Author James Allen states, "A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thought."
Thoughts matter. There is tons of research out there showing that if a teacher truly believes in her students they achieve at higher levels.
What are some of your everyday goals for yourself? What are your dreams? What vision do you wish to see come to fruition in your school? Do you believe you can achieve them?
In 2 Corinthians 10:5, the Bible challenges readers to "take captive every thought."
When negative thoughts creep in, we must take them captive - stopping ourselves from continuing that line of thinking. Failure is inevitable - it is a part of life. The most successful people in the world have faced failure - it is what they've done with that failure, how they're responded to it, that has made them successful.
When you face a challenge or even a failure on the journey toward reaching your goals and dreams, don't allow yourself to mope and dwell on negative self-talk. Change your thought process to reflect on what what went wrong or what you can do better. Focus on your strengths and how you can grow in your areas of weakness.
In his book, The Power of Positive Leadership, Jon Gordon tells the story of Dr. James Gills who completed a double triathlon (two triathlons back to back with only a 24-hours break) 6 different times - the last of which when he was 59 years old! When asked how he did it, his response is powerful:
"I've learned to talk to myself instead of listen to myself."
Dr. Gills goes on, "If I listen to myself, I hear all the reasons why I should give up. I hear that I'm too tired, too old, too weak to make it. But if I talk to myself, I can give myself the encouragement and words I need to hear to keep running and finish the race."
In our race toward achieving the vision we have for our schools, and the goals and dreams we have for ourselves, we cannot listen to the voices we hear telling us we are not good enough. Instead, we must talk to ourselves and encourage ourselves that we can do more than just "make it." We can choose to thrive each day, giving our kids our best.
So what can we say to ourselves? What quotes or saying give you strength and encouragement? Please share them in the comments or tweet them and tag @meredithakers
Your thought life has great power! No one who constantly tells themselves they aren't good enough ever accomplished the goal! It is those that take captive negative thoughts and choose to focus on the positive that achieve.
