We have such a fun episode for you today! We’ve collaborated with our friend, Kelsey Sorenson, from The Educate & Rejuvenate Podcast, to do an episode swap. On our podcast, we love sharing practical tips and strategies that you can use in your classrooms, but Kelsey specializes in learning how to manage your mental health while having it all. In this episode swap, Kelsey shares a teacher mindset hack that will help you overcome your mental hurdles and reach your goals.

For all the resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.secondstorywindow.net/podcast/teacher-mindset-hack

Resources:

• Register for Kelsey’s Educate & Rejuvenate Event
• Listen to Kelsey’s Podcast, Educate & Rejuvenate
• Preorder Kelsey’s book
• Connect with us on Instagram @2ndstorywindow
• Shop our teacher-approved resources
• Join our Facebook group, Teacher Approved
• Leave your review on Apple Podcasts!

Mentioned in this episode:

Is your class acting like spring break erased every expectation you've ever taught? Try the Teacher Approved Club free for 10 days and get this month's training on keeping expectations alive — plus last month's Quiet Your Chatty Class Challenge. Join at https://secondstorywindow.net/trial

Emily 0:04

Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. Today we're doing something a little different. We invited our friend Kelsey from the Educate and Rejuvenate podcast formerly known as the Wife Teacher Mommy podcast, to share one of her episodes here for you amazing listeners.

Heidi 0:20

Kelsey is a former teacher turned homeschool mom and certified life coach who is passionate about helping educators feel fulfilled in teaching and in life. She hosts a popular online event for teachers each year that is coming up next month.

Emily 0:36

She also has a new book coming out later this year that you will want to check out. It is also called Educate and Rejuvenate. This book will teach you her three step framework to revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit and reignite your passion for life. We will link to her event, her podcast, and the waitlist for her new book in our show notes.

Emily 0:57

In this episode today, Kelsey will share with us a simple mindset hack that can help you overcome mental hurdles and reach your goals. We know you'll want to listen to this one.

Speaker 1 1:10

I am here today as your life coach to help you kind of get inside your mind, teach you this hack that you can use on your own you can walk away from this episode, you don't need to do anything else. And you'll have this tool in your toolbox and you won't be able to unknow it once you know it.

Kelsey Sorenson 1:55

I'm honest when I say that learning this mindset hack has really helped me uplevel my life like the title of this episode to uplevel your teacher life, I'm not just like saying that as like some clickbait title or whatever.

Kelsey Sorenson 2:06

Kelsey Sorenson 2:25

And I'm not saying any of that to brag, I'm just saying that I would not have been able to do any of that if I had not learned this mindset hack. Because there's a lot of mind drama that comes up when you're doing things like this. There's a lot of impostor syndrome, there's a lot of like stressing about like all the different little things coming up in the day to day. And just so much that goes into it.

Kelsey Sorenson 2:46

And additional, it's helped me in the day to day and in my personal life. Being more present with my family when I'm not working. And I struggle with that as a teacher. And I know so many of you do because it's hard to not think about like your student's needs, or you bring work home because you're like, I need to grade these or you're telling yourself you need to grade these and whatnot.

Kelsey Sorenson 3:03

But there's just so much that goes into life. And if you want to be intentional, like I mentioned in the episode about how to set an intentional schedule and stick to it. If you want to be intentional with your life, this mindset hack is going to help you do that.

Kelsey Sorenson 3:17

Okay, so I actually wanted to start this episode though with some stories that I promise will tie into it, you're gonna be like, how, what does this relate to this mindset hack? Trust me, it does. So want to tell you the story.

Kelsey Sorenson 3:28

I went to the Taylor Swift concert in Glendale, which was a lot of fun. I was lucky. And we just got face value tickets, I got in the queue and got them it was amazing. But while we were there, I forgot you have to have clear bags in the stadiums, you can't bring just your normal bag. So I had bought a clear bag, but I left it at home.

Kelsey Sorenson 3:45

And so what I did is for my driver's license and credit card, I just stuck it in my phone case. And it's not one of those wallet, phone cases. It's just like a regular phone case. And I just kind of stuck it in there. I'm like this will work and then just had it in my pocket.

Kelsey Sorenson 3:58

But then what happened is after that I was shopping at Walmart and I couldn't find the card I needed. So I wondered if it was perhaps it still in my phone case because they remembered that I had to do that at the concert. And this was like, right after we gotten home and my husband like did the driving while he went there and back. And a lot of times he would buy things and make more maybe they're still in there.

Kelsey Sorenson 4:15

I started digging through my bag to find my phone and I couldn't find it. And I was like where on earth is my phone? And then I remembered that I have my Apple watch. And for those of you who are also Apple watch people, you know that you can do that thing where you ping your phone with your Apple Watch. So you like swipe, and then you can hit this button and it makes your phone make a noise.

Kelsey Sorenson 4:32

And so I did that and I heard it. I'm like, Okay, there's my phone. I hear it's right there. I keep looking for it. Can't find it. Do it again, like looking all around. Can't find it. I probably did it like three or four times and I'm like going through my bag. I'm like, looking around trying to figure out where it is. And then the guy behind me at the self checkout line. He was like, Are you looking for your phone?

Speaker 1 4:53

I was like yes, I am. I can't find it anywhere. And he was like it's in your back pocket. So it was like right there. It was easy for him to see. And I'm like doing this crazy like spinning around looking for where it went and everything. And it was just right there the whole time.

Kelsey Sorenson 5:09

And this also reminded me of this hilarious YouTube video that I just saw again. Somebody posted it in my certified coaches Facebook group, and I remember this video from like, nine years ago, and it's called, it's not about the nail. And to just kind of explain the video, we'll link to it in the show notes. Because it's, it's a funny video, it's less than two minutes.

Kelsey Sorenson 5:28

But it shows this woman and this man is sitting together on a couch. And it's kind of a close up on her. And it says there's all this pressure, sometimes it just feels like it's right up on me. And she just kind of talks about this pressure, she's feeling. It zooms out, and it shows that she has this big nail in her head. And then the man was like, Well, you do have a nail in your head.

Kelsey Sorenson 5:47

And then she's like, it's not about the nail, he's like, you do have a nail in your head. And she's like, No, don't. And then she talks about how all her sweaters are snagged, and all these things, and how he just wants to fix it and whatever. But and there's so many things about that video that you could dive into like it really, in my opinion, it's quite a work of art, it was really well filmed. There's a reason it went viral. There are a lot of things you could talk about with it, like men and women or validation or fixing versus listening.

Kelsey Sorenson 6:14

But what I'm talking about today is awareness of what is going on. So it's kind of like she has this nail in her head. And you can't tell she's just like in denial about it, you we're not sure what's going on, that could be like a full on conversation, we could have a full episode analyzing this, like minute and a half video.

Kelsey Sorenson 6:29

But what we're talking about today is even if we weren't changing the circumstance of that she has a nail in her head, but just noticing and being like, Oh, this is why this is happening. Because the thing is, sometimes we can't see what's going on, we have our blind spots. And sometimes we even see like with our own kids or the students we teach in our class, we see what's right there, but they can't always.

Kelsey Sorenson 6:51

And what, as humans, our big blind spot is how our unconscious thoughts drives so much of our lives. And in fact, we often believe the stories our brain is serving us without even questioning them.

Kelsey Sorenson 7:04

So today, I want to teach you a tool called circumstances versus thoughts. Now I'm going to talk about what each of these are. So as circumstance is just what is happening in front of you. And everybody in the world would completely agree on what is going on. It's like a fact it could be proven in a court of law.

Kelsey Sorenson 7:23

A thought is the story that we put behind it. So it's kind of like you can even say like facts versus stories. And other we could say that. So here's the fat, here's the story that I'm putting behind it. Our thought is the meaning we put behind it. And that means that not everybody would necessarily agree on it, we might think it's fact. In actuality, it's a thought. And we're going to talk about this a little bit more.

Kelsey Sorenson 7:48

And one thing I'm going to do to kind of do this as an example, I did this with Wife Teacher Mommy club members on a call a while back when we were kind of talking about the self coaching model we use and the differences between the components. So we really dove in and kind of went through. And we did this all together where I would like say what they say if it was a circumstance or a thought.

Kelsey Sorenson 8:06

So here's like those ones that we went over, I added a few more as well. So if I were to say these students are disrespectful, and just kind of think in your head, would that be a circumstance or a thought? That is a thought, because not everybody would look at disrespectful, the exact same way.

Kelsey Sorenson 8:24

Some might just think, Oh, they're just being kids, some might not have any problem with the behavior. Some might also agree that they're disrespectful, some might even think they're even more something even more than disrespectful, they might think these are terrible children or something. So the fact that it's debatable means that it is a thought.

Kelsey Sorenson 8:43

Okay, the next one, I have 27 students in my class. That is a circumstance. So you could go when you could count and prove there are 27 children in here, or 27 children on my roster. So that is a circumstance.

Kelsey Sorenson 8:56

The next one, I am too busy. We all have said this before, right? And this is a thought I am too busy. And that often leads us to feeling like overwhelmed about everything we have going on. Now. It can't be a thought that you like that you want to keep if you're like I'm too busy, I don't have time to edit something else. And you're just like prioritizing then yeah.

Kelsey Sorenson 9:16

But it is a thought because somebody else might have more things than you technically and think that they're not busy or somebody else might have like, even fewer things on their list and think they're too busy. So just the fact that subjective all that makes it a thought.

Kelsey Sorenson 9:30

A good way to know is if something is a thought or a circumstance is to ask what it means. So could people think about it or describe it differently? So if I were to ask you what does it mean to be busy? If I were to ask a roomful of you, let's say there were 10 of you or 500 of you, whatever. If I were to ask you what busy meant, I don't think everybody would describe it the exact same way. There might be similarities, but there would be different words and some people would think it is different than others. So that is a way to know

Kelsey Sorenson 9:59

Okay, Here's another one, I am so fat. Again, that is a thought that is what you're putting behind the number on the scale. That is not a circumstance. The circumstance version of that might be something like I weigh 400 pounds or whatever, that would be a circumstance, right? It's more neutral, just the facts of the situation, not even looking at BMI or any of those things. It's literally just a number.

And another one that I want to say my kids never listen to me. This is a thought as well. What does it mean to listen? Ask different people, and they will give a different definition of what it means to listen to you. And you could also be like, is that really true? Are there times where they have listened never is such an absolute, if there's an absolute in there, that's kind of a sign that it might be a thought.

Now, these are some examples, but this shows up everywhere, everywhere in life. And the tricky thing is, we often think our thoughts or circumstances without questioning because our brain just you know, quickly has so many thoughts a day. And sometimes we even need a coach to help see our blind spot. Sometimes we just need to, you know, get everything down on paper, and then we can objectively look at it and be like, Okay, which of these are thoughts? How are these impacting my life?

And the reason this matters, you might think, Okay, well, that's great. I have thoughts, I believe them, that's great. But here is why this does matter. Our thoughts have a drive our feelings, which are the our emotions, how the vibrations that are happening in our body.

If we're thinking I am so busy, and you start feeling that adrenaline going through you, you start feeling overwhelmed, the thoughts that you're thinking are what is causing that. And when that's happening, we show up in a certain way, what we do, and also what we don't do that we might do differently if we were thinking and therefore feeling a different way, about the circumstance.

And ultimately, the things we do or don't do create the results that we see in our lives, what is actually happening right in front of us. And this tool brings us that awareness. So we can just look at it. So we can be like, Okay, this is what's going on. If I'm feeling overwhelmed, this is what I'm thinking about this or if I'm feeling frustrated, or if I'm feeling sad. Or even you can do this, if I'm feeling happy. What is it that's causing that?

You can just look at this. And it's not to beat ourselves up about anything. It's just to bring awareness about how our thoughts are ultimately making a show up in our lives. Because the reality is we can't control everything around us. And we can't control every thought our brain offers us either.

The only thing is we don't have to believe every thought that we think. It'll come up. But you can look at your thoughts. Okay, there's that thought? Do I actually internally want to believe that? Generally, our thoughts come from our brain trying to protect us. So we shouldn't beat ourselves up about any thoughts that we have, we can make thanks, brain, thank you so much for giving me that option. Like think of it as like different doors you could go through.

You can question it. And that is what deliberate conscious thinking can help us do is gain leverage and power over the parts that we can control in our lives.

The one thing I want you to take away from today's episode, when a thought comes up, or you think I'm so busy, or I'm not a good teacher, or anything else that comes up, just remember, you can question it and think is this a thought? Or is this a circumstance? Is this a story I'm telling myself? Or is this like a fact that could be proven in a court of law?

Just try to remember that, because sometimes that can help neutralize it. And then you can realize other ways you can think about it, which can help you feel a different way and show up a different way. But if nothing else, it just gives you that awareness of what is going on in your life and really gives you your power back.

I hope you enjoyed this episode that originally aired on my podcast The Educate & Rejuvenate podcast a little over a year ago, it's been one of our top episodes. So when Heidi and Emily invited me to share an episode with all of you over here on the Teacher Approved podcast, which I just love. I chose this one for all of you.

So I hope that you found it helpful. And if you want more mindset hacks and tricks and so much more, I am a certified life coach. I would love to support you in your earbuds each week as well. If you're looking for a another teacher podcast. My show is called The Educate & Rejuvenate podcast. So go on over there and hit subscribe.

I also have a book releasing this summer where I'm going to dive even deeper into this mindset hack and the self coaching model which will help you see how your thoughts drive your feelings, actions and results. We dive really deep into that and into the psychology of cognitive behavioral therapy but also into somatic tools such as processing your emotions, and regulating your nervous system and all such important things to help you not only revitalize your teaching, but renew your spirit and reignite your passion for life.

So I will send Heidi and Emily the link to where you can sign up for the waitlist for the book. We're going to give so many freebies to those who grab a copy of the book that comes out later this year.

And if you want even more I also host a fun a virtual conference. We're heading into our third year this year it is called Educate & Rejuvenate. We've got some incredible keynote speakers like Gaspar Randazzo who you might know from Instagram He's so funny. He's a teacher stand up comedian, and the incredible viral sensation. Christina Kuzmich, they are our keynote speakers.

And we've got a full panel of speakers on all topics you can imagine like the science or reading and the STEM, and writing and teacher burnout and math, anything you could think of, we've likely got something for you on that topic. So head on to the link Emily and Heidi have in the show notes to learn more about the event if you're interested. Thank you so much for listening today, and I hope to connect with you soon.