EP267 How to release unrealistic standards and change the stories you’re telling yourself

When we feel responsible for controlling students' behavior and work habits, the classroom environment, the way parents/caregivers and other faculty behave, and how the school and district make decisions, we are destined to be miserable. Other people will rarely meet our ideals, and trying to force them to do so will feel like a full-time job in itself.

The second edition of my new book addresses this. It’s called, "Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching.” Depending on when you’re listening to this episode, the paperback, Kindle eBook, and audiobook version are either available now or available for pre-order.

In this episode, you’ll hear an excerpt from the audiobook about replacing unrealistic standards and changing the stories we tell ourselves about control.

I’ll talk about 5 unrealistic standards we often hold:

• I need people to know the "right" way to do things
• I need to identify all problems and fix them immediately
• I need to make sure everything goes according to my plans
• I need everything to be fair and make sense
• I need to know what's going to happen next

Listen in as I share how these unrealistic standards can be replaced with the following productive thoughts in your work as an educator:

• I can accept other people's ways and methodologies
• I can let go of the interpretation that something's wrong
• I can be happy when things don't go my way
• I can handle things that don't make sense
• I can be okay with not knowing

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