Description: This week the Self-Care Squad will be tapping into those feelings of connection and altruism. Warning: This episode will make you feel really good.
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Transcription: Hi, and welcome to episode 48 of Self-Care for Educators. I am your host, Tina Boogren. This week's invitation is about making a commitment to reach out, to check in, to send a note or a text or a messenger via a social media app or ... Just reaching out to someone to let them know that you've been thinking of them. There's a gazillion ways that you could do this, actually. You could, you could also actually pick up the phone and call someone. You could write a letter or a postcard, or just write a little note on a sticky note and like stick it on their desk or in their mailbox at school. The idea here is ... It's, it's a few fold actually.
So number one, we're tapping into the power of relationships, right? Connection. We've talked about it before. We know how important connection is, especially this year. In fact, there's a lot of studies and research that reminds us that our level of happiness is in direct correlation with the quality of our relationships. And, we know that relationships take work and relationships are hard when we are busy, and we are trying to wrap-up the end of an impossibly challenging school year, but this doesn't take a lot of time. So, hold on to that idea.
Let me, let me give you a little bit more of kind of the why behind this. This is also an act of altruism way back in episode three, we actually talked about altruism and the many, many benefits, you know, an altruistic act ... Doing something nice for someone else makes their day, but it actually gives us a huge happiness boost. So the idea for this week is to make a commitment. So, write it down in your calendar, send yourself a little note, something that every single day this week, you're going to check in with someone different. As I said, maybe you pick up the phone, maybe you write a letter, maybe you do a handwritten note.
For most of us. It's probably going to be a text. That seems to be the easiest way. Right? So, maybe you want to just ... to send a simple note that just checks in, asks how they're doing. Maybe it's just a note that says, I've just been thinking of you. I hope you're doing well. Maybe it's more specific. This is when we start to really, yeah, get into those feel-good endorphins of ... You know, maybe there's a specific memory that came up that you thought of this person and you kind of ... just share that memory and how, how much that means to you and how much that person means to you. I mean, what a boost to be on the receiving end of a text like that.
Maybe it's a, it's a gratitude text. You know, I love ... I love gratitude. We've talked about gratitude before. We talked specifically about gratitude in week two. And, those of you that have been in workshops for me, oftentimes I'll ask you to send a note of gratitude to someone, and it's a really powerful, super simple, doesn't take a long time, activity that we can do that make someone else's day.
And actually it makes our own day.
Maybe you want to send a photo. I love when someone sends me like an old photo that comes up and we just laugh about it. Maybe you want to send a book recommendation. Maybe you wanna send a funny meme. Maybe you want to send a podcast episode that you feel like someone would really like. That personal touch can just feel really just delicious quite honestly. So, I want you to just play around with this today and you know, again, this is ... This is something that just doesn't take a lot of time. Doesn't take a lot of money, but do it and check-in and see if it gives you a boost. And, maybe this is something that you want to kind of add to your permanent rotation of kind of self-care hacks that you tap into. And, maybe it's not every day. Maybe every day feels a little bit overwhelming, but like once a week you just want to make a commitment. Maybe it's ... It's the same day every week. Maybe that's a Wednesday thing for you that you are going to very purposely reach out to someone that you haven't been in touch with for a while. Or, maybe it's someone that you're in touch with all the time. There's no right or wrong here. Just that power of connection. It's just pretty incredible.
So that's it. That's what I want you to play around with this week, the reaching out, checking-in with someone, thinking about different ways that you can kind of mix it up. Maybe there's a new group text that you want to get started. I know group texts are dangerous, but they could be really incredible, as well. Or, you know, maybe you ... You do kind of a favorite things text. So, I've got a couple of girlfriends and I that we are kind of our own influencers if you will. But, when we run across a blanket that we love or a really fantastic candle, or, oh my gosh, there's a robe or this perfume or this lip glass, whatever it is, we send it to each other. We're like our, our Oprah's Favorite Things list. And, that's a fun thing to get started.
So, play around with that this week. See what, what it makes you feel like ... See if it, if it boosts your happiness. See if it feels like, oh, a really nice routine that you want to add to your, your kind of rotation. As always, I'd love to hear about it. I'd love to know, do you already do this? Do you do this in a different way? What am I missing? What have I not thought of? I know some of you are like incredible letter writers, and you're great at sending postcards. Jump on over to that Facebook page and share. I can't wait to hear.
As always, thank you so much to Brooke for making this happen. Thank you to Marzano Resources and Solution Tree for this incredible job I get to do. Can you believe we are almost to episode 50? Which is just, oh, unbelievable. And of course, thank you to you, my bad-ass Self-Care Squad. Oh man, I so look forward to working with you, and I love our interactions over, via social media and just thank you for being here and listening. And, thank you for recommending this. For rating this. It's the boost just when I feel like I'm not sure if anyone's really listening. If this is making a difference, someone will send me an incredible personal note of just the difference that, that these, this few minutes every single Monday make in their week. So, it keeps me going. Grateful for you. Have an amazing week.