I often receive messages from my readers thanking me for posting about the important issues that so many educators face. I\u2019ve been where they are; I\u2019ve lived through a lot of the same things they have. And I love that we can connect, share our experiences, and work together to find ways to improve our classrooms, our schools, our communities.<\/p>\n
Recently, a friend and reader sent me a message about a career change she was considering. She was seeking my opinion\u2014and a few words of wisdom.<\/p>\n
Mary is a high school principal and has reached a breaking point. She\u2019s mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted from the job. She\u2019s been considering going back to teaching at the elementary school, something that she loves and misses. But she worries about the pay cut she\u2019ll have to take, and she feels like a failure because she hasn\u2019t made the progress she\u2019d hoped for with her high school teachers.<\/p>\n
I told Mary that it\u2019s amazing she has the courage to consider making a change that takes her personal happiness into consideration. That\u2019s not failing at all\u2014that\u2019s success! That\u2019s strength! She\u2019s staying true to herself, treating herself with compassion, and listening to her gut instinct. I let Mary know that I\u2019m truly rooting for her.<\/p>\n
I think a lot of educators have reached this same level of exhaustion, but many don\u2019t know what next steps they should take. They don\u2019t want to admit defeat. But in staying with the status quo, they\u2019re ensuring they\u2019ll never truly have professional or personal fulfillment.<\/p>\n
This past spring, another teacher friend was distraught over receiving an evaluation rating of Effective, rather than her usual Highly Effective. She told me, \u201cI guess I need to go back to working on weekends and missing my children\u2019s sporting events. Because when I gave myself a little slack, this is what I got.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was indignant! This wonderful, dedicated teacher should absolutely NOT sacrifice her weekends, and definitely not miss out on supporting her kids. Sure, we all want to be \u201chighly effective,\u201d but at what cost? Teaching is a challenging profession, one that often demands so much more than we can accomplish in 40-50 hours a week.<\/p>\n
So, I put my happiness coaching hat on and told my friend that sometimes we have to be OK with \u201ceffective.\u201d When your mental health is on the line, when you feel forced to choose work over family time\u2014that means it\u2019s time to make a change and give yourself a break.<\/p>\n
Bottom line: I support teachers. I want to see you succeed inside the classroom and out. And when you feel like your sanity\u2019s on the line, I\u2019ll be here to offer words of wisdom and remind you that you are enough, your happiness is important, and you deserve to take care of yourself!<\/p>\n
Question: Do you ever feel like professional challenges, stresses, and worries infringe on your personal life? What are some of your tricks and tips for taking moments to prioritize yourself over the job?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How to Find Your Happiness Balance Inside and Outside the Classroom I often receive messages from my readers thanking me for posting about the important issues that so many educators face. I\u2019ve been where they are; I\u2019ve lived through a lot of the same things they have. And I love that we can connect, share […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-joy-drop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47475,"href":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18717\/revisions\/47475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}