Learner. Human. Joyologist.
I don't want us to miss out on the opportunity to unearth the hidden gems of potential that live inside people. Both those currently working and learning inside of our organizations and those interested in joining us. Because when we overlook the good in others, we miss out on contributions those individuals could be making too.
But when we do this kind of work well, our systems and collaborative model actually begin making the work easier versus harder. We do hard things at the start to make our work more enduring and manageable long-term. When our systems and structures support us in thoughtful ways, we can actually experience more joy, creativity, and success in our daily work with students. It's yes and. Not yeah but.
Before we can truly lead others and hold them accountable, we must first lead ourselves and hold ourselves accountable.
But it does make me wonder what it would look like to simply make more space for a little bit of nothing in our work, so our brains can process, invent, reflect, and refresh.
I'm sharing this because we need to normalize fear. We are human beings. Of course we are scared. Sometimes even terrified. But if we don't push through discomfort, if we don't learn to talk to ourselves in ways we would talk to someone we love, we won't have what it takes to solve the world's really complex and daunting problems. Our future and the future of this world quite literally depends on our response to discomfort.
Imagine if an entire staff committed their 4.5 minutes a day or 30 seconds each bell to an impactful instructional move and did so every day for an extended period of time. Even when we didn't feel like it. This kind of radical commitment and consistency on something that requires little time and effort on our parts can lead to incredible growth.
When we nurture the conditions needed for people to show up as their best and biggest selves, we make it possible for people to do their best work.
n travel situations, there are a lot of variables, a lot of necessary safety precautions, and a lot of people. This is also true in schools. But it's the people who manage to keep safety and order while also ensuring the experience is enjoyable that make us want to come back.
No judgement here. Only love. Your feelings are your feelings. But I want you to know that you deserve to feel better. You deserve to find your work meaningful, manageable, and even fun. Our students are relying on us to bring green flag energy to school. We deserve it and our students deserve it too.
On the other side of these piles of shoes is a beautiful, more calm life filled with sunrises and present moments and self-compassion.
MEGHAN LAWSON 