Description: The summer is here or close by for most of the Squad. Let's take some time this week to design a summer break worth remembering!
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Transcription: Hi, and welcome to Self-Care for Educators. I'm your host, Tina Boogren. This is season three and episode 33. I'm so happy you're here. Okay, this week's invitation is to start planning your summer bucket list as we are getting so close to the end of the school year. I think it's a really good time to stop and pause and reflect and think about how do you wanna feel this summer? What are some things you wanna accomplish? What are some gifts that you can give yourself? What are some intentions that you can set and spend a little time thinking about all that and getting ready for summer? This can look so many different ways. Maybe last week when you were working on your vision board, you kind of, part of your vision was how you wanna spend your time this summer.
If you didn't do that, maybe you wanna go back and add that piece. So, maybe you think about the summer in terms of visuals of images. Maybe there's a picture of a pool, right? Picture of your local fair. Or, maybe there's a picture of you with your feet up in a hammock, whatever those images are. Maybe you're drawn towards images, maybe you're drawn towards a list. So, maybe you know the year is 2023. Maybe there's 23 things. Maybe that feels overwhelming, but maybe 23 things that you want to have happen this summer. Maybe a combination of things you wanna get done, like cleaning out the garage or cleaning out your classroom, or kind of those tedious tasks that in the summer it feels good to get that done with a combination of those things that you really look forward to, or books that you wanna read, or movies you wanna see, or places you wanna go visit, or museums, people you wanna reconnect with or have lunch with, different recipes you wanna try, different farmer's markets you wanna go to. Just write a list of the things that you want to have happen this summer.
Or, maybe it's a combination. Maybe you put some visual images along with some written words or lists. Maybe you have a fun list, and you have a necessary list. Maybe you create a list with your family. Maybe you create a list with your colleagues of some things that you wanna work on this summer to help prepare you for next year. Maybe you hate this, and this sounds like a terrible idea. Don't do it. Then remember, different strategies work for different people, so it's ... You're gonna have to play around with this and decide is there a version of this that works for you? And, if not, don't do it, but maybe there's a version of it that works for you. Here's what I don't want to have happen is: I don't want the start of the school year to creep up on us and then to look back and say, Oh man, I just didn't spend Summer the way that I wanted to, or I didn't feel the way I wanted to, or I didn't set intentions, that I just spent too much time scrolling or watching way too much Netflix, and I didn't feel like I got outside like I wanted to. I didn't really change my routines. I didn't have as much slow coffee as I wanted to have. I didn't cook as many meals at home as I wanted to. I didn't connect with as many friends or have people over to come sit in the backyard. I didn't take the vacation I wanna do.
I don't want us to have regrets. And so, one of the ways that we can resist having those regrets is to do a little bit of forward thinking and planning. Again, you might think about feelings like a list of how you want to feel. Do you wanna feel free? Do you wanna feel rested? Do you wanna feel healthy? And, kind of get those big feelings written down. And then, ask yourself, what are some things that you can do or parameters, or boundaries you can put in place to ensure that you feel the way you want to? If you set some intentions, think about what would be the baby step towards fulfilling that intention that you have for yourself. Or maybe, maybe you wanna get real serious and think about promises that you are making to yourself. This summer, I promise myself that I will go for a walk every single morning when I get up. Or, I promise myself that I am not going to get my days and nights all turned around. I'm gonna try to still stick to a schedule as best I can. Or, maybe you take the first week of your summer break and you just totally indulge and treat yourself and do all the good stuff, and then you get back into some sort of routine, because you feel better when you kind of have a bit of a routine.
You know yourself better than anyone else, so spend a little time playing around with what might help you. Make sure that you have an amazing summer. Maybe you think back on last summer and spend a little time reflecting. What did you love about last summer? What were maybe some things you wished you could have changed? I maybe even some regrets that you feel like, Ah, man, I did not like this part of, of last summer. I felt too busy and too rushed, and I feel like we tried to get too much accomplished, and we were running around all the time, and so I want this summer to feel different. I just think this is a good time of year for us to kind of start thinking ahead to the, the bit of freedom that we have and, and our schedules feel a little bit different, and I know a lot of us work all summer, and some of you work pretty intensely like I do actually. Summer is my busiest time of year, but for a whole lot of you, you get a little breathing room, and that's a real gift to not feel guilty about, but instead to really lean into.
And so, before it creeps up on us, or before, it's already the 4th of July and we think, Oh my gosh, what have I done with my summer? Or God forbid, it's already the start of next school year, and we realize the time just slipped right through our fingers. I want us to do a little forward thinking and planning. How do you wanna feel this summer? How do you wanna spend your time? What's your biggest hope for this summer? And then, do a little designing to create that life that you want to live--your very, very, very best life. Cheering so hard for you.
As always, a huge thank you to Brooke. Oh, thank you so much for the work you do behind the scenes to make this happen. We so appreciate you. Thank you to Solution Tree and Marzano Resources for this incredible job I get to do. One of the things I'm most looking forward to this summer is our Educator Renewal event that we have coming up at the end of July in Des Moines, July 26th through the 28th, and we'd love to have you join us. And, as always to you, my bad-ass Self-Care Squad, I'm so grateful for you. Cheering so hard for you. I am so hopeful that this is going to be a really, really amazing summer. Let's design it that way. Have a great week, Squad.