Thrive Life Coaching
You wake up Monday morning with a sense of dread. It’s all you can do to drag yourself out of bed and out the door. As you drive in to school you’re thinking of all the things that await you there:
The stack of ungraded papers on your desk.
The sullen group of students you have during 1st period.
The copy machine that always jams.
The administrator who seems out of touch with the classroom, students, and teachers.
That one teacher who always seems put together whom you feel like you can never measure up to.
The uncomfortable temperature of your classroom (either too hot or too cold, but never just right).
The email from “that one parent” sitting in your inbox awaiting your reply.
The 2-hour long staff meeting in the middle of the week.
By this point you’re feeling pretty overwhelmed, anxious, and perhaps even physically unwell.
Where did your happiness go?
Where’s your sense of peace?
When did you lose your joy of teaching?
Why do you feel this way?
According to Dr. Lynn Clark in his book “SOS: Help for Emotions”, a person’s emotional response to something is caused largely by their thoughts, beliefs, and silent self-talk about a given situation, person or event and not by the thing itself. In other words, it’s our own thoughts that create our feelings, not the situation, person, or event itself.
On average, the human mind thinks an estimated 50,000-80,000 thoughts per day. If a person is thinking mostly negative thoughts, it’s no wonder they’re feeling pessimistic, discouraged, overwhelmed, and burned out.
Before I go on, I want to first acknowledge that there are very difficult situations, people, and events that we encounter and I’m not going to discount that or tell you that you just need to think positively about everything and then you’ll feel better. Not only is that unhelpful, but it’s toxic positivity and we don’t need any more of that in our lives, especially as teachers. Instead, a more effective method to overcoming this negativity is to reframe these thoughts in a way that empowers, encourages, and motivates us.
Here are some practical steps that you can take to overcome negative thoughts and reclaim your joy.
- Be aware of your thoughts. This might sound obvious, but actually our minds are thinking so many things all the time that we aren’t always fully conscious of. If you find yourself experiencing a negative emotion or feel tension somewhere in your body, take a moment to consciously think about what thoughts are going on in your mind. Oftentimes you’ll be able to recognize a negative thought that popped up that was triggered by a situation, person, or event.
- Replace the negative thought with a more empowering (and true) belief. Once you’re aware of what you’re thinking that’s making you feel lousy, replace it with something else. For example, if you’re getting ready for bed on Sunday night and dreading the week ahead, think instead about the things that you’re looking forward to, or remind yourself that you’re competent, confident, and capable of handling the challenges of the week. Whatever it may be, it needs to be true, relevant, and personal to you.
- Write it out. Sometimes journaling your negative thoughts helps you to become more aware of what they are and how they’re making you feel. Seeing it in writing can make these thoughts more concrete. Another method you could do would be to create a list of negative thoughts and then counter them with a more empowering or positive thought that’s true, achievable, and relevant in its place.
- Say it out loud. When we speak a new thought it holds a different power than the vague thoughts that subconsciously run through our minds. It makes it more real to hear it, and our brain accepts it easier when we both see and hear it, so say your new belief out loud and repeat as often as necessary.
If you would like some extra support in this process, please click here to schedule a free session with me. I’d love to support you in your journey to wellness! in writing can make these thoughts more concrete. Another method you could do would be to create a list of negative thoughts and then counter them with a more empowering or positive thought that’s true, achievable, and relevant in its place. Say it out loud. When we speak a new thought it holds a different power than the vague thoughts that subconsciously run through our minds. It makes it more real to hear it, and our brain accepts it easier when we both see and hear it, so say your new belief out loud and repeat as often as necessary.
