3/7/23: The Bigger Picture :)

Let’s stay focused…

Helpful Stuff
Journaling: this is a non-negotiable, needle–moving part of my morning. I set a timer on my phone for 15 to 20 minutes so it's uninterrupted, free-flow writing.

I had done it for years sporadically without much intention nor organization, but lately I have truly realized the truth behind the phrase “Less is more”.

Some people get fancy (or complicated depending on how you look at it) by dividing their journal into sections like business, personal, professional, or any other subdivision of your life.
I write about everything in my journal: teaching full-time, this business, my kids, the things that excite me, the things I'm working on, and everything else.

I may put a paragraph heading before I write about a specific area in my life, but there's no formal separation —and that works for me. I just want to share ideas to set sparks off in your own head and you do what works for you!

I know we all have a million things to do, and more is piled on each school day, but if you can, write with your students when they are journaling!

This helps in the following ways:

• it models the importance of journaling and your genuine buy-in for it
• allows for you to journal even on limited time
• writing it out by hand instead of typing is slower and therefore gives you more time to process your thoughts and emotions, which is incredibly valuable

Here’s a prompt to get you started:
How have you been implementing a growth mindset in your classroom and in your personal life?

Here is an excerpt from my last journaling session:

I have come to realize that a growth mindset is just a piece of the recipe for what I want for my classroom. I now know that my preferred style of teaching is more like that of a student life coach where the curriculum is just one piece of the puzzle. So my goal overall is to become a better teacher/life coach and that entails:

• better knowledge of content matter
• better communication and relationships with students, their parents, and my colleagues
• improving and protecting my mindset from distraction and non-constructive negativity    
• continuous learning and growth, no matter how small and incremental

This is just an example of what works for me and I want to share a great quote from one of my favorite podcasters illustrating the everyday process of change:
“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end” – Robin Sharma.

Recommendations
Robin Sharma is an incredibly peaceful & positive person! After listening to a single episode of his podcast years ago, I was absolutely hooked. He has since then started a new podcast which is very good, but his first one was is a masterpiece, in my opinion.

Tip: most podcast players allow you to set specific settings for each podcast you subscribe to, so you can skip the first & last X number of seconds to skip over the ads, intros, and outros. This lets you get to the good stuff faster.

His first show (linked here on Apple Podcasts) is called The Robin Sharma Mastery Sessions and was a little longer than his current show.

These episodes range from 10 to 30 minutes and were incredibly insightful, helping me refocus on being grateful, graceful, and more positive.

He offers real advice on dealing with real negativity and people in the real world.
Here are some of my favorite episodes from this podcast (linked for Apple Podcasts):

How I Handle Haters
The Big Lie of Positive Thinking
How To Handle a Bad Day

His current podcast is called The Daily Mastery Podcast by Robin Sharma (linked here on Apple Podcasts) and is still filled incredibly valuable and helpful content, just in much shorter form. Pretty much every episode runs 2-5 minutes, which is great for those that want quick hits of info.
Here are some of my favorite episodes from this podcast (linked for Apple Podcasts):

The Antidote to Procrastination?
The #1 Method to Beat Your Fears in 2023
Use Each Day As a Platform For Personal Development

A Little Inspiration

Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset those who believe their talents are innate gifts).
-Carol Dweck

Please forward this to any teacher that could benefit from this message and help spread the love!

You can always reply to this message or message us on Facebook here.

Keep changing the world!Charlie with Shining Scholar Education
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