The Teacher Burnout Podcast

Episode #47 Teach. Burnout Pod.
[00:00:00]
In today's episode, we are going back to a previous episode I recorded on finding and knowing your purpose. So this is a great episode to revisit and think about what your purpose is as a teacher. That's all coming up next right here on the Teacher Burnout Podcast. Stay tuned.
Are you feeling overwhelmed or do you struggle setting boundaries? If so, I have the solution for you. My new course, the Teacher Overwhelm and Boundary Solution will help you conquer, overwhelm, and establish boundaries, helping you steer clear of burnout. So transform your approach to stress management and boundary setting today.
Click the link in my show notes to access the course.
Welcome to the Teacher Burnout Podcast, where we explore the challenges of burnout for teachers and share practical strategies to support teacher well being. I'm your host, Barb Flowers. If you're a teacher looking for ways to prevent burnout or an educational leader searching for strategies to support your team, this podcast is for you.
Let's [00:01:00] dive in.
Welcome back to the podcast today. I'm excited to bring you an older episode that I recorded. It was actually episode number four, the power of purpose in your career. And this is such a great topic because it's important to know what your purpose is in education and know what your purpose is in life and why you do what you do.
I wanted to share two quotes about purpose today. First from Mark Twain, the two most important days in life are the day you were born and the day you find out why. And another one is if you have a strong purpose in life, you don't have to be pushed.
Your passion will drive you there. And that's Roy T. Bennett. And both of these quotes are so important because you are going to find so much more fulfillment in teaching and be happier if you know what your purpose is and why you do what you do every day. We spend so much of our time at school.
And so knowing the reason why we're there and knowing what that purpose is, is [00:02:00] going to drive you to be better every day. I hope you enjoy this episode. It's a great one to stop and think about purpose and why you do what you do. Hello, and welcome to episode number four of the teacher burnout podcast. Today, we're going to be talking about purpose and the importance of knowing your purpose in your work. Let's start with the definition of the word purpose. Purpose means to know why you're doing something. It's your why the Merriam Webster definition is something set up as an object or end to be attained.
It's an intention that you set up. If we don't have a purpose or a why of why we are doing something, then we don't have an intention of where we're going. So having a purpose in our work is so important for moving forward in a meaningful way. And so today I want to talk about five reasons why purpose is so important in your work.
The first reason is motivation. When you have a clear sense of purpose in your work, it can serve as a powerful motivator. Having that why, the deeper [00:03:00] reason for why you do what you do, helps keep you focused, engaged, and committed to your work. Even when times get really tough. And think about a time when you were struggling.
to read a book about education or you were excited about a lesson and you were at home planning on a weeknight or on the weekends and looking on Pinterest and, you know, Googling everything and looking on blogs. It's because you were so motivated and you had such a clear why for why you were doing what you were.
So finding that motivation is huge. The second thing is it having a purpose helps you find meaning. It gives you that greater sense of meaning in your work and it helps you understand the impact that your work has on others in the world and gives you that sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.
Meaning is a huge part of why I do what I do. I know that I was meant to work with kids and educators. It's something I am passionate about. It's something I enjoy doing. [00:04:00] And one thing that always gave me meaning as a teacher, and it still gives me meaning as an administrator, is that parents trust me with their kids.
If you're a parent, you know, like, that's huge. You are in charge of someone's kids all day, teaching them, and you have such a big impact on them, and that is such a huge role. I know with my own kids, they come home and talk about their teachers all the time. They love their teachers, they think the world of their teachers, and so having that perspective, that, You know, you have such a big meaning.
You mean so much to those kids and to the parents. So hopefully that gives you your own meaning for that. The third, reason for having a purpose is it helps you, , have a direction. It helps you set meaningful goals and priorities and You know what you want to achieve and why, and it helps you stay on track and avoid distractions.
So maybe your direction is as a teacher, where do you want to go as a teacher? , do you want to keep growing in certain [00:05:00] areas? Maybe you want to, , move into a different role as an educator. You want to be an instructional coach or move into administration, but having that clear purpose gives you a direction of where you're going.
, the fourth thing is it helps with decision making. When you have that clear purpose, It's easier to make a decision because when you're faced with a difficult choice, you just go back to that purpose and have it guide you through making that correct decision for yourself. , I try to think about my purpose every morning as I walk into the school and as I leave the school, it helps me kind of do a reflection for my day.
So, If I did something and I'm reflecting on, oh, should I have done that or should I not have done that? I always look back to did it align with my purpose? Was I supporting and helping the students, the teachers, and the families that I work with? Was it working towards that purpose? And if it was, then I probably made the right decision.
Having a clear purpose also helps with resilience. And having resilience helps you bounce back from [00:06:00] setbacks and failures. , when you understand why your work matters, it gives you resilience and determination to keep going when things are tough. And we know in education, there are many days that there are challenges and things get tough.
Many days don't go maybe as we planned it, or we leave feeling exhausted. But knowing your purpose is what keeps you going and helps you from getting burnt out. It gives you that resilience to know that, you know, this is why I do this. ,your purpose is what drives you in your career, but it can change over the years.
So if you've been in education, for a long time, maybe your purpose has changed, , which is okay. And if you're going through burnout, maybe you're even struggling right now to find that purpose. , you might just be in a stage where you're just trying to get through the day and you can't even remember why you went into education.
I wanted to give you some questions to reflect on and think about your purpose so that you can come up with that purpose statement to help you have a clear [00:07:00] reason why you chose to be. The first question I want you to think about is what do you value as an educator? What are things that are important to you?
What values are important to you? Is it being caring, kind, collaborating with others? Is it courage? Honesty, equality, integrity. Knowing your values as a person will help you determine your why and your purpose for what you're doing as your career. So really sit down and think about what you value.
What are your strengths as an educator? Think about what strengths you have. , are you good at classroom management and helping students improve their behavior? Do you have strengths in curriculum and instruction? And you're a great team leader for the other teachers that you work with and have great instructional ideas, whatever those are.
Think about the strengths because knowing your strengths, it helps you feel good about what you're doing and knowing that [00:08:00] You're in the right place with your career and where you're at. So use that to help find your purpose as well. Also, what interests do you have in education? We know there's so many different areas of education.
So think about the interests that you have and more than likely your interests are probably aligned to what your strengths are. So is there a certain area you would like to pursue and learn more about? , for example, me, I'm passionate about teacher personal development, which is what led me to making a podcast.
And. , coaching teachers on their own personal development and burnout. Maybe you're a great reading teacher and you decide that you want to pursue being a reading coach or you just want to learn more about it and help teachers become better reading teachers and share strategies and tips. Think about what are your interests?
What are your strengths? Also reflect on why did you become a teacher in the first place? What were the things that made you want to be a teacher and how did that feel? you I can [00:09:00] remember, you know, wanting to be a teacher because of my second grade teacher. She just had this fun and engaging classroom and made learning something that I love to do.
So that's what made me want to become a teacher. And then when I got to do that for students, it was the best feeling. And I love to see kids who struggled and I was able to help them, you know, with a concept and get to see that click for them and watching them grow. That was It's amazing as a classroom teacher and now I get to see kids grow both behaviorally and academically throughout, you know, kindergarten through fifth grade and it is amazing.
And so I love knowing that I get to be part of that growth for the students. So what brought you to education? So reflect on that and go back to those experiences. And what new goal can you set for yourself? So set a goal that makes you excited and want to grow as an educator. Try something new. I've always been told if a goal is scary, it's probably a good [00:10:00] way to motivate you and make you excited to take action.
The teachers I work with in Ohio, they have to set growth plans as part of their evaluation process. So I don't know if that's something you have to do, but really think about those goals and what's next. What's a goal that gets you excited to learn more about and try something new, take a risk, do something different.
, don't set a goal just because you have to set a goal. What do you want to get better at? That'll help you find that purpose. So, again, having a purpose for work is important because it does provide that sense of direction, the meaning and fulfillment. And when you have a purpose, you know that you're working towards what matters to you and why it matters.
So it helps you stay motivated and focused, even when there's challenges or setbacks. Having a purpose, it gives you that sense of satisfaction and fulfillment and knowing that you're contributing to something greater than [00:11:00] yourself. Again, this can lead to greater happiness and wellbeing you inside and outside of work.
And we know with the idea of burnout that if you don't have a purpose, you don't know why you're doing what you're doing, it can lead to a lower sense of happiness and well being inside and outside of work. So that's why it's so important to have that purpose so that your association with work and life is positive.
, because without that purpose, work can feel mundane. It's unfulfilling. It's meaningless. You're going to have poor performance. , you're not going to be motivated to improve. You're just going to just be there. , you know, having that clear purpose can make a significant difference in how you feel about your work and just overall quality of life.
So I encourage you if you don't have a clear purpose to really sit and reflect on what is your purpose and why do you do what you do? Why are you an educator? and make some goals to become even better. [00:12:00] So I want to thank you for tuning in to episode number four of the teacher burnout podcast.
I hope you found this episode informative and helpful. And if you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to reach out to me. You can follow me on Instagram and please subscribe to this podcast and stay tuned for the next episode. Your support means a lot. And I look forward to connecting with you soon.