New Start, Fresh Start, Great Start!

-by Jaime Willis

For many teachers and students, this is their final weekend of “freedom” before school starts in earnest on Monday. Whether you are looking forward to the fresh start of a new year of dreading getting back into the “grind” of school, you can help yourself have a great start by doing a little bit of preparation.

Have a Plan

Whenever you are going to start a new task, you’ll feel better or more confident if you have a plan. If you are starting the new school year, lesson planning in advance is a huge help!

Have a Routine

When you are anticipating a fresh start, do so with a routine already in mind. What time are you going to go to bed to ensure a good night’s rest? What will your morning look like? How about your commute? Plan your routine out before the “start” day, and you’ll feel more prepared and confident.

Anticipate Challenges

Think about everything that could go wrong on your first day. Then, as much as practicable, plan a “solution” to the problem in advance. Worried you might forget your camera? Put it in your trunk the night before. Concerned that traffic might be a problem? Plan to leave your house earlier than usual. Scared the students will be really difficult to manage? Plan out a system to manage behavior ahead of time.

Visualize your Success

The night before your fresh start, take a few moments in the quiet of the evening to visualize your way through the day. Start by “waking up” refreshed, going through your morning routine, getting into school, and walk through every part of your school day. If you imagine what a successful day looks like, your brain will help you match your real day to your imagined success.

Smile & Have Fun

When you are nervous or worried, all of your energy is focused on the negative, which has a negative impact on your ability to interact with the world. I recently took a flight where I was seated across the aisle from a couple and their 9 month old baby. The mother was very stressed about keeping the baby quiet, and as a result, literally every time she held her child, the baby started crying. The father was much calmer and soothed his child right back into a peaceful sleep.

When you are scared, nervous, or worried, this is a great time to smile, to encourage others, to laugh and have fun – do things that calm or uplift your mood!

I hope this tips will help you have a wonderful “new start” soon!

Staying Balanced

-by Matt Leedham

Do you ever feel unbalanced? Not chemically imbalanced, but like your life is too heavily weighted in one direction? Like all of your time and energy is going to one area of your life at the expense of all other areas?

There are many areas of life that need to be in balance. When one area is neglected, it begins to affect the whole system. Here are the major areas of life to be considered. How would you rank your personal satisfaction with each?

• Family Relationships
• Professional Satisfaction
• Financial Health
• Health & Wellness
• Social/Intimate Relationships
• Social Life
• Spiritual Awareness
• Personal Growth

Is there anything in your life that you are letting slide? For me, I tend to let health & wellness, relationships, and social life fall to the wayside when things get hectic. And when I think about it, these are precisely the last things that should be sacrificed.

What are common causes of personal imbalance?

1. Sudden or gradual increase in stress
2. Trauma or sickness
3. Travel for work or pleasure

What each of these causes amount to, typically, is a disruption to your daily routine. Personally, I find that a disruption to my routine is the biggest cause of a downward trend. As much as I hate to have a routine, it’s essential to maintaining consistent balance for me. Given that a routine is very difficult for me to maintain right now, I’ve become quite adept at predicting a possible disruption, or at least immediately identifying the disruption when it happens. I find that awareness of the issue is half the battle. If I can see what is happening, I can intervene.

Take the time now to take stock in your life. How are things going? What have you been neglecting that is likely causing you pain? Bring this into awareness and start to take some small steps toward addressing balance.

As always, Jaime and I are available for consultation for you or your friends and family. Email us and we'll set up a time to do a brief introduction to coaching and balance to see where you're at.