Description: This week, Dr. Boogren provides some additional inspiration for our 21 for 2021 list. Don't let the call of this powerful exercise go unanswered.
Resources:
1. Need a gentle reminder to work toward your 21 goals? Check out the MyIntent Project here!
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Transcription: Hi, and welcome to episode 28 of Self-Care for Educators. I am your host, Tina Boogren, and in this week, we're going to explore a little kind of subplot of what we talked about last week. So, to remind you, last week our invitation was to create our 21 for 2021 list. And, in the middle of that episode, I mentioned the idea of choosing a word or a phrase, and I've had a number of people kind of hook onto that and really love that idea.
So, I thought, Let's kind of take a deeper dive into that this week. The idea ... Maybe the 21 for 2021 just felt overwhelming, or maybe you loved it, and you're already past this. I don't know, but it's worth this ... just this simple idea of choosing a guiding word or phrase for this new year. I love to do this every single year, and I think it's even more essential this year.
Again, as we move into this ... The new year, you know, it's going to be hard this year. This ... I keep thinking about 2021, and what an interesting year it's going to be. I feel like it's going to be, in many aspects, the lowest of the low, especially these first few winter months that are going to be really hard. And then, God ... Here's hoping the highest of the high when we move to the other side of this, and we're at such a place of celebration. Can you imagine? I just picture like pouring into the streets and having spontaneous dance parties and hugging strangers and my mind goes wild, kind of, thinking about that. So, it's just fascinating to consider that.
So as we think about that, man, how important it is to consider a guiding word or phrase. What is going to help you get through those dark months that you can look forward to on the other side perhaps? Oh, I love it. Okay. Anyway, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to just start reading some words. So, I've just dug through different websites, different resources, to kind of pull together possible words. I think that that's helpful. Let me read some of these that I have found and see, you know ... if one of them kind of hits you and you, when you hear it, you go, Oh, that is my word.
Jot it down. So, maybe this is a way for you to find out. I ... Some years it like hits me right away, and some years I just have to kind of, I don't know, walk around for a while, putting my feelers out there to see what comes up ... And, then it just kinda hits me. When you know, you know, I feel like. So here's ... Let me just ... Let me just throw a bunch out there. Okay.
How about hope?
How about sparkle?
Journey ...
Discipline ...
Laugh ...
Delight ...
Compassion ...
Truth ...
Grace ...
Joy ...
Kindness ...
Deliberate ...
Balance ...
Gratitude ...
Brave ...
Determination ...
Stillness ...
Positivity ...
Embrace ...
Comfort ...
Rise ...
Forgive ...
Celebrate ...
Create ...
Finish ...
Love ...
Persevere ...
Family ...
Courage ...
Wish ...
Smile ...
Flourish ...
Move ...
Health ...
Sacred ...
Persist ...
I don't know. Did one of those hit you? Vulnerability ... I'm looking through my other lists here, Delight ... Gentle ... Pray ... Light ... Now. Hmm. I don't know ... Worth a shot. So, maybe one of those hits you. Maybe you want to listen to this again. Maybe you listen to this every day this week and see, do the same ones kind of creep up for you? What I have to do is, I'll write down all the words that kind of stand out and try them on for a little while, and see which ones stick or which, you know ... If I write down five words one day and kind of sleep on it, the next morning, which ones do I remember without having to go back and look at my list? That's probably a pretty good sign that that's resonating with me in some way. Share it. You know, you can make charms, and you can get a bracelet and do different things to remind you of the word. I like to get that little, MyIntent kind of charm, and I put it on my keys to remind me. I'll put a link to that, of course, in the show notes, but lots of ... just lots of ways to remind yourself of that, but even more so than the reminder, once you've chosen the word is just choose the word.
This is a really, really great activity, as always, to do with students. Oh gosh. I love to do this with students, to do this as a staff, to do this with your PLC, to do this with your family ... Maybe you have a family word and an individual word. I don't know. There's just something, I don't know, really, really beautiful in this. So, I invite you to play around with that this week. And, you know what I'm going to say ... Once you've chosen your word, please, please please jump over into the Facebook group and share the word. Or, if you're kind of struggling, you're trying to choose between something ... or you're wondering about the connotation of a word, you guys, you know the place to. Bring it to the Self-Care Squad, and we can kind of help sort through that.
So, there you go. This week's invitation is for you to choose your guiding word or phrase. I can't wait to read the words. It's going to be amazing. Okay. Maybe your word is self-care. I don't know. Okay. Anyway. Yes, I can't wait. Perfect.
Oh, as always. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Brooke for making this happen. Marzano Resources and Solution Tree, thank you so much for the gift of doing this job every single day, and you, my bad-ass Self-Care Squad. I'm so excited to move into a brand new year with all of you, and we're going to make it through together. We're going to get through the hard parts together. We can do this. We can do hard things. We've got each other. I'm so grateful for you.