Overcome October

 Congratulation, you’ve made it through one of the hardest months in education, September, but this year was probably the hardest in everyone’s career. Next up is the awesome month October. Typically, October is a challenging month when you recognize how much work is necessary to get kids to grow as learners, but this year October will be more challenging because more kids than ever are further behind this year.

Will you Overcome or Be Overcome?

It is easy to succumb to the stress of the work, but if we want kids to grow more than ever, we must realize that it all begins in how we approach the work. If we are distressed, the work will inevitably be not as successful. After all, distress kills our success. Many think stress is a bad thing but it’s really not. Too much stress is a bad thing, and that is what we call distress.

Are you overcome by the obstacles, or will you overcome them? The great ones overcome by taking a step back and looking at the big picture. Nothing we do in education is life-threatening, but when we’re overcome with stress we overreact as if everything is life or death.

‘We work in a school, not an emergency room.’

If we want to rock October, we have to move from being overcome to being an overcomer. We do that by:

• Starting our day with prayer, reflection, or studying things that are about making you a better person.
• Having a routine of things you do each day and things you do on different days in your work week.
• Embracing the fact that not everything is important.
• Taking a step back when we start to stress out and put it all in perspective.
• Visit with a critical friend who will pull you back when you start to be overcome.

Rock October

If we want to excel in October, we have to remember we are running a marathon, not a sprint. Sure, September exhausted you but in a marathon, the first part of the race exhausts you and makes you want to stop running. Those who run the race well recognize that it’s always about mind over matter. If you think you can’t make it, you won’t. If you know you can make it, you will. You we’re born to overcome, and the perfect month has arrived for you to make it happen. Be strong and courageous. Overcome October.