The Principal's Handbook

how-to-think-more-positively
[00:00:00] This BE Podcast Network show is presented by IXL. IXL's all inclusive online teaching and learning platform simplifies EdTech needs and accelerates achievement in 95 of the top 100 U. S. school districts. IXL delivers personalized learning across a comprehensive pre K through 12 curriculum, including math, language arts, science, and social studies, and helps you assess student performance through actionable, real time insights at every level of your school or district.
This one solution performs work that typically requires dozens of different tools. I have personally used IXL with students to support them in math, and I love that it focused on the skills that students needed and could help differentiate learning for them. I was also able to look at the data and use that to inform instruction.
Do you want to find out why so many leading districts trust IXL? Visit ixl. com forward slash be. That's ixl. com forward slash be.
Welcome to the Principal's Handbook, your go to resource for [00:01:00] principals looking to revamp their leadership approach and prioritize self care. I'm Barb Flowers, a certified life coach with eight years of experience as an elementary principal. Tune in each week as we delve into strategies for boosting mental resilience, managing time effectively, and nurturing overall wellness.
From tackling daily challenges to maintaining a healthy work life balance, I'm Barb Flowers. We'll navigate the complexities of school leadership together. Join me in fostering your sense of purpose as a principal and reigniting your passion for the job. Welcome to a podcast where your wellbeing is the top priority.
Hey, everyone. Today, we're going to be exploring How to think more positively and having positive thoughts can literally change your life. And I know this from experience. I've worked on positive thinking and reframing my thinking for the last year or so, and it has been life changing.
So that's what we're going to talk about today. And we talk about having more positive thoughts. I've always heard this, but what's hard is when you get [00:02:00] into the really challenging situations. And we know as principals and leaders, there's lots of challenging situations that arise and it can be really hard to stay positive in those situations.
So I'm going to give you some tips for that today. We're going to talk about that, but I want to start by talking about why is it so hard for us as humans to be positive? Well, our brains are wired with a negative bias that was developed to protect us from danger. So we needed this thousands of years ago.
We needed this for humans to be able to hunt for food. We needed this to keep ourselves safe, but Having that negative bias, it affects our wellbeing because consistent negativity and negative thinking, it increases the risk of mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety. So although it was made to protect us years ago, now it can be harmful if we're not aware of this.
And research has also linked negative thinking to physical health problems. such as degenerative brain diseases, cardiovascular issues, [00:03:00] digestive disorders, negative thinking can lead to higher stress levels, weakened immune systems. It can disrupt your hormone regulation and just make it more difficult to have a healthy lifestyle.
So negative thinking does a lot to not only our mental state, but our physical bodies. So having negative thoughts at work can also make you feel really unmotivated. It can make it hard to stay on task. You feel like nothing you're doing is right. It can lead to poor morale in the workplace, which is not good, especially when you're the leader in the building.
You want to be the one creating that positive presence throughout the building. So the great thing is that we can rewire our brains so that we're more inclined to think more positive than negative. This comes from neuroplasticity in the brain, which is the brain's ability to form new neural connections.
And the rewiring that can happen in the brain leads to positive growth and change. So that's the great thing about our brain is that we can change it to be more positive and focus less on the negative. [00:04:00] But what we do to change These neural pathways is we have to focus on positive thoughts and experiences.
The more we focus on those positive thoughts and experiences, the more we're changing those neural connections and we're creating new neural pathways that's going to reinforce positive patterns of thinking and behavior. Want to know one of my biggest frustrations with ed tech, the sheer number of tools out there and the difficulty of knowing which ones schools and districts like mine are using to get results.
IXL is different. Not only does it perform the functions of dozens of tools, it's currently delivering results for one in four U. S. students, including those in 95 of the top 100 districts. IXL is research proven to accelerate achievement. Studies across 45 states show that IXL schools outperform non IXL schools on state assessments and independent research from John Hopkins University.
Verifies that IXL meets ESSA Tier 1 standards. With those [00:05:00] results combined with IXL's teacher friendly reputation, what more could you ask for? If you have a goal to increase achievement for all students, make sure to find out what IXL can do for you. Visit ixl. com forward slash be for a demo. That's ixl.
com forward slash be. So really quick, I just want to talk about the benefits of positive thinking. So positive thinking, it improves your ability to pay attention. to focus, solve problems faster, and it increases your resilience. So when you face a challenge or some sort of setback, you can bounce back quicker.
And it also helps us to achieve our goals and be more successful. And think about this. If you go into work with a positive attitude, you're probably more productive. You're able to get work done. You're able to get things done. I know when I go in with a negative mindset, even a mindset on like a day before break where I'm just ready to be done.
I'm not very productive. I'm not getting as much done. [00:06:00] It's harder for me to stay focused. So, that positive thinking has a huge impact on your work and your ability to do your job to your best. So now I want to talk about tips to think more positively. So my first tip is to notice your negative thoughts.
Be aware of the negative thoughts that come through your mind. This is the first step in changing negativity is you have to have awareness. You have to notice what's going on in your brain and be curious about why you're having those negative thoughts. Is it because you, you know, struggle with perfectionist thinking?
Is it because you overgeneralize things? Do you have all or nothing thinking? So why are you having those thoughts?
And it's pretty crazy because once you start to notice your negative thinking, you start to notice everybody else's negative thinking around you. And so that changes the people you want to be around because you start to notice [00:07:00] negative thinking, not only in yourself, but just everywhere. And what you notice is so many people are negative.
So that's the first tip. My second tip is to reframe your negative thoughts. So take a negative thought and reframe it into a positive thought because our thoughts, they create our feelings and our feelings create our behaviors and actions. So if we have positive thoughts, we're going to have more positive feelings, which is going to lead to positive behaviors and an overall happier life.
Think about that. If you take a teacher, you could have a completely different thought about that teacher than someone else. But when you have that negative thought about them, it's going to create negative feelings. Which then the outcome when you interact with them is probably going to be more negative.
Same with if you have a parent that you struggle to work with. You know, if you have negative thoughts going into every interaction with that parent, It's going to lead to negative [00:08:00] feelings that you have, which is going to lead to a negative outcome. So you really have to reframe and try to think of positive thoughts going into situations where you know that you're going to be negative because that's going to help lead to more positive feelings and more positive action.
And I want to add I'm not talking about false positivity where we pretend that everything's great when it's not great. I'm talking about actually learning to use negative thoughts that come up in your brain. And reframe them into something that can be helpful for you, your staff, the parents you work with, your students, and it's going to lead to a positive result.
Knowing, noticing, knowing, being aware of what's going on in your brain, the negativity. You have to be able to take that and reframe it. Just know that you're human and it's a natural thing to be negative. And so being aware of that negativity, knowing that it's coming up in your brain and knowing that you can change it and reframe it, that's what's important.
Everybody has negative thoughts. [00:09:00] That is okay. It's just how you carry out those negative thoughts. Are you able to recognize them? Are you able to reframe them into something positive so that you have more positive feelings, which leads to a more positive action. My third tip is gratitude. Having gratitude just helps you be more positive overall in life.
Think about what you're grateful for each day. A good strategy for this is to think about three things. that you're grateful for before you even get out of bed. And they could be simple things like you're grateful for a bed to sleep in. You're grateful for a shower to use when you need to get up, you know, it's just little things that we take advantage of every day.
So think about three things that you're grateful in the morning. Think about three things you're grateful for as you walk into the school building. Think about three things you're grateful for as you leave school. What went well that day? Think about that. And you can even practice this with staff. I think it's great to model gratitude with the staff, but having gratitude makes it harder to be negative.
Cause when you're grateful for [00:10:00] even the smallest things around you, It's going to make you a more positive person. My next tip is to surround yourself with positivity. So surround yourself with other positive administrators, positive people in your life, positive podcasts, positive shows, music. Positive thinking is contagious.
Remember negative thinking is contagious and positive thinking is contagious. So. Choose which one you want to surround yourself with. Hopefully positive. But, um, having just things that motivate you and make you feel good. Even if you think about shows, you know, if you watch too many reality TV shows that are so negative and people are talking about each other and.
Everything is negative about the show, even though it's TV and you're watching it, that's all things that you're taking in. That's content you're taking into your brain that's negative. So surround yourself with positivity so that you can be more positive yourself. My next tip is to practice positive affirmations.
Incorporate positive affirmations into [00:11:00] your daily routine and just create simple statements that reflect your strengths as an administrator, your goals, what you want to achieve and repeat these affirmations regularly. And that's going to reinforce the positive mindset. I also think affirmations are great if you're having a negative thought that you can just reinforce or reframe that negative thought with your positive affirmation that you've been reinforcing throughout the day.
So a couple examples are, I'm capable of overcoming challenges. So when you go into a challenging situation and you're thinking negative thoughts about it, Just switching that I'm capable of overcoming challenges, or I'm a resilient and effective leader. So if you're going into something and you're struggling with it, just I'm a resilient and effective leader.
And that's going to change your perspective about the situation. and have a more positive mindset mindset. My next tip is to celebrate small wins. So just like the idea of practicing gratitude, where you're just thinking about [00:12:00] small things you're grateful for, it's the same with celebrations. Acknowledge and celebrate small victories throughout your day.
And it can be the smallest thing, whether it's a conversation that went well with a staff member or student, a positive interaction with another colleague, achieving a personal goal. Just take a minute. To stop and recognize and appreciate the smallest accomplishments because celebrating small wins fosters a sense of achievement and it reinforces a positive outlook.
Also encourage your teachers to do this. The more that you celebrate small wins and you model this for teachers, the more they're going to do it. I like to start staff meetings with talking about celebrations so teachers can share positive things that are happening in their personal life or in their classrooms.
And I also like to share some things I notice that's going on in the building that I think are celebrations. So creating this culture of celebrations, not only for yourself, but your staff and the students is really important for having a positive mindset. My next [00:13:00] tip is to set realistic goals, establishing achievable and realistic goals for yourself and your staff, and then breaking those big goals into smaller goals and into manageable action items that you can actually see if you're achieving is going to help you feel more successful and then celebrate the progress along the way, adjust your goals as you need, but realistic goals are I'm going to help you feel more accomplished and fuel that positive thinking for not only you, but for your staff as well.
And sometimes what happens as we get into a negative mindset, because we feel like we're not doing enough. We're not accomplishing enough. We're not meeting our goals. But what we have to remember is did we set clear, realistic goals of what we're trying to accomplish? Or did we set big goals that we're not even, they're not even sustainable or something that we're able to do in a year's period that you're going to even notice any change.
So making sure that you have those goals that are broken down, that you can actually see success, see achievement, they [00:14:00] feel manageable. It's going to help you be more positive. My next tip is to encourage a positive school culture. As a principal, you get to influence the school culture by promoting positivity among the staff and students.
And I've been talking about this through the whole podcast that you're the leader, you're the model. So all these things that you're trying and implementing and you're in the building, , It's going to carry over. So if you implement it, people are going to see it. They're going to notice it. You're modeling it and they're going to want to be more positive as well.
Also, you get to choose initiatives with the teachers that you work on that focus on kindness, collaboration, support, things that focus on positive initiatives. Also having a positive school culture that you encourage open communication with your staff, constructive feedback. And a sense of community in the school is going to make it more positive.
It's going to make it an environment where everybody feels like they can contribute and it's uplifting and model this by taking feedback [00:15:00] from teachers, being open to teacher's thoughts. The more you're open to hearing what's on staff's mind, the better it's going to be, the more positive it's going to be.
I'll never forget. A teacher came to me and she was venting about all these things and it was very frustrating, you know, because you're you're working so hard You're thinking things are going great and she has all these frustrations but what made me feel really good as hard as it was to hear and as hard as You know, it is to just listen to the frustration sometimes and not get defensive.
What was reassuring was she said to me, you know, at least I feel comfortable coming to you and talking to you about these frustrations because otherwise I'd just be venting to colleagues and we wouldn't come talk to you and you wouldn't know what's going on or what the feedback is from us. And so I took that as at least I know what's on my staff members minds.
At least I can, I get feedback and I know what they're thinking and maybe I'm not able [00:16:00] to solve every frustration, but having that outlet that that teacher can come to me and vent and talk to me and know that I'm open to listen. I'm not going to be defensive. I'm not going to get frustrated that she talked to me creates a more positive environment and it just creates a culture where, you know, feedback conversation, it's all part of making our school better.
So having that positive school culture is going to help you and your staff to be more positive. Another tip is to practice mindfulness. Incorporating mindfulness practices into your daily routine helps you stay present and centered. So this could be done through meditation, deep breathing exercises, um, just taking walks where you're more mindful, taking moments for self reflection, all these things that can help reduce stress and promote a positive mindset.
Mindfulness also empowers you to respond thoughtfully to challenges rather than reacting very impulsively. So it just helps you to take that minute [00:17:00] and center yourself. Also, mindfulness is great for helping with attention. You know, our attention is pulled in so many directions with technology these days and practicing mindfulness daily helps with your attention and keeping you more focused at our school.
We do mindful Mondays throughout the school on Mondays and a meditation on the announcements on Thursdays. And I use those opportunities to remind myself of how helpful and important it is. I know in my kid's school, they do something on the announcements every day, some sort of meditation. And my kids use that at home.
So having these strategies are not only good for you as a leader, but for the other people in your building. And my last tip is to learn from your challenges instead of viewing challenges as setbacks, see them as ways that you can grow, embrace a mindset that values learning from difficult situations, reflect on the lessons gained from challenges, and use this knowledge to adapt and improve.
A positive attitude towards [00:18:00] adversity, it, it can transform any obstacle that you're heading into. I like to think about the fact that when something happens that's hard, it's just another opportunity for me to grow as a leader and as a person. You know, and we all tell kids, but we forget when it comes to our own challenges and mistakes that we learn from those challenges.
I hear teachers say all the time, making mistakes is good. That's how we learn. However, I think as adults, it's just so much harder for us to take that perspective. So just stop and be grateful for those challenging situations that come up and think about how they help you grow as a leader and as a person.
And just remember, I think it's always an important reminder as the leader of the building, you set the tone for the positivity in the building. The more positive you are, the more positive your staff will be. If you're talking negatively about someone or about a situation you're Your staff is going to run with that.
So I talked to my staff about the [00:19:00] importance of thinking positively. This is a topic that we talk about at staff meetings. I share with them and remind them that their thoughts create their feelings, which dictate their actions. So we talk about this thought cycle because I think it's so important for people to be aware.
And remember positive positivity is contagious. It makes a huge impact on staff, on students. The more positive you are, the more positive others will be. I cannot stress that enough. So practice that. Model it. People gravitate towards positive people. So if you're interested in learning more about reframing your thoughts, I do this in my coaching.
I'd be happy to talk to you about it. But, um, for more information or more tips throughout the week, check out my Instagram at Barb flowers coaching. Thank you for tuning into the confident principal podcast. I hope you found this episode helpful. I hope you try some of these strategies. If you do try some of these strategies, reach out to me, let me know what's been helpful.
I love hearing from other leaders. [00:20:00] I love to know, you know, if things from the podcast has carried over into your work or life and it's been helpful for you. So reach out to me. You can subscribe to this podcast, but please leave feedback because that helps other people find the podcast. I hope you stay tuned for next week's episode.
Music
Do you want to simplify your school's technology, save teacher's time, improve students performance on state assessments? You can do it all, but don't waste another minute. Head straight to ixl. com forward slash BE to learn how iXL's research proven teaching and learning platform can help you achieve all those goals.
That's ixl. com forward slash BE. B E.