Description: This week, Dr. Boogren challenges the Self-Care Squad to dial up the intensity of some of our efforts to get just a tiny bit better.
Listen Now:
Transcription: Hi, and welcome to episode 20 of our third Season of Self-Care for Educators. I'm your host, Tina Boogren. This week's invitation is this: a little more, a little better. I'm gonna say it again, a little more, a little better. Really what this invitation is, is kind of just a variation on a very common theme that, that I talk about here. It's a reminder of those teeny, tiny, itty, bitty, little, baby ... James Clear talks about 1% better, right? And, just adamant on not going for these huge, huge goals that when we set out to do them, we have great intentions, and we kind of white knuckle our way through them. But then, everything kind of falls apart, right? We know, once again, willpower is this finite thing, and the minute that decision fatigue sets in, willpower flies out the windows. So, we are not relying on willpower, right? Instead, we're setting up systems and structures and routines and habits to help us feel a little bit better. And so, this week's invitation a little more, a little better. It's all about asking you to do a little bit of reflection and to think about what can you do to kind of turn up the dial.
I oftentimes think about our health on this dial or our wellness journey on this dial. And you know, sometimes we're at a stage in life where we can turn it way up, right? We've got the time and the resources that we need to be able to really turn that dial up and focus on our wellness. And, sometimes life gets real crazy and busy, and we gotta turn that dial down, and that is perfectly fine. I'm gonna give you an example. So, a couple of weeks. I was at the, our big, big event, the High Reliability School Summit in San Antonio where I got to meet so many of you. It was awesome. Now, that is one of my favorite weeks of the year, and it's one of my hardest weeks of the year. We go nonstop, right early in the morning. We go all day. We have kind of fun things to do in the evening, but it is just nonstop, and I didn't get very much sleep. Some of you heard me talk about there was a band playing that felt like they were standing on my balcony playing. Anyway, for me, that was a perfect example of a week where I needed to turn the dial down.
I went back and thought about my BAMs, right, my bare ass minimums, and I decided that for me, the Summit was all about drinking the water, getting my 10,000 steps in, being fully present for all of the participants and my colleagues, and trying to get enough sleep. That one was a little bit out of my hand, but I, but I did try to set some boundaries around that and that notion of turning the dial down really worked. It allowed me to not feel guilty for not getting a formal workout in. It allowed me to kind of check my own self-talk, and then when I got home and was able to rest right on Sunday after arriving home on Friday evening, and I allowed myself some rest on Saturday. On Sunday, I turned the dial back up, and in fact, that felt so good. My body really, really wanted a really long workout and to really dial back in my own food choices that make me feel good. And so, this week is kind of extending this, the invitation about a little bit more, a little more, a little better is all about the idea.
Picking something that you already do and see if you can do it just a little bit better. Here's what we mean. Here's some examples. So, by the way, I wanna give full credit. This comes from the the coaching program that I am certified in and that I get coached in, which is precision nutrition. So, this is one of the habits that we work on in this program. So, here's some examples of a little more, a little better. So, maybe when we think about fitness and move. You could add a couple more minutes to your workout. Maybe you can increase the weight that you're lifting just by a pound or two. Maybe you can add just a couple reps to the sets you're doing. Maybe you can increase the speed or the incline on your treadmill by just a tick like 0.1. In the kitchen, you could think about a little more, a little better as being, try replacing one processed food with an unprocessed one. Maybe you can add a new meal to your meal plan. Maybe you could try one new recipe for your evening meals. Maybe you can decide that you wanna try to have protein at one more meal during your day.
In your general life, a little more, a little better could be committing to packing lunch the night before your lunch, the night before, right? Maybe it's reading five ... Maybe you could book five extra minutes of wind down time before bed where you get to read a book or do a quick meditation or mindfulness routine. Maybe this looks like adding five extra minutes to one meal. Remember, we've talked about eating without distractions, eating slowly, eating to satisfied. Maybe you could take five minutes to relax, to breathe, to take care of you. So, that's what I want you to think about this week. I want you to think about your exercise, your movement, your food routines, and decide something that you want to try to work on, and then that's it. Just do a little, a little better. Think of it, of that dial as you're just, just nudging it up just a teeny, tiny, little bit. You're not turning it all the way full volume. You're just nudging it up a teeny, tiny, little bit and see how it feels. You're not doing too much. You're staying within that teeny, tiny 1% and just see if that consistency, that just ... I'm ... Just ... I don't know, turn that dial a tiny bit. See how that makes you feel this week. I'm cheering so hard for you. You guys, go make it an awesome week.
As always, a huge thank you to Brooke for making this happen. Thank you Solution Tree and Marzano Resources for this job I get to do. And for you, my bad-ass Self-Care Squad. I'm just cheering so hard for you, and I just adore you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being on this journey with me. You are the absolute best. Make it a great week, Squad.
Comments