Where is the love? It is February and some of you may have had resolutions or goals like we mentioned in January’s post. If not, that’s ok. Or, maybe you feel off the pathway for that goal. You guessed it, that’s ok too. Striving to always grow and survive is a good place as well. Either way, finding what you love to center yourself in work, or life, can be helpful. Like, choosing a word for the year. #OneWord2021
I decided to pick a word of the year – INSPIRE. I wanted my word to be connected to me both personally and professionally. Inspire was where my brainstorming of words led me. Now, my wonderings lead me to not just wanting to pick a word and be ready to go when others ask, but to really use it to guide me through the year. I landed on 3 questions to help me:
what inspires me?
Things I am passionate about seem to be the ‘what’ that inspires me. Reading inspires my mind. Water inspires me to relax, as well as write. For those who know me well, I am sure you understand my love for the ocean and pools! I wish I was in a warm place with one of those by me right now. I especially wish for inspiration when I hit writer’s block. Enter the need for brainstorming. I was thinking this week about what is around me to keep me inspired. Every day I tried something different to keep me going. I realized reading and water were on the list with music, coffee, walking, fresh air, wine and working out. Some may seem simple, but sometimes simple is better. Look around you – see the beauty of the sunrise or a full moon, even the view outside your window. What inspires you?
Who inspires me?
Writer’s block is no joke and especially aggravating if you are trying to get something down on paper, or a computer. My sister, unknowingly, helped me during one of those writer’s block moments a few weeks ago. She sent me a book by Angela Duckworth, called Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. I read pieces of it and just like that I was inspired to add the words I was searching for. Thank goodness for sisters, husbands, family and friends who just seem to know the little, simple things to do to help. This is where the brainstorming comes in again. I realized as I thought about inspirational people, I am extremely lucky to have so many who inspire me everyday. My husband, Jay, is another one. He is a hard worker and right now is working on my office desk and even lights. He is creating it all and making me proud to be in that room.
I can’t write this and not share at least one other group – my nieces and nephews, adoptive ones too! To see them all learn and grow and change is inspiring. Keep those videos and pictures posted or sent to your family and friends, because speaking from experience it makes me proud to be an aunt. I could keep listing important people who all have a way of inspiring me! So, who inspires you?
How can I inspire others?
I realized I may already do this without knowing. Another passion surfaces with wanting to help others and so I am always going to try to be inspiring. But, that’s just it – keep trying is the key. Duckworth talked about how grit was the commonality for those who were high achievers or were successful at completing a goal (2016). She also noted how those individuals were consistent at showing up. That made me realize that doing something big is not the goal for inspiration, it is being there and persevering when something is tricky or when failure happens. It is not giving up when everything seems to go wrong. We have all had our failures or bad days or moments where nothing works like we expected. Still putting forth the effort is all we can do. And the best way to help with that is to think of what and who inspires you to keep on keeping on!
Looking ahead
I noticed as I reread this post that really it is for more than just educators. It is for anyone. Hopefully it helps you brainstorm either your inspirations, or a word of the year. Even if you already have a word of the year, brainstorm how you can be reminded of it and how it inspires you to grow and survive. Then, look ahead for next month’s post on revisiting our mindset!
References
- Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. New York, NY: Scribner.
- Family, friends and colleagues – some are in the pictures and many more all around me.