...and, just like that, One Thought Thursday is BACK! ๐ฅณ
First things first: I had a most beautiful summer.
I taught significantly fewer lessons than any summer of my adult life. I talked with incredible Teacher Friends on the podcast. I accepted invitations from Elizabeth Guitierrez and Nicola Cantan to speak at their events and made many new teacher friends in the process. I spent a self-indulgent week with my family in Panama City, Florida. I played with my kids. We celebrated a lot of birthdays and ate a lot of ice cream.
In short, I rested. A lot.
I didn't think I needed to rest, but it turns out, I did.
I'm more convinced than ever that the best teachers take time away from teaching.
I'm entering this final stretch of 2024 with some important shifts in perspective when it comes to my work.
It's just too difficult to assess what's healthy in your life - and what's not - when you are deep in the middle of your own status-quo.
...which brings me to today's thought: Your to-do list might be failing you.
We often build our to-do lists under the assumption that, by accomplishing all our assigned tasks, we will end up feeling a certain kind of way.
But I have to ask you today: What would it look like to flip that process around?
What if you began your day by deciding how you want to feel, and then built your to-do list from there?
How would your priorities change?
You know it's true; music teachers live an existence where we've never done it all. There's always more we "could" get done.
If I just start building a to-do list for my day, it's likely to be (1) wide in scope, and (2) virtually impossible to finish. This leads me to end each day feeling like I've failed.
YET: If I start today by declaring I want to feel (for example) ENERGIZED and PREPARED, that gives me focused framework for my tasks that day.
- I am more likely to prioritize exercise and nutrition because I've determined I want to feel energized.
- My teaching-related tasks feel purposeful; they are leading me to feel prepared for the day.
I suppose it's really just another way of naming our objectives more clearly; an aspect of teaching we all have room for improvement in.
So, the question is this: How do you want to FEEL today?
Hit that REPLY button and let me know! โ
โ
๐ฅCheers to the pursuit of BEING, rather than DOING.๐ฅ