Ok, I’m guilty of this.
Many teachers speak poorly to ourselves. Before we show what we can or cannot do, we notice and express our limits. We say things about ourselves we would never allow others to say about us. Many of us live with the same impotent self speak.
We have friends, right? How do we speak to them? How do we speak about them? In most occasions, we likely speak in a tender tone about them and say things which reflect their best. We admire them for their beauty and / or their talents; we notice how their good traits outweigh their bad. Do that for ourselves; we are our most constant friend.
Some of us beat ourselves up for our failures and never remind ourselves of our successes. Someone might say, “Yeah but you don’t know what I’ve done wrong, you don’t know how I’ve failed. I’ve messed up my life.” Then we go on to list our failures.
I know we’ve failed a time or two, we all have. But we must have done right in our past we can applaud too. Let’s speak friendly to ourselves, teachers.
Let’s go away to a new place and list of our successes. Write until our hand hurts. If we can’t think of successes then think of what beliefs and / or behaviors you can grow into.
If negative self talk hits during teaching, step in on it by using the following affirmations:
- I believe in myself.
- I am strong.
- I am flexible.
- I am balanced.
- I will endure.
Or use the following questions from The Work by Byron Katie:
- Is it true?
- How do I know it’s true?
- How do I react, what happens, when I believe that thought?
- Who or what would I be without the thought?
These affirmations and questions slow ourselves down so we can be who we really are.
We all have done many amazing things in the classroom and beyond. We all have goals of the many things in the future we’d like to grow ourselves into.
We are beautiful and talented. We’re teachers. Celebrate that. Practice self belief, affirmations, and questioning which leads to friendly self speak. This can make the difference between growth and stagnation / regression for you and your students.
Let’s continue to grow together on Twitter or YouTube.
For more inspiration see 5 Cs of Acting Like Yourself here at growthucator.com.
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