We want progress to look like a straight line. We expect that. And sometimes we get mad when it’s not. But the reality is life is more nuanced than that- and actually, it’s so much better that way. Welcome to Episode X of E&R The Podcast: Progress is Not A Straight Line (And That’s a Good Thing)
We want progress to look like a straight line. We expect that. And
Speaker:sometimes, we even get mad when it's not. But the reality
Speaker:is life is much more nuance than that, and actually, it's
Speaker:so much better that way. Welcome to episode 135
Speaker:of Educate and Rejuvenate the podcast. Progress is not a straight
Speaker:line, and that's a good thing.
Speaker:Welcome to educate and rejuvenate. The podcast to help you
Speaker:revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit, and reignite your
Speaker:passion for life. I'm your host, Kelsey Sorensen, a former
Speaker:teacher, current homeschool mom, published author, and certified life
Speaker:coach. Whether you are a teacher in a traditional classroom, homeschool from
Speaker:your kitchen table, or anywhere in between, I am on a mission to help you
Speaker:not only survive as an educator, but thrive. Get ready to
Speaker:up level your skills with incredible insights from guest experts
Speaker:and discover the missing piece, rejuvenating yourself. Are
Speaker:you ready to both educate and rejuvenate? Let's
Speaker:go.
Speaker:I am so excited to be here in the podcast studio with some
Speaker:friends today. I am recording this podcast live. It is
Speaker:going out on Facebook live and YouTube and Instagram. Holly says,
Speaker:hello. She was tagged for this. We see lots of friends popping in on this
Speaker:live. Welcome to Elizabeth and everybody who's here, so
Speaker:many of you. If you're listening later, if you're on Apple or Spotify or YouTube,
Speaker:be sure to stay tuned on our email list because we do do these live
Speaker:podcast recordings every now and then. I love to connect with
Speaker:you virtually and answer your questions and all of that.
Speaker:So I'll be taking some of the comments here during this live
Speaker:to bring into the episode to help you see how these
Speaker:concepts can apply, not just for what I'm sharing, like my own
Speaker:experience and insights or insights from, Christina Kuzmic's book,
Speaker:which I'll be talking about. But also, how does this apply to educators
Speaker:in real time? So I I will pull some of those in too. And that's
Speaker:what I love about this live podcast recording, especially for those who are here
Speaker:live, who get to see the whole chat and see everybody else
Speaker:talking about what I'm talking about. Kind of having a discussion around
Speaker:it, and being able to see that you're not alone, and
Speaker:really come together. I really feel like the community part of what we do here
Speaker:at Educate and Rejuvenate is so important. And that's why I do want to
Speaker:try, at least every other month, to do a podcast recording live. Because I
Speaker:just feel like feel like it's so much fun to do it that way. So
Speaker:today, we are talking about how progress is not a straight
Speaker:line. And this topic was actually inspired by chapter
Speaker:4 of the book, I Can Fix This and Other Lies, I Told
Speaker:Myself While Parenting My Struggling Child by Christina
Speaker:Kuzmic. And I love Christina. She is our keynote for
Speaker:our upcoming educate and rejuvenate event. And I recently just had her on the educate
Speaker:and rejuvenate podcast. So if you haven't heard that episode, after you listen to
Speaker:this one, I definitely recommend going back and listening to episode number
Speaker:128. It was the first interview I did after we rebranded the
Speaker:podcast from wife teacher mommy podcast to educate and rejuvenate the podcast
Speaker:because she is so inspiring, and she has so much to share here. And even
Speaker:just the title of this chapter of her book, that progress is not a
Speaker:straight line, really inspired me to do this podcast episode. But I also
Speaker:reread and relistened to the chapter of that book as I was preparing
Speaker:this episode. So this topic was chapter it was lie number 4. So
Speaker:she tells about 10 lies in this book about that she told herself while she
Speaker:was parenting her struggling child. And by her struggling child, she's talking
Speaker:about her son who was struggling with major mental health issues. He was
Speaker:in the and thank you, Kelsey Thomas, for putting the link in the
Speaker:comments for those who are here live. And if you are not here live,
Speaker:if you're listening later, we will put the link to that podcast episode I just
Speaker:mentioned in the show notes. You can also find it wherever you're listening on episode
Speaker:number 128. But the chapter of
Speaker:this book was called Progress is Not a Straight Line, and
Speaker:it's because when she was sharing in the book overall, it's all about
Speaker:her son's struggles with mental health. And in this book, she tells a story
Speaker:about while her husband or not her husband. Her
Speaker:her son, her teenage son, is in
Speaker:an extended hospital stay for his mental health, for major
Speaker:depression. This isn't just like, oh, you know, he's struggling a little bit.
Speaker:He was struggling a lot, and with
Speaker:really extreme depression. And and I'm not going to tell the whole thing because it's
Speaker:really in the book, and I recommend reading that. She tells it in present tense,
Speaker:so we can visualize the situation, and what she was really
Speaker:feeling in each moment. And I actually love listening to the audible, because
Speaker:you get to really hear her tell the story. And I will actually because I
Speaker:don't know if Kelsey has the link, I'm going to pop that in the chat
Speaker:for everybody who's here live. So if anybody wants to get a copy of this
Speaker:book, we're going to talk a little bit about it here on the podcast today.
Speaker:But also, we're going to continue talking about it at the educate and rejuvenate event.
Speaker:And for those who are in the educate and rejuvenate club, we are doing a
Speaker:book club on this book as well, which has been a lot of fun. Anyways,
Speaker:I'm getting off my script a little bit. So sometimes I do that. Sometimes
Speaker:I go down rabbit holes. Those of you who follow me, you know this. And
Speaker:some of you say you love the rabbit holes. So hopefully that's fine. But
Speaker:again, she tells this story in the present tense, so we can really understand
Speaker:where she is in this moment. And what she says is, she's like, oh, something
Speaker:went better, and then setback, setback, setback. She
Speaker:just keeps describing, this thing happened. It was a setback. This thing happened.
Speaker:Setback. And just seeing it happen over
Speaker:and over and over again. And
Speaker:one quote that she said that I was like, oh my gosh, I can so
Speaker:relate to this. And I want to know if any of you can relate to
Speaker:it too. And she said, this isn't 2 step forward, 1 step
Speaker:back. This is speeding in reverse with failed
Speaker:breaks. It's just like setback after setback after setback. When you
Speaker:feel like you've, like, I can't get a break. It's just going over and
Speaker:over again. Julie says it's life. Yes. How many of you who are here
Speaker:live can relate to this? And if you are listening, you're just listening by yourself,
Speaker:know that we are here with you even though we're listening and talking about this
Speaker:together in a different time, different space. We are all here. We
Speaker:all understand what this is like. It is part of life, just like Julie
Speaker:here in the chat said. And if
Speaker:you've ever felt like this, so you listening right now, know you're not alone, because
Speaker:now I'm seeing in the chat, I'm seeing, you're supposed to say this to my
Speaker:kids, me, yes, I felt this, All of this. Okay.
Speaker:So have you ever felt like this? You listening right now, wherever you might
Speaker:be, I want you to know that you're not alone. I'm seeing everybody in the
Speaker:chat saying me, me too, I feel this. You're not alone. We have
Speaker:all experienced this in one way or another in our lives. Life really is
Speaker:not just, like, this nice pretty beginning, middle, and end, like a movie, like, yay,
Speaker:this happily ever after. Everything is great from here on out. We're
Speaker:always going to experience setbacks. It's a part of life. It sucks at
Speaker:times. It really does. Like, there are times where a setback comes up, and it
Speaker:is not what we wanted. But no matter what happens,
Speaker:we do get stronger by facing these setbacks, and what is
Speaker:it we can do? How can we shift our mindset for
Speaker:how can we shift our mindset? How can we tap in with what our needs
Speaker:are? And maybe it's the opportunity, like, I shared and I'm not gonna share the
Speaker:full story because I've done a full, like, 30 minute episode on
Speaker:it. But when I had my postpartum
Speaker:anxiety attack that I had, it was really kind of a moment where it was
Speaker:like I need to take care of myself, and it was bad. I was in
Speaker:the hospital. I thought I was, like, having a heart attack,
Speaker:and I just could not stop crying for days weeks, and it
Speaker:was awful. But I'm so glad that I experienced that. Even though it was
Speaker:terrible, it sucked. But because of that moment,
Speaker:I am where I figured out where I am now. I've been able to
Speaker:study more about psychology. I certified as a life coach, and now I'm helping others
Speaker:with what I've learned from what I went through and how it applies to theirs
Speaker:completely different situations. But if it
Speaker:weren't for that terrible moment, I would've just kept going with being an anxious person
Speaker:all the time and just believing that was part of my identity that was intertwined
Speaker:with me and that I could had nothing to do with it. So these
Speaker:setbacks that we have, they really help us to become stronger.
Speaker:And something that illustrates this really well,
Speaker:I was actually scrolling on my social media feed randomly one day,
Speaker:and you know, normally you'll come across, like, random memes or cat videos
Speaker:or whatever, like, might pop up in your social media. But this
Speaker:video that popped up in my feed honestly took my breath away, and that doesn't
Speaker:happen very often. Like, sometimes I'll get, like, you know, a tip. I'm, like, oh,
Speaker:that was really inspiring, or I really loved that. But this literally was breathtaking,
Speaker:and I, like, shared it with everybody as soon as I saw it. And I
Speaker:think this was, like, a year or so ago. I know I shared it, like,
Speaker:even on our page and in our club members Facebook group and everything.
Speaker:But it was a video. And if if I were allowed to with copyright, I
Speaker:would have just shared the video with all of you right now. We will put
Speaker:the link to the video in the show notes. But really what happened in this
Speaker:video, it is a dance they call it a dance that was put
Speaker:together by Joanne, Burgoy, who created it's a
Speaker:routine that's a metaphor for life. And what
Speaker:happened in it is he was walking up a flight of stairs. There's
Speaker:like just imagine, there's people all around, like in this crowd. It's almost
Speaker:like he's in the middle, and there's this giant trampoline and this
Speaker:giant staircase. And he's putting on this performance of him, like, walking up the
Speaker:staircase and then falling down onto the trampoline and then bouncing back
Speaker:up. And sometimes he's bouncing back up to a higher step, and sometimes he's bouncing
Speaker:back up to a lower step and trying to make his way back up. At
Speaker:one point, he even makes his way to the top of the staircase, but then
Speaker:he looks down and falls again. It's like he almost was afraid of the height
Speaker:he was at and fell right back down again. And it just shows him
Speaker:over and over and over again falling back down on the
Speaker:trampoline, bouncing back up, falling down, bouncing back up, and that is
Speaker:really what we do in life. We just fall again,
Speaker:and again, and again, and we get back up. And
Speaker:so since I have some friends here in the studio, I would love for some
Speaker:of you who are comfortable or willing to share a comment about
Speaker:a time that you have experienced this yourself. When have
Speaker:you experienced this setback after setback? After
Speaker:setback. Wendy says she loves that example. Linda says, this has
Speaker:been my life. Allison says, this past
Speaker:year. Now I wanna share another one of my now I shared for a second
Speaker:the one about my postpartum. I wasn't even planning on sharing that, but it just
Speaker:came up as we were talking. But another one that has been even more recent,
Speaker:like, even after like, that is the one that led me to find coaching and
Speaker:these tools and everything that I've been working towards,
Speaker:writing this book, this podcast, doing the educate and rejuvenate events and everything. But
Speaker:even while that's been happening, I mean, it's been the business itself has
Speaker:actually been this roller coaster for me. Because for a long
Speaker:time, we were a Teachers Pay Teachers store. It was just me, and I put
Speaker:things up, and teachers would, like, buy it or whatever. And that was, like,
Speaker:what I did. That was my company. And then my husband,
Speaker:he was in a job that he was, like, not sure he saw himself doing
Speaker:that forever. And so he eventually ended up leaving, and we were doing,
Speaker:like, my stuff, my TPT full time, and that was what was supporting our family.
Speaker:And then COVID happened, and some crazy things happened with the TPT
Speaker:algorithm and everything. And a lot of if any of you are in that TPT
Speaker:land, you know exactly what I'm talking about because there were some crazy stuff that
Speaker:happened. And so it was, like, kind of reinventing what we're doing. We're not this
Speaker:TPT store anymore. We're now doing conferences. We're now doing all this. I now have
Speaker:a team of people behind me, and there have been lots of ups and downs
Speaker:with that. It's been like, oh, like, we tried this, that
Speaker:didn't work. We tried this, that didn't work. But we did this, and it was
Speaker:amazing. We're making amazing connections, and it's noticing what are the good things that
Speaker:are happening. And, again, what setbacks have we have, but what
Speaker:have we learned from them? And how are we gonna continue to move forward? And
Speaker:And how are we going to continue to support the educators who we support
Speaker:with taking care of themselves? Honestly, for me, that is the most important thing. Is
Speaker:that, like, just service mission that I'm on to help educators
Speaker:to not only to uplevel themselves as a teacher, like most
Speaker:teacher conferences and teacher memberships do. They're, like, helping
Speaker:bubble bath. It's really it's not just taking a bubble bath. It's
Speaker:really getting to know ourselves. It's understanding what our needs are, what we're
Speaker:feeling, our mindset. Where is our inner critic coming in,
Speaker:and how is that getting in the way of us living the life we want
Speaker:inside and outside of teaching? So many things. I love what Kelly said
Speaker:here. She said, I needed you today. All about signs. Your podcast notification popped up,
Speaker:and I was like, yes. I need this. Yes, Kelly. And I believe in signs
Speaker:too. Like, things do and again, I'm not gonna say everything
Speaker:happens for a reason, because sometimes things are just like they
Speaker:just happen, but it's what can we make out of it. Right? What can
Speaker:how can we learn and grow from each setback? Now,
Speaker:I see some comments here. We have about other ways
Speaker:educators have seen these setbacks. Alicia says, every pregnancy.
Speaker:Totally relate to that. Allison says, my life, death
Speaker:of mother, multiple job losses, SJS after surgery that
Speaker:almost killed me, severe leg burn. Oh, wow. Allison, that that is
Speaker:setback after setback after setback, for sure. Elizabeth says,
Speaker:I have PTSD from abusive husband. When I finally got my kids and I
Speaker:out, it was starting from scratch. It was like where a
Speaker:where do I start moment? Oh, Elizabeth, sending so much
Speaker:sympathy out to all of you, like just compassion. Compassion is
Speaker:the word I was looking for. Compassion out to all of us because everyone is
Speaker:going through something whether we know what it is or not.
Speaker:And I think, Elizabeth, you'll really resonate with Christina's book, but also her
Speaker:first book. She talks a lot about her divorce. You might wanna check that one
Speaker:out too. It's called no. I can fix this. This is the new one and
Speaker:the one I'm saying all the time. It's called Hold On But Don't Hold Still.
Speaker:Her first book is very good. Courtney said it took me 20 years from my
Speaker:first college class to walking across the stage with my bachelor's of
Speaker:science. I became a single mom, struggled with housing, changed my major, remarried,
Speaker:had twins, became a single mom again, changed majors again, finally
Speaker:went back to school. Wow, Courtney. That is such
Speaker:like a journey. Right? All the setbacks, but how
Speaker:much did you learn through all of that? And now, you did you finally went
Speaker:back to school. Right? And that we met at that Phoenix conference. So sounds like
Speaker:you're either on your way or teaching right now. Let me know in the
Speaker:chat. Wendy says she was diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease
Speaker:during the middle of last year that sent her out of work for 6 months.
Speaker:Her brother-in-law and mother-in-law passed away during that time.
Speaker:Wendy, so many things. Right? Again, I'm just
Speaker:holding so much compassion for all of you, but also knowing what is it
Speaker:that we can learn from each setback. Where can we grow? How can it bring
Speaker:us together and connect us with each other? Allison says,
Speaker:thank you. I've made wellness and intentional personal goal this summer and for next school
Speaker:year. I I love that, Allison. Holly
Speaker:says, same kind of story. Congrats to you. I celebrate what God has
Speaker:done in my life and the blessings only he can give if we choose
Speaker:to lean on him. Love that. If you could see, like, again,
Speaker:if you are having a struggle, just hearing about other people's, even when they're
Speaker:different from yours, you realize we're not alone. You realize that we all
Speaker:have setbacks in a different ways. We all have them, and that really connects us.
Speaker:It's part of our shared humanity, and the common the common
Speaker:feelings and experiences that we all have, even though they're different, we can
Speaker:still come together and support each other, and see each other, and hold
Speaker:space for each other to just say what needs to be said.
Speaker:I love I love this so much, and I appreciate all of you who are
Speaker:willing to share on the podcast today. And for you listening right now, wherever
Speaker:you are, whether it's today, June 18th or June 21st, when this airs
Speaker:on the podcast, or 3 years later, where it whenever it is. I hope that
Speaker:you were feeling seen and understood that
Speaker:whatever setback you're experiencing right now, you are not alone in this.
Speaker:And we can just take the next
Speaker:step on that staircase. We bounce back up and even if we're like
Speaker:20 steps back on the staircase, we just need to take the next
Speaker:right step. And just keep on going. Jane says,
Speaker:yes. We need to focus on and work on what we have in common instead
Speaker:of what divides us. Yes. Absolutely, Jane. Kelly says, amen.
Speaker:So you're all my people here, and I love it. So what I really wanted
Speaker:to talk about too is, like, embracing these setbacks. Not that
Speaker:we're like, oh, I love this thing that totally sucks, like, this experience,
Speaker:but, like, also seeing what is the good side of it. How can I
Speaker:grow out of this experience? For me, for example, like I
Speaker:mentioned with the business ups and downs and TPT being topsy-turvy
Speaker:and all that, like, if I would've just stayed in my comfort zone, I never
Speaker:would've added this coaching. We wouldn't be having this conversation right now. I wouldn't have
Speaker:certified as a life coach. I wouldn't have grown personally and professionally in this
Speaker:way, and I'm sure that all of you have different experiences where if you
Speaker:look back, if you look at the gain and how far you've come, you realize,
Speaker:oh, wow. If that thing didn't happen, if I didn't have that setback, yes, maybe
Speaker:it put me back for a bit, but over time, it really did help me
Speaker:grow in this other way that I never expected.
Speaker:So, I just think it's so important for all of us to keep that in
Speaker:mind. So like in that staircase video, we are meant to
Speaker:have setbacks. It's part of life. But often what happens is as soon
Speaker:as we have a setback, we question ourselves. We might go from one extreme high
Speaker:where I'm like, oh, for a while, everything's going how we want it. And then
Speaker:we go back and we're like, boy, I expected it to stay there. Or like,
Speaker:I expected to just continue going up and up and up and why am I
Speaker:going down and down and down? We might question ourselves. We go from these
Speaker:highs to lows, and we attach our emotions and how we feel to how those
Speaker:things are going. And you might even notice your inner
Speaker:critic creeping up even after implementing these tools or even after learning them. Even
Speaker:if you've been listening to the podcast or you've been coming to
Speaker:educate and rejuvenate club coaching calls and you understand the self coaching model and you
Speaker:understand the stress cycle, and regulating your nervous system, or processing
Speaker:your emotions, that doesn't mean we're perfect at using those tools all the
Speaker:time. Right? And you might start to even use that self coaching
Speaker:model to beat yourself up and be like, well, I should just change my thought
Speaker:because then I feel better, and then you almost use it against yourself. That's what
Speaker:a lot of times people will do when they first learn the self coaching model
Speaker:that I'm talking about. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, we're not
Speaker:talking about it today. Don't stress it, but we do on the podcast. If you
Speaker:go back to episode, it's called the simple mindset hack that changed my life.
Speaker:That one will tell you all about the model. So definitely be sure to check
Speaker:that out if you're not sure what I'm talking about. I'm just touching on that
Speaker:for a second. But you might logically be like, I know these
Speaker:tools work in theory, but you might think something's wrong with you. Like, I'm
Speaker:not able to do it. But the truth is the exact opposite.
Speaker:Everything is happening as it needs to for our good
Speaker:overall in the long run. Right? And part of the process is realizing
Speaker:that our growth is not linear, and as we learn and apply these tools, our
Speaker:brain tends to serve us all the thoughts about the things that are going
Speaker:wrong, instead of looking for the good. Right? And
Speaker:once we train our brain to do that, our brain will keep scanning for evidence
Speaker:because our brain wants to be right more than it wants you
Speaker:to feel good. And I mean, that's one that should be, like, in a big
Speaker:quote thing. Like, our brain wants to be right more than it wants you
Speaker:to feel good. And this is true. It'll keep looking for the negative because
Speaker:what your brain wants to be right, it doesn't want to be wrong. So it's
Speaker:gonna keep looking for evidence that proves that, you
Speaker:know, these setbacks, like, if you're thinking your inner critic is coming out again about
Speaker:it. You're going to find the evidence of it. But if you instead be like,
Speaker:what can I learn about this? How can I grow? Then your brain can start
Speaker:to search for that evidence. Our brains are wired to and again,
Speaker:we tend to naturally go towards the negative. So if you're like, oh, I'm I'm
Speaker:bad at doing that. I see a comment that says that, or I keep doing
Speaker:that. It's because our brains naturally do go to the negative. So we actually do
Speaker:have to retrain them to focus on the positive. But again, our brains
Speaker:really wanna be right. And it takes some time to rewire those thinking patterns
Speaker:and learn how to create new habits with our mindset and with
Speaker:regulating ourselves, and all the things we tend to talk about on this podcast.
Speaker:Again, we can try to see our lives the same way we do our lesson
Speaker:plans, when we teach our students, when we teach our own children. While we make
Speaker:a plan of what we're going to do, we still have to adjust it, pivot,
Speaker:and redirect as needed. Right? Like, if the kids that you're teaching aren't
Speaker:understanding a concept, you don't just, like, power through the complete unit.
Speaker:Right? You circle back and you're like, okay. Let's suggest. Let's redirect. What is it
Speaker:you actually need? And that's the same thing we need to give to ourselves
Speaker:in our lives. And as one of my favorite authors, Gabrielle Bernstein,
Speaker:says, obstacles are detours in the right direction. Every
Speaker:setback that we have can help us get closer to where you're meant to
Speaker:be, and it's all part of the process. Another quote that kinda
Speaker:just ties up in a nice little bow, that whole staircase metaphor,
Speaker:comes from Martin Luther King Junior. He once said, faith is taking the first
Speaker:step, even when you don't see the full staircase. And even if you
Speaker:fall down from that staircase back onto a trampoline and bounce back up. Right? We
Speaker:just need to take that next step, even if it's 20 steps
Speaker:below where we are now. We just keep on going, and, eventually, we'll
Speaker:see. We'll get that vantage point where we see what it was all
Speaker:for. I just really find that to be
Speaker:so powerful. And then, the other thing is
Speaker:whenever you can find yourself redirecting yourself and doing what I was mentioning,
Speaker:like, in your lesson plans instead noticing, oh, my inner critic's being hard on me
Speaker:right now about this setback. It's blaming myself, and maybe it's not even
Speaker:my fault. You can celebrate each time you catch yourself doing that because
Speaker:you're like, oh, I'm choosing again now. Right? You're becoming more self aware, and
Speaker:that's a big thing that we talk about here on educate and rejuvenate the podcast,
Speaker:is becoming aware of our thoughts, aware of our feelings, aware of
Speaker:what our needs are and what is going on.
Speaker:And each time you do that, you're flexing those muscles and creating new neuro
Speaker:pathways and rewiring your brain. So you can celebrate every time you notice
Speaker:your inner critic because you noticed it. Right? Because how many times
Speaker:did you not even notice it and just let it play on replay all day
Speaker:long? I love that. Kim in the chat here on the live recording, she said
Speaker:a growth mindset is sometimes hard for kids as well as teachers. And exactly. I
Speaker:feel like so many of us were focused on adding social emotional learning into our
Speaker:curriculums, but we really need it for ourself too. That's kind of what this coaching
Speaker:is and what this podcast and the part that I teach and
Speaker:Christina teaches at the event as well is really to help you with that social
Speaker:emotional learning, but for yourself. And, honestly, once we do that for ourselves,
Speaker:we can be so much better at being there for our students.
Speaker:I love what Kelly said here too. Fall 7 times, stand 8.
Speaker:Yes. Exactly. And Melissa said, I keep this quote by
Speaker:Stephen King up in my room. The scariest moment is always just before you
Speaker:start. After that, things can only get better. I love
Speaker:that. Hannah says, I joined this club 1 year ago. I started noticing
Speaker:a difference in my own life almost immediately. Even so, progress can
Speaker:sometimes be messy and definitely not linear. I've had some setbacks and some
Speaker:victories, and every day I grow stronger because I know myself well and I have
Speaker:that awareness. And, Hannah, I can't believe we are almost to a full year ago
Speaker:when we first met, educate and rejuvenate last year. And I,
Speaker:again, I have seen so much progress, and you're doing amazing. And I
Speaker:just love having you in the club and working with you,
Speaker:and seeing that growth, and seeing the messiness is part of the
Speaker:beauty of it. It's part of the beauty of our shared humanity because so many
Speaker:of us would like to try to pretend like, not even pretend we're not trying
Speaker:to pretend, but we only wanna put our best self out there, like, when we're
Speaker:posting on Instagram or whatever. But realizing that, oh, like, I'm
Speaker:messy, but so is literally everybody else, when we realize that,
Speaker:oh, that's literally just part of life.
Speaker:Right? Beth says, a growth mindset and productive struggle are always hard.
Speaker:The negative critic is stronger when there is a failure and refuses to let
Speaker:go initially. It takes a bunch of practice to break down that super negative voice
Speaker:to find the good and bad and to become better for the students.
Speaker:Yes. It does take practice. Right? And that's why just those little steps and even
Speaker:when you notice and redirect, even little things like that are so good
Speaker:to be aware of and bring to our awareness. So we can see that we
Speaker:are making progress, even if it's taking some time. Right? So as
Speaker:educators, we also we all face struggles, wins, and losses. There
Speaker:will be times where we feel sad or angry or stressed,
Speaker:but we don't have to go about all this teaching alone. When we combine the
Speaker:tools and concepts from this podcast and the connection from the
Speaker:community, it makes it even more powerful. And the numbers backing, like,
Speaker:us coming together as a community don't lie. I was doing some research for my
Speaker:upcoming book that's coming out August 13th. The book is called Educate and Rejuvenate,
Speaker:just like all of our stuff lately. And in that, I
Speaker:was looking over some studies that I learned about from my life coach school
Speaker:mastermind last year, which is really like professional development for coaches that we go to
Speaker:every year, all of us who sort of ride through the Life Coach School. And
Speaker:one of the presenters shared this groundbreaking study that involved
Speaker:a 1000 women physicians across 26 medical
Speaker:institutions, and it revealed significant improvements in their well-being
Speaker:through a 4 month online group coaching program, and they're
Speaker:using the same strategies and model that we use in our coaching as well.
Speaker:And participants reported experiencing less emotional
Speaker:exhaustion, a sense of disconnect. So less of
Speaker:all these things. Right? So less emotional exhaustion, depersonalization,
Speaker:which is disconnecting from self, so they felt more connected with themselves,
Speaker:feeling like they're not as competent as others, so again, imposter syndrome. Right? They
Speaker:felt less imposter syndrome, and they felt less distress
Speaker:caused by actions conflicting with our moral values. Because, again, they were more in
Speaker:line with their values. They were less likely to go along with just people pleasing
Speaker:for the sake of people pleasing, and they were able to speak up more about
Speaker:that. They also showed increase in self compassion as measured
Speaker:by the NEF Self Compassion scale short form. And NEF this
Speaker:is Kristen Neffer referring to, her way to track self compassion,
Speaker:and she is, like, the leading self compassion researcher. I talked a lot about
Speaker:her during the self love challenge we did back in February, which you can still
Speaker:access on the podcast if you scroll back to those episodes. But
Speaker:overall, the findings of this study highlighted the transformative potential
Speaker:of using coaching tools within a group setting to foster connection and
Speaker:alleviate professional distress. So this was in their career as
Speaker:doctors. So while I don't have quant quantitative data on how
Speaker:our group coaching has impacted educators just yet, we can
Speaker:safely assume that these findings could translate to other professions as well, such
Speaker:as teaching. And the qualitative data that I've seen in
Speaker:the past 2 years of offering coaching have shown a significant
Speaker:impact on people's lives, as you see from what Hannah shared in the comments.
Speaker:And I don't know if anybody else here has either been part of coaching in
Speaker:our educate and rejuvenate events, or one of our pop up events, like the vision
Speaker:board challenge, or 3 day teacher transformation, or if you've been in the club,
Speaker:would love to hear if you kinda have some qualitative data to share. Like, how
Speaker:has it impacted you? One example that comes to mind too is when one of
Speaker:our educate and rejuvenate club members said that her favorite part of coaching is how
Speaker:the community comes together. And when she hears problems others are
Speaker:facing, she realizes that she has some some of the same things going on even
Speaker:if they present themselves differently. And it's really a safe space where we can
Speaker:learn from each other and grow and come together. Just kind of like we're doing
Speaker:right now on this live podcast recording for those who are here live.
Speaker:And it doesn't only happen in group coaching. It also happens
Speaker:in just, like, support groups of all kinds. Christina, in her
Speaker:book that I was referring to earlier, she shared that her son, Luca, also found
Speaker:support groups that were helping him with his addictions
Speaker:and his depression, his mental health. With all of that, he found the
Speaker:support groups actually more helpful than even the individual therapy. And while the
Speaker:individual therapy was needed, he needed that. The support groups and just seeing
Speaker:that I'm not alone. Other teens are struggling with this too, and the
Speaker:connections he was able to make and foster were even more powerful. And so
Speaker:I just see this again and again in different situations. Really finding
Speaker:your people, whoever that is. I would love for you to join us at our
Speaker:educate and rejuvenate event or in the educate and rejuvenate club, obviously, because I love
Speaker:our community. But however you find it, you really wanna find that community
Speaker:because that is what's going to help you navigate the setbacks as they
Speaker:come up. And as while progress isn't linear, they'll be able to
Speaker:help you through the messy journey that we call life.
Speaker:Right? Betty says this is her 1st to educate and rejuvenate, and she's looking forward
Speaker:to getting her joy of teaching back. Betty, we're so excited to have
Speaker:you. Marie Chris says hello, hello. Kelly's clapping. And
Speaker:Gloria says, overall, we can all use help. Yes. And Gloria Gloria is
Speaker:amazing. She's always on our coaching calls. She says, love all coaching calls, has
Speaker:helped me in my teaching job now. So glad to hear that. She says she
Speaker:turned around from a burnout since I joined this club. And I love
Speaker:seeing some of you having these conversations with each other, too. I love it.
Speaker:You're all I mean, I see and that's what I love. Like, it's not just
Speaker:me, all about me being here on the live. Like, I'm the only one on
Speaker:the screen right now, but it's really about everybody and how we all come
Speaker:together. So it's so important to find your community. For those of you who
Speaker:are in the Educate and Rejuvenate Club, since I know some of you are here,
Speaker:make sure that you come. I saw some questions in the group today, so maybe
Speaker:we weren't clear enough about the book club. We do have our next book club
Speaker:called this Thursday, so we're going chapter by chapter. On Thursday, we're
Speaker:talking about chapters 1 and 2. So So we we did have to combine them
Speaker:just to actually get it done by the end of July, but it's going to
Speaker:be so much fun. We have some surprises in store along the way, so it's
Speaker:going to be a great time. For those of you who are not in the
Speaker:club, the doors to the club are actually closed right now. But as of June
Speaker:18th, when I'm recording this podcast, or 21st, when this will air on All
Speaker:the Fiends, If you purchase a ticket to educate and rejuvenate
Speaker:2024, if you haven't yet, there's an opportunity to join the club if you'd like.
Speaker:Or if you already have a ticket and you just wanna find your way in,
Speaker:be sure you can email us at hello at educateandrejuvenate.com, and we will help you
Speaker:out with that. We will help you get in if you're like, wait. I wanna
Speaker:be part of the book club. I don't wanna wait. The page isn't up yet
Speaker:because we're still working on rebranding it and making all the changes that we need
Speaker:to make. But the event is going to be really fun. We have Christina as
Speaker:our keynote. I just confirmed a new workout instructor. Lindsey,
Speaker:the owner Lindsey Stevens, the owner of Wild, which is
Speaker:a meditative dance practice. So it's like Zumba meets meditation.
Speaker:I love it so much. So that is our cardio workout for day 1. And
Speaker:then day 2, we have yoga. We have Gaspar Randazzo, who's
Speaker:a comedian. He's gonna teach us how to use humor in our teaching, while also
Speaker:being super funny himself. So you're gonna laugh, but also learn how can I use
Speaker:humor in my teaching? Christina, who's gonna talk to us all about mental health
Speaker:and kind of a lot about what we've talked about today. We're gonna have teaching
Speaker:experts in all the different areas, It's going to be such a great
Speaker:time. And we're also doing a special thing right now. So if you leave a
Speaker:review on educate and rejuvenate the podcast and email it to hello
Speaker:what educate and rejuvenate dotcom. We we will email you a $5
Speaker:coupon that you can you can apply to anything. It can be to
Speaker:any future purchase. So it can go towards the educate and rejuvenate club. If
Speaker:you're already a member, you can apply it to that. It can go towards getting
Speaker:your educate and rejuvenate ticket comp to our conference. It can be to
Speaker:grab a resource in the shop. So just leave a review. If you enjoyed
Speaker:this podcast today, go to Apple Podcasts and leave a
Speaker:review. Send us a screenshot of your review, and we'll send you a $5 coupon.
Speaker:Let's see. Let's recap really quick what we went over today. So we talked about
Speaker:setbacks, but they're going to happen. They're going to continue to happen.
Speaker:It's not a straight line, and it never will be. But we can look at
Speaker:our progress along the way, learn and grow from the setbacks, and our
Speaker:struggles can bring us together with those around us knowing that we are not
Speaker:alone. So that's what we went over today, and I appreciate all of you who
Speaker:are here live in the studio with me for all you had to share.
Speaker:And then for everybody listening today, don't forget to leave your review on
Speaker:Apple Podcasts and send us a screenshot for your $5 code. It
Speaker:can go towards anything. A resource, discount on your educate and rejuvenate
Speaker:2024 ticket, or even apply to your next club renewal if you're already a
Speaker:member of the educate and rejuvenate club. And, again, if you
Speaker:haven't yet bought your ticket, what I recommend you use that $5 code for is
Speaker:a discount on our educate and rejuvenate summer 2024
Speaker:event. It is such a great value with all the way packed into this
Speaker:event, and you'll get $5 off too. So it's really a no
Speaker:brainer when you do that. Okay. That's everything for the podcast
Speaker:today. I hope that you have a wonderful day, and stay
Speaker:tuned for the upcoming episodes we have coming up. And I'll see
Speaker:you next. If you enjoyed this
Speaker:episode, please hit subscribe so you don't miss the next one. And
Speaker:if you're hungry for more, be sure to check out the book that I wrote.
Speaker:It's called Educate and Rejuvenate, a 3 step guide to revitalize your
Speaker:teaching, renew your spirit, and reignite your passion for
Speaker:life. It is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2024.
Speaker:This book takes all the life coaching skills we talk about here on the podcast
Speaker:and puts them together in one easy to understand guide. Plus, when you pre
Speaker:order, you'll receive a PDF workbook and additional resources to deepen
Speaker:your understanding and application of the concepts we've covered on the book
Speaker:and on this podcast. You won't find these resources anywhere else.
Speaker:Visit the link in the show notes to join the wait list and be the
Speaker:1st to know when the book becomes available for pre order. Let's continue
Speaker:this journey of growth and rejuvenation together. Until next
Speaker:time.