have I managed to manifest this life that I love? In a word: coaching.
I recently had an interaction that reminded me that not everyone understands or believes in the power of coaching, so I wanted to take a moment here to address what holds people back from trying something new and different in their lives and why coaching feels so scary.
I am so excited to celebrate 30 episodes with you today, not only because it is an amazing milestone but it’s also another “Words of Gratitude for” tribute episode (in case you just found The Empowered Principal Podcast, every 10 episodes I showcase someone who has had an incredible influence on my life)! I love sharing the lessons I’ve learned from the brilliant people I’ve highlighted so far and today is no different.
Okay, so I wrote a book you guys. I finally overcame the fear of not knowing how and wrote my book after loving writing and wanting to write a book for years! And I owe it to Dr. Angela Lauria’s guidance and encouragement throughout her Author Incubator program.
Today, we are talking about increasing our awareness through questioning. Questioning… everything! We have thousands of thoughts running through our minds each day – thoughts that, in many cases, we’re not even consciously aware of. Normally, we’re in such a state of busy-ness that we don’t necessarily take the time to notice or question those thoughts that run willy-nilly in the background of our minds.
But it’s summertime now and that means we’re a little less hectic and probably a lot less likely to be judgmental or defensive, which makes this a great time to build the habit of questioning your thoughts!
Aiming for perfection in everything you do sounds like a positive practice, right? Why would you aim for anything less than perfection? We all want to be the best, but is implementing this mindset doing more damage than is immediately obvious?
This week, I’m expanding on perfectionism and our nature to seek external validation: how it affects our work and personal lives, and how it would serve us to kick it to the curb once and for all. You may be experiencing the problems I alluded to as a school leader, but you’ll be surprised to find out where in our lives this mindset originally creeps in and begins to mold our behavior.
As I’m sure you’re aware, summer is in full-swing, which means it’s time to deal with a touchy subject; family relationships. Sure, some of us have a great time with our families, however, for others, it can leave us wading through old emotions we thought we’d left behind. Have you found yourself going back to your childhood ways of engaging when you meet up with your family? I know I do – for sure.
Yes, we love our family, but especially when it comes to parents and siblings, things can get pretty uncomfortable. These relationship dynamics don’t stop there and can creep into other areas of our life as well. If this sounds familiar, my friend, this episode is for you!
Hello, my empowered principals! I hope you’re relaxed, enjoying your summer vacation, and maybe planning for the start of the new school year (or maybe not just yet!). Having some well-deserved time off is a good period to consider some major questions about your leadership and the way you approach your job, and I’m kicking it off in this episode!
As a leader, feedback and criticisms are something you’re going to experience fairly frequently. How you deal with these, however, is completely up to you. It’s easy to get caught up in the cycle that is people pleasing, but today I explore the difference between the feelings of guilt and shame and how they can be entirely optional!
Does giving your alone-time make for a job well done? We can feel like our boss demands more of our waking hours than we really need to give, and we go along with it for fear of looking uncommitted. The same thing can happen with our friends and family, creating an obligation that doesn’t lead us to more productivity or better relationships.
Especially as a principal, extracting the most from your time and being at peace when others critique how you utilize your working hours is going to help you through every day. But this reality isn’t limited to our professional lives. Time is a constantly scarce resource across every aspect of our lives – work and play.
As the school year is about to break for summer and holidays are around the corner, I’ve been thinking about all the changes that have been going on in my life. Today, I share a recent experience I had with a long-time friend and how our conversation sparked this week’s episode.
As leaders and educators, our aim is to be the highest versions of ourselves, allowing us to serve our colleagues and students, as well as ourselves. I’m all for transformation and striving to be the best we can possibly be, but sometimes our life choices and aspirations can make the people around us feel uncomfortable.
You might be doing some serious mindset work to climb the ladder, or maybe you’re on the other end of the stick, feeling fearful about the change you’re witnessing and struggling to understand where it’s coming from. Whatever the case may be, I’m here to shine a light on what’s happening and how it affects the people around you.
As an educator, you spend your time running around after students and teachers alike, sometimes it can be difficult to take a step back and really acknowledge the amazing work you do and how it makes you feel. Well, it’s the end of the year – you made it! You’ve been a school leader for the whole year and now is the time to sit back and reflect on a job well done.
Of course, there will always be things we’re not so happy with the outcome of, so this episode is all about how to not repeat your failures as well as taking lessons from the good times in order to emulate them in the future.
This isn’t about being judgmental – this is about using the STEAR Cycle to extract knowledge from your experiences and preparing you for the future!