Do What Makes You Feel Alive Ep. 10

May 3, 2023 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Do What Makes You Feel Alive

We all want the magical feeling of being energized and in tune with the world, feeling powerful and inspired. Listen to this episode to learn ways to do more of what makes you feel alive!

Show Notes:

Episode summary:

When you are doing something you love, that challenges you a bit and that you find profoundly worthwhile, you are taking charge of your life and creating intrinsic happiness. If you want to improve your life, improve the quality of your experiences. Take control of the things you can so that what you do, when, and with whom will enable you to do your best work.

In this episode:

Have you ever experienced one of those magical moments where everything seems to come together and life feels rich and exciting and brilliant? Those are the times we feel most alive. When do you feel most alive? And better yet- how can you experience those magic moments more often? Stay tuned because in this episode we are going to talk about how to do more of what makes you feel alive.

Describing the Optimal Experience

These are magical moments.
It is a feeling and a sense of awareness, a form of excitement and curiousity and energy all coming together.
It is newness, possibility, interest, engagement, and yes, magic.
It makes you feel more alive.
Children see magic everywhere because they look for it and because they believe in it.
What would happen in your life if you looked for magic and believed in it?

Examples of feeling fully alive:

Michele shares being at a conference with others and being excited and charged up, ready to return home with new ideas and energy. She was excited about possibilities and the idea doing something good in the world using your best talents and gifts.
Ruth Reichel discussed her workplace at the New York Times in her book Save Me The Plums: “The energy in that office was so potent it was like we pulled the cork on a bottle of champagne and released a vibrant explosion.”
Paula shares an example of being a waitress in high school. It was a mundane job, but the team made it fun and full of energy. They were smiling, laughing and serving food like no one’s business.

What makes us feel most awake and alive? How can we create this experience?

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly is based on decades of his reserch on the positive aspects of the human experience. He coined the term Flow as joy, creativity, total involvement in life.

When you are in flow…

You are absorbed, you can lose track of time, and hours can go by without you knowing.
You feel exhilaration and a deep sense of enjoyment that becomes a memory for what every moment should be.
You are able to focus and concentrate on the task at hand, which requires some sort of intrinsic motivation.
You lose self-consciousness- it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks.
When using physical skills we can go higher, faster and stronger.
It is the antidote to the feeling “is this all there is?”.

Here are some general principles for how you can get into a state of flow:

Choose challenging experiences- not too challenging, but that require you to use your skills. It takes effort and stretches you.practice- we usually don’t go into flow the first time we do something
Have clear goals and get immediate feedback- think of a chess player or a golfer- mastery involves levels.
Pay attention to experiences and learn to enjoy them.
Avoid noisy environments and interruptions.
Understand your values and what has meaning for you- then choose accordingly.
Order your life so that what you do, when, and with whom will enable you to do your best work.

You have more control over this than you may think.

We share Eric ‘s story as an example. He felt that the way his curriculum was being delivered was boring- boring for students and for him. He had the urge to shake things up. He designed a new way to deliver the curriculum, incorporating a passion project. It was a change and there was a possibility it wouldn’t work. The students or parents might complain. It might turn out to be too much work- but it wasn’t. He loved designing the project and he loved teaching the unit and it was a smashing success. A boring, lifeless, mundane unit became electric.

That is how you order your life so that you can feel more alive!

Paula gives another example of getting into the flow late at night.

Flow can look like workaholism, but it is different. When you love your work, and create structures that allow you to do your best work, your work becomes highly fulfilling to you. It becomes a part of your best life, not a challenge to it.

Workaholism is what you have when you have to give up things you value and love and constantly do work that has no meaning and no challenge and gives you no fulfillment.

What would it look like if everyone lived from a place where they felt alive and energized, where they looked forward to every day and could see the possibilities in everything?

This is like capturing lightening in a bottle.

Burnout and complacency would be diminished. It is hard to be burned out when you are working with love and energy, when you are excited and happy and fulfilled.

Students in school would show fewer behavior challenges, more enjoyment, better discussions, and ultimately, better learning.

Your home life can also benefit. We give the example of painting a room while listening to a podcast or audio book. Time flies, we are absorbed in the task and what we’re istening to, and actually looking for something else to paint so we can finish listening.

Paula shares an example from the 2017 movie, Jumanji. The movie is about young adults finding their internal value despite what they see as external limitations of their lives. They did this by getting into their flow.

Jumanji is actually a Zulu word for “many effects”. These “effects” refer to “the exciting consequences of the game”, in the movie, the ultimate effect is flow.

Michele shares an example of feeling the effects of someone else’s flow experience with Heather Headley, the Tony winning star of the Broadway musical Aida. When Headley reaches an amazing note and belts it out it at length, the conductor, the orchestra, and everyone in the audience is moved to tears and awe.

The message is that you can take control of circumstances to create flow, and flow will affect your experience and possibly the life experience of others.

Quote:

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Howard Thurman

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Book: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihalyi Csiksentimihaly

Book: Save me the Plums by Ruth Reichl.

Blog: Become a Magic Teacher

Connect With the Inspired Together Teachers Community:

Download our FREE resource, The Inspired Teachers Guide to Taking Back Your Life.

Website: https:www.inspiredtogetherteachers.com

Instagram: Inspired-Together-Teachers

Facebook: Inspired Together Teachers

Facebook Teacher Warriors Group: Teacher Warriors Facebook Group

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspired-together-learning/

Book: The Inspired Teachers Journal: A Weekly Guide to Becoming Your Best Self

More About Inspired Together Teachers:

Are you a teacher struggling to balance your best work with your best life?

If you are dedicated and caring but often overwhelmed and exhausted, join us at Inspired Together Teachers. We’ll give you inspiration, strategies and tips that help you navigate life’s challenges as a stronger, more confident, and more joy filled person, both in and out of the classroom.

Inspired Together Teachers will give you practical tools to experience more of what matters most in your life.

Co-hosts Paula Schmidt and Michele Vosberg are award winning educators with the experience and skills to help teachers thrive in life and work. They’ve taught at all levels, worked with thousands of teachers, and conducted workshops around the world. They are also the authors of the #1 best-selling book The Inspired Teachers Journal: A Weekly Guide to Becoming Your Best Self.

Paula and Michele would love to have you to join them on their quest to live an inspired life.

You Set the Tone Ep.9

April 26, 2023 by Inspired Together Teachers 4 Comments

You Set the Tone S. 1 E. 9

Check out this episode to see how you can influence the attitude of everyone around you.

Show Notes:

Episode Summary:

Whether or not you are aware of it, your attitudes, beliefs and behaviors can influence those around you. You set the tone. You set the tone for your own life, for your classroom and school culture and in your interactions with others. You get to set a tone that aligns with your values and your vision and in doing so, you are more powerful than you think.

In this episode:

1. You Set the Tone- why does it matter?

You influence the environment through your attitude, your energy, and the way you show up.
You are setting the tone for the attitudes and interactions in your space.
When you choose the tone, you not only have the opportunity to uplift your life but also to uplift everyone around you.
You have the power to influence your environment.

2. You have the power to choose your attitude and how you respond to the world.

You may not see yourself as a powerful person, but you are more powerful than you know.
Your mindset influences how you react, and how you present yourself to others. This, in turn, affects your ability to influence those around you.
If you choose to see the negative things in life you will see more of them. Likewise, if you choose to focus on the positive things, you will see more of those.
You choose how you show up- positive and energized or beaten down and defeated. Either way, your attitude is contagious.

3. Suggestions that you can take to intentionally enhance your overall attitude and positive response to the world:

Choose the stories you tell yourself wisely. Your stories influence your attitudes and your actions.
Bad things happen. Tony Robbins says you can be upset about it for 90 seconds, then move on.
Set an intention for how you want to be in the world. What kind of energy do you want to bring each day?
Appreciate the small things.
Notice the good things in people. When you are looking for something, you will see more of it.

4. What kind of energy and attitude will you bring to your work life- what will you bring with you into your classroom and your school?

Your tone is catchy. Students will mirror what the teacher presents.
If we establish a tone that shows a love of learning, students will follow suit. If our tone is negative and confrontational, students will respond with the same tone.
It is important to be intentional about setting the tone. Live by design, not by default. Ultimately, make sure you set a tone that matches your values and beliefs.

5. Read the example we discussed: The Cab Driver story by Harvey McKay

Your attitudes and beliefs are shared in your tone. Others pick up on your attitude when they hear you and watch you.

What kind of story will you tell? What tone will you set?

Recap:

Whether or not you are aware of it, your attitudes and beliefs and behaviors can influence those around you. You set the tone. You set the tone for your own life, for your classroom and school culture and in your interactions with others. You get to set a tone that aligns with your values and your vision and in doing so, you are more powerful than you think.

Quote:

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized.”
Hiam Ginnot

Resources mentioned in this episode:

The Cab Driver story by Harvey McKay

Connect with the Inspired Together Teachers Community:

Download our FREE resource: The Inspired Teachers Guide to Taking Back Your Life.

Website: https:www.inspiredtogetherteachers.com

Instagram: Inspired-Together-Teachers

Facebook: Inspired Together Teachers

Facebook Teacher Warriors Group: Teacher Warriors Facebook Group

Linked In: Inspired Together Teachers

More About Inspired Together Teachers:

Are you a teacher struggling to balance your best work with your best life?

Inspired Together Teachers will give you practical tools to experience more of what matters most in your life.

Paula and Michele would love to have you to join them on their quest to lived inspired lives.

Choose Your Battles Ep. 8

April 19, 2023 by Inspired Together Teachers 1 Comment

Choose Your Battles S. 1 E.8

Listen to this episode to learn how to choose your battles in order to take more control over your life.

Show Notes:

Episode Summary:

Do you sometimes feel like you are facing too many obstacles at home and at work? Are there times when you question which issues you should engage with and which you just need to let pass you by? In this episode we explore strategies you can use to decide which battles in your work and home life are worth fighting and which you should ignore.

There are so many things each day battling for our time and attention. We only have the capacity to fight so many battles at a time. Choose your battles wisely.

In this episode:

1. Why is it important to pick your battles?

Teachers are often overwhelmed with all of the things they need to do. Teachers make approximately 1,500 decisions in a day. There is the potential for A LOT of issues to arise. You can’t give every one of them your full attention.
As teachers, we are natural advocates. We see the problems, and we want to make them better. Many times we know what needs to be done to solve the problems, but it becomes overwhelming when we are constantly working to fix things.
Teachers are jacks- of -all -trades. They are expected to expected to jump in when and where it is needed.
Teachers have opinions and they are usually backed by solid experience and knowledge. We want to make things better and are quick to identify areas and issues that need improvement.

2. Recognizing the type of battle is key to deciding if you want to engage.

Major battles vs minor inconveniences
Your battles vs someone else’s battles
Systematic battles vs local battles

3.Two approaches to use in order determine what to pay attention to:

Use Your Filter

In his book, What Great Teachers do Differently, Todd Whitaker suggests that the best teachers choose their filters carefully, choosing what negatives around us that we let filter in and which we can ignore.

Use Steven Covey’s Circle of Control
In Steven Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People he shares that issues fall into two rings: the Circle of Concern and the Circle of Influence.
The Circle of Concern is everything that troubles or concerns us. We really don’t have influence over most of these issues. These are areas where a lot of worry often occurs.
Our Circle of Influence is everything that we can control or somehow affect.
If something in your circle of concern is a big enough concern, you can decide to do something about it and move it into your circle of influence. If not, learn to let it go.
Focus your energy on things that fall into your Circle of Influence. You are likely wasting emotional energy and time on things that are in the Circle of Concern.
When you waste time and energy on things outside of your control, you can’t focus on positive aspects of your life or use your energy toward things you love to do.

4. Action Steps:

Focus your energy on things in your control.
The next time you feel yourself getting pulled into a battle, ask yourself, “Is this in my circle of Influence or should I filter it out?” If it is not in your circle of influence, filter it out.
Focus your energy on something that matters most to you.
Focus your energy on your concerns, not someone else’s. It is ok to politely decline an invitation to engage in or engage with a battle that is not yours.

Recap:

There are many things each day battling for our time and attention. We only have the capacity to fight so many battles at a time. Choose your battles wisely.

Quote:

“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.”

Winston Churchill

Resources mentioned in this episode:

What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Blog: Mindset Shift: Circle of Control

Podcast: Episode: 6 Set Priorities to Take Back Your Life

Connect with the Inspired Together Teachers Community:

Download our FREE resource: The Inspired Teachers Guide to Taking Back Your Life.

Website: https:www.inspiredtogetherteachers.com

Instagram: Inspired-Together-Teachers

Facebook: Inspired Together Teachers

Facebook Teacher Warriors Group: Teacher Warriors Facebook Group

Linked In: Inspired Together Teachers

More About Inspired Together Teachers:

Are you a teacher struggling to balance your best work with your best life?

Inspired Together Teachers will give you practical tools to experience more of what matters most in your life.

Paula and Michele would love to have you to join them on their quest to lived inspired lives.

Prevent, Eliminate, or Recover From Stress Ep. 7

April 12, 2023 by Inspired Together Teachers 2 Comments

Listen to this episode to learn more about how you can prevent stress, eliminate the negative repercussions of stress or recover from stress.

Show Notes

Episode summary: Have you felt stress in the last day? The last week? Or maybe even in the last hour? When you understand where your stress comes from, you can find ways to prevent it, eliminate it, or recover from it. In this episode, we’ll help you get a handle on your stress!

In this episode:

Ways to prevent stress:

Reduce the number of decisions you need to make each day. Set up systems and routines.
Become a master planner.
Get clarity and prioritize- how does each thing you need to do align with your values and your purpose? Refer back to episode 6.
Overwhelm is often a problem with clarity- you don’t know where to start, which task to choose etc.
To prevent fight, flight freeze, or fawn decide ahead of time which tasks are the most important to prioritize and then get those done first. Making a physical list, in order with the most important first, will give you a clear place to start when you are ready to work.
Time block by combining like items, scheduling work and scheduling free time and family time.

Ways to eliminate stress (or stop feeling stressed):

Stop looking for the negative, you find what you focus on.
Create moments of calm, use breathing and mindfullness activities.
Know what is yours to deal with- saving the entire world is stressful!
Don’t take on other people’s stress.
Don’t stress about things that haven’t happened yet.
Remember the good stuff, celebrate good moments and events.
Remind yourself what you can be proud of.

Ways to recover from stress:

We discuss the book Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski. They share how we can recover from stress by completing the stress cycle.
In stress, your entire body and mind change in response to preceived threats.
Stressors activate stress in our bodies. Stressors can be anything that are stressors to YOU.
Stess is the neurological and physiological shift that happens in your body.
It is an evolutionary adaptive response that is deisnged to help us cope and to help us survive.
A flood of hormones come rushing in- adrenalyn, cortisol, glycogen and epiniphrine which pushes blood to your muscles.
Endorphins help you focus on the danger but not the uncomfortablness, your heart beats faster, your blood pumps harder, you increase the rate of your breathing, and attention is at high alert. Your other organs and systems slowdown.

How your body recovers from stress:

You need to stop the hormone rush and signal that your body is now safe.
That means you need to DO SOMETHING to signal your body that the stressful event is over.
Things you can do to tell your body to recover from stress: exercise, laugh, or cry.
Involuntary shuddering or shaking or uncontrolable sobbing also signals that an event is over.
Take deep breaths.
Show affection, try a 20 second hug or a long kiss with someone you love and who makes you feel safe.
Engage with pets- petting your furry friends reduces blood pressure.
Take time for creative expression- art, music or any kind of creativity allows us to move through our feelings.

Recap:

Stress is inevitable. However, there are practical steps we can take to prevent stress from happening, strategies we can use to eliminate some of the stress that already exists, and ways that we can mindfully and physically recover after we have encountered stress. Stress does not have to rule our lives.

Quote:

If you don’t get through to the light at the end of the tunnel, you stay in chronic stress.

From Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Burnount: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski

The Inspired Teacher’s Guide to Taking Back Your Life

The Inspired Teachers Journal: A Weekly Guide to Becoming Your Best Self

Is Feeling Stressed Inevitable?

Connect to the Inspired Together Teachers Community:

Website: https:www.inspiredtogetherteachers.com

Instagram: Inspired-Together-Teachers

Facebook: Inspired Together Teachers

Facebook Teacher Warriors Group: Teacher Warriors Facebook Group

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspired-together-learning/

More About Inspired Together Teachers:

Are you a teacher struggling to balance your best work with your best life?

Inspired Together Teachers will give you practical tools to experience more of what matters most in your life.

Paula and Michele would love to have you to join them on their quest to live an inspired life.

Set Priorities to Take Back Your Life Ep. 6

April 5, 2023 by Inspired Together Teachers 1 Comment

Listen to this episode to find out how you can reduce overwhelm by learning to set priorities based on your values, purpose, vision and goals.

Show notes:

Episode Summary:

Have you ever found yourself with so much to do that you are so overwhelmed you don’t even know where to begin? Do you often feel that you’re stretched too thin? In today’s episode we’re going to talk about how to set priorities. Asking yourself a few questions each day can lead to the clarity to help you set priorities and take control of your life.

In this episode:

1. When you set priorities, you need to align your actions with your values and purpose.

Start with why.
Live by design, not by default.

Ask your self questions:

What is most important to you?
What matters most right now?
Who needs me on my A game?
What is best for ME?
If everything is a priority, nothing is.

2. Action steps you can take when finding your why or to answer some of those questions:

Search for a quote that inspires you and reminds you of what is most important in your life. Keep it near you.
Plan your ideal day, your ideal week, your ideal life. What do you really want?
Learn to filter your decisions through the lens of who you want to be and what you value. Knowing your why provides a clear filter for decision making.
Protect the basics.
Eliminate the non -essentials.

‌3. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Quote

“Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done.”

Greg McKeown, Essentialism

Nature abhors a vacuum.

If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.
The good get asked to do more.
Consider what you will need to trade to take on another project.
Don’t make committments you can’t or don’t want to keep.
Learn to say no with grace.
If it isn’t a heck yes, its a heck no.
Know when it is not your problem- helpers naturally want to solve problems, but sometimes, it is not your problem to solve. Don’t rob people of their problems.
Having boundaries will give you freedom.
Know your deal-breakers.

‌4. Essentialism tips

Less but more is better.
The Pareto principle (aka the 80/20 rule) says that 80% of effects come from 20% of effort.
Look ahead, plan ahead.
Add 50 % to your time estimates and create a margin for calmness.
Remove obstacles- ask yourself, what could prevent me from going forward smoothly?
You can multitask, but you can’t multi-focus.
You can’t do essential work without rest, sleep, and play.
It is not humanly possible to be everything to everyone. You are not going to be the first person to ever do that so don’t even try.
Beware of casual commitments.

‌Recap:

Many teachers live in a constant state of overwhelm, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you start with a vision and purpose, you can learn to recognize and choose the essential things, so that you can do the things that matter most.

Quote:

“Once you give yourself persmission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, you can make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.”

Greg McKeown, Essentialism

‌

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Essentialism, by Greg Mckeown

The Inspired Teacher’s Guide to Taking Back Your Life

Connect with the Inspired together Teachers Community:

Download our FREE resource, The Inspired Teachers Guide to Taking Back Your Life.

Website: https:www.inspiredtogetherteachers.com

Instagram: Inspired-Together-Teachers

Facebook: Inspired Together Teachers

Facebook Teacher Warriors Group: Teacher Warriors Facebook Group

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspired-together-learning/

More About Inspired Together Teachers:

Are you a teacher struggling to balance your best work with your best life?

Inspired Together Teachers will give you practical tools to experience more of what matters most in your life.

Paula and Michele would love to have you to join them on their quest to live an inspired life.

Do What Makes You Feel Alive

We all want the magical feeling of being energized and in tune with the world, feeling powerful and inspired. Listen to this episode to learn ways to do more of what makes you feel alive!

Show Notes:

Episode summary:

In this episode:

Describing the Optimal Experience

What makes us feel most awake and alive? How can we create this experience?

Here are some general principles for how you can get into a state of flow:

What would it look like if everyone lived from a place where they felt alive and energized, where they looked forward to every day and could see the possibilities in everything?

Quote:

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Connect With the Inspired Together Teachers Community:

More About Inspired Together Teachers:

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You Set the Tone S. 1 E. 9

Check out this episode to see how you can influence the attitude of everyone around you.

Show Notes:

Share this:

Choose Your Battles S. 1 E.8

Listen to this episode to learn how to choose your battles in order to take more control over your life.

Show Notes:

Share this:

Listen to this episode to learn more about how you can prevent stress, eliminate the negative repercussions of stress or recover from stress.

Show Notes

Share this:

Listen to this episode to find out how you can reduce overwhelm by learning to set priorities based on your values, purpose, vision and goals.

Show notes:

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