Feeling imbalanced?
Let’s be honest; it is October, and we are educators. Of course, our to-do list is multiplying by the second and it’s getting REAL up in our EDU-parent-human-friend-world!
Wish you could clone yourself to get things done quicker? I’ve been there; heck, I am there. Unfortunately, this idea of imbalance isn’t limited to our profession; it gets the best of most humans. So, how do we find this mysterious thing called balance? Does it even exist?
I am eager to share this guest post written by Alicia Ray–one of our dear PLN peeps. She is the founder of #DBC50Summer, but since she crushed that challenge, she continues to read and blog about each of our books always stating how she will “implement” her findings. She now uses a new hashtag–#DBCBookBlogs.
You’re going to love her post about Balance Like a Pirate here. The vulnerability she shares is relatable and oh so powerful.
Turning it over to Alicia…
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I was intimidated when I started this book. I know I’m imbalanced; I can feel it. I think you can feel it too when you’re out of balance. If not, take some time to listen to your body.
My shoulders and neck are stiff. My head hurts. I’m not sleeping well. I eat more junk food. My house becomes cluttered. My kids argue with one another, and I become very short-tempered. I find myself planning for the next day rather than the next week. Have you been there? Of course, you have. Did you say ‘no’? If so, you’re lying. Yep – I just called you out.
We’re educators; imbalance is a way of life. Thankfully, Jessica Cabeen, Jessica Johnson, and Sarah Johnson share their stories in the third Lead Like a Pirate guidebook, Balance Like A Pirate.
I knew diving into this book that it would be conviction central, and sure enough… I’m riddled with guilt right now. Jessica-squared (this is really how I remember them) and Sarah share stories of their own imbalances, which help with the guilt. They assure us that we will never be at a mathematical balance, where we are exhibiting a 50-50 relationship balance between work and home. The authors contend that there aren’t only two areas in which to focus. There are four. These are as follows:
- Personal – Who are you? Outside of your job, what titles do you hold?
- Positional – What is your role at your job? What pays the bills?
- Professional – How do you continue to grow and learn your job?
- Passions – What gets you out of bed?
I took time while reading to dive into these quadrants and define them in my own life. There are some excellent activities the authors share to help us think through where we currently are in our balance, and where each piece of ourselves fits in the quadrants.
Personally, I am a wife, mother, caregiver of a child with Type 1 Diabetes and high functioning autism, daughter, sister, aunt, granddaughter, niece, cousin, Christian, nursery worker, and friend. Positionally, I am a digital learning coach and a media coordinator. I work with teachers and students in my school, as well as partnering with my administration to bring about meaningful and sustainable change in our school. I also lead district and state level professional development. I serve on our ISTE state affiliate board of directors and am a Future Ready Thought Leader in Instructional Coaching. Professionally, I read books and connect with my PLN to provide my own growth. #DBC50Summer and #DBCBookBlogs have been the main instrument for growth, in addition to Twitter chats. I enjoy attending EdCamps. I participate in state-level conferences and would like to attend a national or international conference in the near future. Finally, my passions include reading and writing, watching football, and connecting with others.
Like many of you, I’ve got a lot on my plate. I drop the ball every day on at least one of these quadrants. I’ve got to get better at this balancing act, and this book was exactly what I needed to help me make small steps to see big changes in each of these areas.
There is so much I enjoyed about reading Balance Like A Pirate. The practical advice at the end was the highlight for me. As a believer in the quote from the Captain himself, “Inspiration without implementation is a waste,” I was thrilled to see the final section devoted to ways to readily implement the ideas and philosophies held within the pages of the book. I will be implementing many of these in the near future. My official implementation plan for this one is a bit different from the ideas given at the end of the book.
When I started my weight-loss journey over a year ago, the first thing my doctor suggested that I do was write down everything I put into my body. If I drank water, write it down; if I put barbecue sauce on my chicken tenders, write that down, etc. I thought this was lame but realized that I weighed more than I had when I was nine months pregnant with my youngest daughter, and I knew I was in a spiral into depression. So… I documented it all with my FitBit app. What I quickly realized was that I was gaining weight because I was eating nothing but junk. I wasn’t eating much at all, but when I did, it was a Snickers bar and Mountain Dew. I was drinking nearly a liter of Mountain Dew every day and absolutely no water. We would go out to eat every night, and I would load up on all the starchy vegetables and leave the good stuff out. I would eat a half of a bag of Doritos at 8:00 at night, then wonder why I couldn’t rest well. It was terrible, y’all. If I hadn’t written it all down, if I hadn’t taken that step to become aware of what I was doing to myself, I’m not sure that I would be able to tell you that my weight-loss journey has been a huge success. I have lost over 40 pounds in a year and feel better than I’ve felt in a long time. Granted, I’ve gained some of it back in the past few weeks due to excessive amounts of time reading and blogging (ahem, imbalanced much?!), but as part of my EduNinja Mindset implementation plan, I will be getting up early at least three days a week to exercise in the mornings. (This hasn’t gone so well yet, but I will get better.)
With this in mind, my implementation for Balance Like A Pirate will be very similar. I will take a pulse of my commitments and my time in each quadrant by writing down what I am doing each day. Every 30-60 minutes, I will take a short pause for reflection writing down which quadrant of which I had been focusing. If there have been multiple quadrants addressed during that specified time, I will note that. I will do this for at least one week, possibly longer, until I see a clear picture of where I currently stand in the quadrants. I’m not sure which quadrant I’m spending the most time in right now, but it is clear that my personal quadrant is being neglected the most.
If you’re a parent and an educator, you likely feel the same convictions, I do when it comes to our own children. My daughters get the worst version of me. They unwillingly make so many sacrifices because their mom is a committed educator. They need me to be a committed mom. I come home exhausted from answering a million questions, dealing with middle school drama, and pouring my heart out for my students, and there’s just not a lot left when we get home. After working until 4:30-5:00 PM every evening, we come home to do homework quickly, grab something quick to eat, go to whatever ball practice/game is on the schedule for the night, then come home for showers and bedtime. They deserve better from me. This much is evident without even taking a pulse on where I currently am in my imbalance. Once I see where the majority of my time is being spent, I can better adjust using ANCHOR Goals (described in this book, it’s the equivalent of a SMART goal for balancing our lives) without eliminating my time in the quadrants altogether.
I look forward to seeing what comes from my time with this book. I am excited to spend more time with my family but fearful of what that will do to my professional growth. I’m not going to lie, I’m looking forward to sleeping again, ha!
Also… that Freaking Out Chart… that thing is on point! You’ve got to see this thing in the book! It’s pretty much perfect!
Head on over to the Dave Burgess Consulting website to preview this book! You can follow along with others going on this journey working toward achieving a better balance using the hashtag #BalanceLAP and following Jessica, Jessica, and Sarah. You may also check out their websites! Jessica Cabeen’s is here, Jessica Johnson’s is here, and Sarah’s can be found here. Jessica Johnson’s website has a list of podcasts she has appeared on, as well as her own podcast, Principal PLN. Sarah also includes podcasts and publications here. I highly recommend purchasing this book for yourself and for a friend. Being sure that both of you have a copy gives you the opportunity for immediate accountability partners who will speak the same language. Oddly enough, my accountability partners are people I’ve never even met; you all. You are my accountability partners in that you pushed me to finish #DBC50Summer, and you are currently encouraging me to follow through on the implementation plans I created for that, and the rest of the #DBCBookBlogs and you may not even be aware that you’re inspiring me to complete this journey. But you are. And I appreciate that. Continue to follow along with me. There are only a few books left (I’m sure more will be coming very soon, but at least for now I’ll be caught up).
As always, Andrea Paulakovich (creator of the DBC, Inc Books topic on Flipgrid) and I invite you to share your thoughts on the Flipgrid for Balance Like A Pirate.
The next book is Kim Bearden‘s Talk to Me. I’m beyond excited about this one. I have heard that I’m going to love it, so I’m eager to see if it will live up to the hype from my dear friend who suggested it. Also – there’s a special something in store for this blog!!! Stay tuned and check it out here aliciaray.com.
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Thank you, Alicia. What a beautifully penned reflection of Balance Like a PIRATE!
We hope you will share the “balancing” strategies and techniques you use or what you have gained from this blog or from the book featured here–Balance Like a PIRATE. Why share? Easy. We are better together!
Would you like to read the first few chapters of Balance Like a PIRATE? Click the “More Info” link below and scroll down to the “FREE PREVIEW.” We can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
Balance Like a PIRATE
Balance Like a Pirate, a Lead Like a PIRATE Guide, was written by educators for educators with a focus on helping you create a lifestyle that allows you to break free from "shoulds" and "have tos." Educational leaders Jessica Cabeen, Jessica Johnson, and Sarah Johnson equip you with practical strategies and tools to thrive in every area of life.
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