3 Things Teachers Can Do Right Now to Turn Their Year Around
Days seem shorter.
The weather is getting colder.
And another lockdown doesn’t seem that far off if it’s not here already.
You don’t need reminding that the last eight months have been difficult. It is easy to feel as if you are treading water. Doing just enough to stay afloat. Trust me, you are not alone. Maybe the hardest part of it all is that you don’t see an end in sight. While you may be down, you don’t have to be for much longer. In fact, I have three strategies that will help you become more optimistic about your present state and your potential future.
Focus on Trajectory, Not Location
“Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tip-toe if you must, but take the next step.”
Naeem Callaway
I’m just going to come out and say it. I am not where I want to be. Or at least, not where I think I should. I want to be healthier. I want to be further along with the book that I am writing. I want to have the opportunity to speak to more educators around the world.
There I said it.
And this used to bother me. A lot. And it still does from time to time if I am being honest. But I have gotten better and I have learned how to change my mindset when I get down on myself. I think the biggest factor in this mindset shift came while reading James Clear’s New York Times Best Selling book Atomic Habits (check out my conversation with him on Teachers’ Aid).
In Atomic Habits, Clear shares a brand new way, at least for me, of thinking about where we are in relation to where we want to be:
“It doesn’t matter how successful or unsuccessful you are right now. What matters is whether your habits are putting you on the path towards success. You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.”
This was a game-changer for me. It forced me to (a) stop whining about wanting to be further along and (b) actually take a look at the progress I’ve made and see if I need to recalibrate. And to be honest, in some areas, I am right on track and in others, I need to pick up the pace or change strategies.
For example, my speaking opportunities are increasing each month and I like the direction I am heading. On the other hand, if I am going to finish my draft on time for ASCD, I need to change some things. And I have. I have started writing more often and for longer periods of time.
So right now, stop and take a look at your trajectory. I’d be willing to be that in some areas of your life you are making progress and heading in the right direction. Whereas, there are likely other areas in which you have become stagnant or maybe even declined. Make a few strategic moves and change your trajectory. The results will not be immediate but over time you will begin to see results.
Think About Your Future Self
“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”
If you’re anything like me, you want to feel better and be happier now. Not in a week. Not in a month. Not in a year. But right now. Playing the long game can be difficult, especially when you are stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed. And yet, playing the long game is what works, and here’s why.
Making decisions based on the right now only helps you feel better in the moment. Maybe you have a grad paper due on Monday. But your friends invite you over to watch football, eat pizza and have a few beers. You tell yourself you’ve worked hard all week, which you have, and you deserve to have some fun.
What do you do?
It’s a difficult choice. You want to enjoy a day with your friends, especially the day before you go back to work. You can work on your grad paper when you get home. While this sounds good, it is an example of doing what you want now and worrying about later, later.
Here’s the thing. We’ve all been there before. And if memory serves us well, this scenario usually doesn’t end up tipping in our favor. What was going to be one game, ends up being two. What was going to be some apps, ends up being 4 slices of pizza, half a dozen wings, and a handful of cookies. And what was going to be a beer or two ends up being six.
So we get home until after 8 PM. We are bloated, tired and the last thing we feel like doing is writing a grad paper on Metacognition During PLC’s. Heck, we’re not even sure what metacognition really means. Now what? We brew a cup of coffee, stay up until midnight writing the paper and pay for it by feeling like crap the rest of the week.
I know right about now you’re thinking, Jon if I can’t have a little bit of fun and enjoy myself now and again then what’s the point. I mean that’s kind of why I am in this funk right now. I get it, I do. Trust me, I am a master procrastinator. And the fact that I am writing this piece does not mean that I have these three strategies mastered. But I am making progress.
Think of it this way. If you start making more decisions based on your future self, you will be much happier. As Benjamin Hardy put it in Personality Isn’t Permanent, “You don’t want to leave your future self hanging due to neglect, bad planning, or poor decisions on the part of your present self.”
Start planting seeds right now. Make decisions that your future self will thank you for. Yeah, maybe things aren’t great right now. But what decisions can you make today that will make your tomorrows great? I bet if you sat down and thought about it, you could come up with four or five things right off the top of your head.
Stay the Course
“The presence of fear is a sure sign you are trusting in your own strength.”
Gabrielle Bernstein
One of the most difficult things to do is hang there for better days when things don’t seem to be going our way. Because there will be days, months, years even when we put in the hard work planting seeds and doing all the right things only to reap no reward.
Among the three strategies mentioned in this piece, I find this one to be the most difficult. It requires us to have faith and it requires us to have patience. Two difficult qualities to possess when times are tough. But I have found that it is those that do that are most often rewarded. As Ryan Holiday put it in The Daily Stoic:
“Tranquility and peace in identifying our path and in sticking to it: staying the course — making adjustments here and there, naturally — but ignoring the distraction sirens who beckon us to turn toward the rocks.”
I have to admit that there are times when hearing someone say stay the course or hang in there makes me want to … let’s just say I don’t always receive those words favorably. But then I think about those that have achieved success. And the more I learn about their story, their path, I realize that it wasn’t as easy as I thought it was. I don’t know why I ever did.
History is full of examples of people who hung in there and as a result, were able to achieve and reach incredible levels of success. From Oprah to JK Rowling. From Jay Z to Sarah Blakely.
But one recent example stands out to me. That is the story of President-Elect Joe Biden. Whether you voted for him or not, I think you have to agree that his life story is one of determination and faith. He has experienced much loss in his life and yet he kept going. He ran for president twice and lost. And then at the age of 76, he decided to run again. And won.
I can’t begin to imagine how many times in his life he felt like giving up. Like it just wasn’t meant to be. But he hung in there and in the end, was successful. I imagine there are some that might say that he found success long before he was announced, President-Elect.
You Are in Good Company
“That everyone is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else.”
David Foster Wallace
It is important that you know that you are not alone right now in your struggles,
your frustration,
your exhaustion,
your confusion,
your (fill in the blank).
These are tough times. And while some aspects of life are out of our control, there are things we can do right now that can get you heading in the right direction. Think about your trajectory, focus on your future self, and stay the course. Do those three things and I guarantee you that you will be in a much better place than you were before. At least that is my wish for you. I’d love to hear how it turns out.
*Receive my 15-page pdf, You Got This, designed to help you move forward after making big mistakes. It contains steps for moving forward & links to episodes from the powerful My Bad episodes from the past 4 years. Click HERE to get your free copy.
