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Progress is Not a Straight Line, and That’s a Good Thing. (Live Podcast Recording) [#135]

June 21, 2024

Click below to listen to episode 135 Progress is Not a Straight Line, and That’s a Good Thing. (Live Podcast Recording):

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Spotify | Watch on YouTube

We want progress to look like a straight line. We expect that. And sometimes we get mad when it’s not. But the reality is life is more nuanced than that- and actually, it’s so much better that way. Welcome to Episode X of E&R The Podcast: Progress is Not A Straight Line (And That’s a Good Thing)

Key themes from Progress Is Not A Straight Line:

Embracing and learning from setbacks for personal and professional growth
Redirection and adjusting plans for resilience
Celebrating self-awareness and creating new pathways
Progress involves setbacks and victories
The impact of coaching on well-being and self-compassion
Finding strength and connection in shared experiences

Understanding the Power of Setbacks

Setbacks are an inevitable part of life, and they can often feel like roadblocks that halt our progress and leave us feeling defeated. In “Progress Isn’t Linear, and That’s a Good Thing,”, Kelsey highlights the importance of understanding and embracing setbacks as catalysts for personal and professional growth. Rather than viewing setbacks as failures, they serve as opportunities to redirect our paths and create new neuro-pathways for growth. This section dives into the human tendency to question oneself during setbacks and the vital need to retrain our brains to focus on the positive.

Finding Strength in Shared Experiences

One of the key takeaways from the podcast episode is the significance of coming together to support and understand each other, especially in times of setbacks. Kelsey shares personal experiences, including setbacks in business with a Teachers Pay Teachers store, the impact of COVID-19, and the journey toward coaching, writing a book, and organizing events. By sharing these experiences, the episode emphasizes the power of community and the strength that can be found in shared experiences. It is through these shared experiences that compassion and support are cultivated, ultimately leading to personal growth and resilience.

Rewriting the Narrative of Setbacks

It’s easy to fall into a cycle of negative self-criticism when facing setbacks. However, this episode encourages us to redirect and adjust our plans, using setbacks as detours in the right direction. By celebrating self-awareness and understanding that progress isn’t linear, we can reshape our thoughts and embrace a growth mindset. Kelsey discusses the concept of setbacks and how they can make a person stronger, drawing a parallel to a dance routine that serves as a metaphor for life—falling and bouncing back up, representing the resilience people show in real life.

The Impact of Support and Community

Throughout the episode, the conversation emphasizes the positive impact of support and community in navigating setbacks and fostering personal growth. Personal anecdotes and testimonials from audience members and participants in the Educate and Rejuvenate club and coaching calls highlight the transformative effects of community-based settings. The qualitative evidence of the impact of coaching on participants’ lives, leading to a sense of community, growth, and support, showcases the significance of finding valuable support during times of setbacks.

Resources mentioned:

Connect with Kelsey:

We want progress to look like a straight line. We expect that. And sometimes, we even get mad when it’s not. But the reality is life is much more nuance than that, and actually, it’s so much better that way. Welcome to episode 135 of Educate and Rejuvenate the podcast. Progress is not a straight line, and that’s a good thing. Welcome to educate and rejuvenate. The podcast to help you revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit, and reignite your passion for life.

Speaker A 00:00:32 – 00:01:17

I’m your host, Kelsey Sorensen, a former teacher, current homeschool mom, published author, and certified life coach. Whether you are a teacher in a traditional classroom, homeschool from your kitchen table, or anywhere in between, I am on a mission to help you not only survive as an educator, but thrive. Get ready to up level your skills with incredible insights from guest experts and discover the missing piece, rejuvenating yourself. Are you ready to both educate and rejuvenate? Let’s go. I am so excited to be here in the podcast studio with some friends today. I am recording this podcast live. It is going out on Facebook live and YouTube and Instagram. Holly says, hello.

Speaker A 00:01:17 – 00:02:08

She was tagged for this. We see lots of friends popping in on this live. Welcome to Elizabeth and everybody who’s here, so many of you. If you’re listening later, if you’re on Apple or Spotify or YouTube, be sure to stay tuned on our email list because we do do these live podcast recordings every now and then. I love to connect with you virtually and answer your questions and all of that. So I’ll be taking some of the comments here during this live to bring into the episode to help you see how these concepts can apply, not just for what I’m sharing, like my own experience and insights or insights from, Christina Kuzmic’s book, which I’ll be talking about. But also, how does this apply to educators in real time? So I I will pull some of those in too. And that’s what I love about this live podcast recording, especially for those who are here live, who get to see the whole chat and see everybody else talking about what I’m talking about.

Speaker A 00:02:08 – 00:02:48

Kind of having a discussion around it, and being able to see that you’re not alone, and really come together. I really feel like the community part of what we do here at Educate and Rejuvenate is so important. And that’s why I do want to try, at least every other month, to do a podcast recording live. Because I just feel like feel like it’s so much fun to do it that way. So today, we are talking about how progress is not a straight line. And this topic was actually inspired by chapter 4 of the book, I Can Fix This and Other Lies, I Told Myself While Parenting My Struggling Child by Christina Kuzmic. And I love Christina. She is our keynote for our upcoming educate and rejuvenate event.

Speaker A 00:02:48 – 00:03:34

And I recently just had her on the educate and rejuvenate podcast. So if you haven’t heard that episode, after you listen to this one, I definitely recommend going back and listening to episode number 128. It was the first interview I did after we rebranded the podcast from wife teacher mommy podcast to educate and rejuvenate the podcast because she is so inspiring, and she has so much to share here. And even just the title of this chapter of her book, that progress is not a straight line, really inspired me to do this podcast episode. But I also reread and relistened to the chapter of that book as I was preparing this episode. So this topic was chapter it was lie number 4. So she tells about 10 lies in this book about that she told herself while she was parenting her struggling child. And by her struggling child, she’s talking about her son who was struggling with major mental health issues.

Speaker A 00:03:34 – 00:04:25

He was in the and thank you, Kelsey Thomas, for putting the link in the comments for those who are here live. And if you are not here live, if you’re listening later, we will put the link to that podcast episode I just mentioned in the show notes. You can also find it wherever you’re listening on episode number 128. But the chapter of this book was called Progress is Not a Straight Line, and it’s because when she was sharing in the book overall, it’s all about her son’s struggles with mental health. And in this book, she tells a story about while her husband or not her husband. Her her son, her teenage son, is in an extended hospital stay for his mental health, for major depression. This isn’t just like, oh, you know, he’s struggling a little bit. He was struggling a lot, and with really extreme depression.

Speaker A 00:04:25 – 00:05:05

And and I’m not going to tell the whole thing because it’s really in the book, and I recommend reading that. She tells it in present tense, so we can visualize the situation, and what she was really feeling in each moment. And I actually love listening to the audible, because you get to really hear her tell the story. And I will actually because I don’t know if Kelsey has the link, I’m going to pop that in the chat for everybody who’s here live. So if anybody wants to get a copy of this book, we’re going to talk a little bit about it here on the podcast today. But also, we’re going to continue talking about it at the educate and rejuvenate event. And for those who are in the educate and rejuvenate club, we are doing a book club on this book as well, which has been a lot of fun. Anyways, I’m getting off my script a little bit.

Speaker A 00:05:05 – 00:05:27

So sometimes I do that. Sometimes I go down rabbit holes. Those of you who follow me, you know this. And some of you say you love the rabbit holes. So hopefully that’s fine. But again, she tells this story in the present tense, so we can really understand where she is in this moment. And what she says is, she’s like, oh, something went better, and then setback, setback, setback. She just keeps describing, this thing happened.

Speaker A 00:05:27 – 00:05:51

It was a setback. This thing happened. Setback. And just seeing it happen over and over and over again. And one quote that she said that I was like, oh my gosh, I can so relate to this. And I want to know if any of you can relate to it too. And she said, this isn’t 2 step forward, 1 step back. This is speeding in reverse with failed breaks.

Speaker A 00:05:52 – 00:06:15

It’s just like setback after setback after setback. When you feel like you’ve, like, I can’t get a break. It’s just going over and over again. Julie says it’s life. Yes. How many of you who are here live can relate to this? And if you are listening, you’re just listening by yourself, know that we are here with you even though we’re listening and talking about this together in a different time, different space. We are all here. We all understand what this is like.

Speaker A 00:06:15 – 00:06:50

It is part of life, just like Julie here in the chat said. And if you’ve ever felt like this, so you listening right now, know you’re not alone, because now I’m seeing in the chat, I’m seeing, you’re supposed to say this to my kids, me, yes, I felt this, All of this. Okay. So have you ever felt like this? You listening right now, wherever you might be, I want you to know that you’re not alone. I’m seeing everybody in the chat saying me, me too, I feel this. You’re not alone. We have all experienced this in one way or another in our lives. Life really is not just, like, this nice pretty beginning, middle, and end, like a movie, like, yay, this happily ever after.

Speaker A 00:06:50 – 00:07:30

Everything is great from here on out. We’re always going to experience setbacks. It’s a part of life. It sucks at times. It really does. Like, there are times where a setback comes up, and it is not what we wanted. But no matter what happens, we do get stronger by facing these setbacks, and what is it we can do? How can we shift our mindset for how can we shift our mindset? How can we tap in with what our needs are? And maybe it’s the opportunity, like, I shared and I’m not gonna share the full story because I’ve done a full, like, 30 minute episode on it. But when I had my postpartum anxiety attack that I had, it was really kind of a moment where it was like I need to take care of myself, and it was bad.

Speaker A 00:07:30 – 00:08:11

I was in the hospital. I thought I was, like, having a heart attack, and I just could not stop crying for days weeks, and it was awful. But I’m so glad that I experienced that. Even though it was terrible, it sucked. But because of that moment, I am where I figured out where I am now. I’ve been able to study more about psychology. I certified as a life coach, and now I’m helping others with what I’ve learned from what I went through and how it applies to theirs completely different situations. But if it weren’t for that terrible moment, I would’ve just kept going with being an anxious person all the time and just believing that was part of my identity that was intertwined with me and that I could had nothing to do with it.

Speaker A 00:08:11 – 00:08:51

So these setbacks that we have, they really help us to become stronger. And something that illustrates this really well, I was actually scrolling on my social media feed randomly one day, and you know, normally you’ll come across, like, random memes or cat videos or whatever, like, might pop up in your social media. But this video that popped up in my feed honestly took my breath away, and that doesn’t happen very often. Like, sometimes I’ll get, like, you know, a tip. I’m, like, oh, that was really inspiring, or I really loved that. But this literally was breathtaking, and I, like, shared it with everybody as soon as I saw it. And I think this was, like, a year or so ago. I know I shared it, like, even on our page and in our club members Facebook group and everything.

Speaker A 00:08:51 – 00:09:31

But it was a video. And if if I were allowed to with copyright, I would have just shared the video with all of you right now. We will put the link to the video in the show notes. But really what happened in this video, it is a dance they call it a dance that was put together by Joanne, Burgoy, who created it’s a routine that’s a metaphor for life. And what happened in it is he was walking up a flight of stairs. There’s like just imagine, there’s people all around, like in this crowd. It’s almost like he’s in the middle, and there’s this giant trampoline and this giant staircase. And he’s putting on this performance of him, like, walking up the staircase and then falling down onto the trampoline and then bouncing back up.

Speaker A 00:09:31 – 00:10:19

And sometimes he’s bouncing back up to a higher step, and sometimes he’s bouncing back up to a lower step and trying to make his way back up. At one point, he even makes his way to the top of the staircase, but then he looks down and falls again. It’s like he almost was afraid of the height he was at and fell right back down again. And it just shows him over and over and over again falling back down on the trampoline, bouncing back up, falling down, bouncing back up, and that is really what we do in life. We just fall again, and again, and again, and we get back up. And so since I have some friends here in the studio, I would love for some of you who are comfortable or willing to share a comment about a time that you have experienced this yourself. When have you experienced this setback after setback? After setback. Wendy says she loves that example.

Speaker A 00:10:19 – 00:10:58

Linda says, this has been my life. Allison says, this past year. Now I wanna share another one of my now I shared for a second the one about my postpartum. I wasn’t even planning on sharing that, but it just came up as we were talking. But another one that has been even more recent, like, even after like, that is the one that led me to find coaching and these tools and everything that I’ve been working towards, writing this book, this podcast, doing the educate and rejuvenate events and everything. But even while that’s been happening, I mean, it’s been the business itself has actually been this roller coaster for me. Because for a long time, we were a Teachers Pay Teachers store. It was just me, and I put things up, and teachers would, like, buy it or whatever.

Speaker A 00:10:58 – 00:11:28

And that was, like, what I did. That was my company. And then my husband, he was in a job that he was, like, not sure he saw himself doing that forever. And so he eventually ended up leaving, and we were doing, like, my stuff, my TPT full time, and that was what was supporting our family. And then COVID happened, and some crazy things happened with the TPT algorithm and everything. And a lot of if any of you are in that TPT land, you know exactly what I’m talking about because there were some crazy stuff that happened. And so it was, like, kind of reinventing what we’re doing. We’re not this TPT store anymore.

Speaker A 00:11:28 – 00:11:58

We’re now doing conferences. We’re now doing all this. I now have a team of people behind me, and there have been lots of ups and downs with that. It’s been like, oh, like, we tried this, that didn’t work. We tried this, that didn’t work. But we did this, and it was amazing. We’re making amazing connections, and it’s noticing what are the good things that are happening. And, again, what setbacks have we have, but what have we learned from them? And how are we gonna continue to move forward? And And how are we going to continue to support the educators who we support with taking care of themselves? Honestly, for me, that is the most important thing.

Speaker A 00:11:58 – 00:12:34

Is that, like, just service mission that I’m on to help educators to not only to uplevel themselves as a teacher, like most teacher conferences and teacher memberships do. They’re, like, helping bubble bath. It’s really it’s not just taking a bubble bath. It’s really getting to know ourselves. It’s understanding what our needs are, what we’re feeling, our mindset. Where is our inner critic coming in, and how is that getting in the way of us living the life we want inside and outside of teaching? So many things. I love what Kelly said here. She said, I needed you today.

Speaker A 00:12:34 – 00:13:00

All about signs. Your podcast notification popped up, and I was like, yes. I need this. Yes, Kelly. And I believe in signs too. Like, things do and again, I’m not gonna say everything happens for a reason, because sometimes things are just like they just happen, but it’s what can we make out of it. Right? What can how can we learn and grow from each setback? Now, I see some comments here. We have about other ways educators have seen these setbacks.

Speaker A 00:13:00 – 00:13:31

Alicia says, every pregnancy. Totally relate to that. Allison says, my life, death of mother, multiple job losses, SJS after surgery that almost killed me, severe leg burn. Oh, wow. Allison, that that is setback after setback after setback, for sure. Elizabeth says, I have PTSD from abusive husband. When I finally got my kids and I out, it was starting from scratch. It was like where a where do I start moment? Oh, Elizabeth, sending so much sympathy out to all of you, like just compassion.

Speaker A 00:13:31 – 00:13:50

Compassion is the word I was looking for. Compassion out to all of us because everyone is going through something whether we know what it is or not. And I think, Elizabeth, you’ll really resonate with Christina’s book, but also her first book. She talks a lot about her divorce. You might wanna check that one out too. It’s called no. I can fix this. This is the new one and the one I’m saying all the time.

Speaker A 00:13:50 – 00:14:21

It’s called Hold On But Don’t Hold Still. Her first book is very good. Courtney said it took me 20 years from my first college class to walking across the stage with my bachelor’s of science. I became a single mom, struggled with housing, changed my major, remarried, had twins, became a single mom again, changed majors again, finally went back to school. Wow, Courtney. That is such like a journey. Right? All the setbacks, but how much did you learn through all of that? And now, you did you finally went back to school. Right? And that we met at that Phoenix conference.

Speaker A 00:14:21 – 00:14:57

So sounds like you’re either on your way or teaching right now. Let me know in the chat. Wendy says she was diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease during the middle of last year that sent her out of work for 6 months. Her brother-in-law and mother-in-law passed away during that time. Wendy, so many things. Right? Again, I’m just holding so much compassion for all of you, but also knowing what is it that we can learn from each setback. Where can we grow? How can it bring us together and connect us with each other? Allison says, thank you. I’ve made wellness and intentional personal goal this summer and for next school year.

Speaker A 00:14:57 – 00:15:23

I I love that, Allison. Holly says, same kind of story. Congrats to you. I celebrate what God has done in my life and the blessings only he can give if we choose to lean on him. Love that. If you could see, like, again, if you are having a struggle, just hearing about other people’s, even when they’re different from yours, you realize we’re not alone. You realize that we all have setbacks in a different ways. We all have them, and that really connects us.

Speaker A 00:15:23 – 00:16:14

It’s part of our shared humanity, and the common the common feelings and experiences that we all have, even though they’re different, we can still come together and support each other, and see each other, and hold space for each other to just say what needs to be said. I love I love this so much, and I appreciate all of you who are willing to share on the podcast today. And for you listening right now, wherever you are, whether it’s today, June 18th or June 21st, when this airs on the podcast, or 3 years later, where it whenever it is. I hope that you were feeling seen and understood that whatever setback you’re experiencing right now, you are not alone in this. And we can just take the next step on that staircase. We bounce back up and even if we’re like 20 steps back on the staircase, we just need to take the next right step. And just keep on going. Jane says, yes.

Speaker A 00:16:14 – 00:16:48

We need to focus on and work on what we have in common instead of what divides us. Yes. Absolutely, Jane. Kelly says, amen. So you’re all my people here, and I love it. So what I really wanted to talk about too is, like, embracing these setbacks. Not that we’re like, oh, I love this thing that totally sucks, like, this experience, but, like, also seeing what is the good side of it. How can I grow out of this experience? For me, for example, like I mentioned with the business ups and downs and TPT being topsy-turvy and all that, like, if I would’ve just stayed in my comfort zone, I never would’ve added this coaching.

Speaker A 00:16:48 – 00:17:26

We wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. I wouldn’t have certified as a life coach. I wouldn’t have grown personally and professionally in this way, and I’m sure that all of you have different experiences where if you look back, if you look at the gain and how far you’ve come, you realize, oh, wow. If that thing didn’t happen, if I didn’t have that setback, yes, maybe it put me back for a bit, but over time, it really did help me grow in this other way that I never expected. So, I just think it’s so important for all of us to keep that in mind. So like in that staircase video, we are meant to have setbacks. It’s part of life. But often what happens is as soon as we have a setback, we question ourselves.

Speaker A 00:17:26 – 00:18:21

We might go from one extreme high where I’m like, oh, for a while, everything’s going how we want it. And then we go back and we’re like, boy, I expected it to stay there. Or like, I expected to just continue going up and up and up and why am I going down and down and down? We might question ourselves. We go from these highs to lows, and we attach our emotions and how we feel to how those things are going. And you might even notice your inner critic creeping up even after implementing these tools or even after learning them. Even if you’ve been listening to the podcast or you’ve been coming to educate and rejuvenate club coaching calls and you understand the self coaching model and you understand the stress cycle, and regulating your nervous system, or processing your emotions, that doesn’t mean we’re perfect at using those tools all the time. Right? And you might start to even use that self coaching model to beat yourself up and be like, well, I should just change my thought because then I feel better, and then you almost use it against yourself. That’s what a lot of times people will do when they first learn the self coaching model that I’m talking about.

Speaker A 00:18:21 – 00:18:45

And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, we’re not talking about it today. Don’t stress it, but we do on the podcast. If you go back to episode, it’s called the simple mindset hack that changed my life. That one will tell you all about the model. So definitely be sure to check that out if you’re not sure what I’m talking about. I’m just touching on that for a second. But you might logically be like, I know these tools work in theory, but you might think something’s wrong with you. Like, I’m not able to do it.

Speaker A 00:18:45 – 00:19:27

But the truth is the exact opposite. Everything is happening as it needs to for our good overall in the long run. Right? And part of the process is realizing that our growth is not linear, and as we learn and apply these tools, our brain tends to serve us all the thoughts about the things that are going wrong, instead of looking for the good. Right? And once we train our brain to do that, our brain will keep scanning for evidence because our brain wants to be right more than it wants you to feel good. And I mean, that’s one that should be, like, in a big quote thing. Like, our brain wants to be right more than it wants you to feel good. And this is true. It’ll keep looking for the negative because what your brain wants to be right, it doesn’t want to be wrong.

Speaker A 00:19:27 – 00:19:57

So it’s gonna keep looking for evidence that proves that, you know, these setbacks, like, if you’re thinking your inner critic is coming out again about it. You’re going to find the evidence of it. But if you instead be like, what can I learn about this? How can I grow? Then your brain can start to search for that evidence. Our brains are wired to and again, we tend to naturally go towards the negative. So if you’re like, oh, I’m I’m bad at doing that. I see a comment that says that, or I keep doing that. It’s because our brains naturally do go to the negative. So we actually do have to retrain them to focus on the positive.

Speaker A 00:19:57 – 00:20:31

But again, our brains really wanna be right. And it takes some time to rewire those thinking patterns and learn how to create new habits with our mindset and with regulating ourselves, and all the things we tend to talk about on this podcast. Again, we can try to see our lives the same way we do our lesson plans, when we teach our students, when we teach our own children. While we make a plan of what we’re going to do, we still have to adjust it, pivot, and redirect as needed. Right? Like, if the kids that you’re teaching aren’t understanding a concept, you don’t just, like, power through the complete unit. Right? You circle back and you’re like, okay. Let’s suggest. Let’s redirect.

Speaker A 00:20:31 – 00:21:13

What is it you actually need? And that’s the same thing we need to give to ourselves in our lives. And as one of my favorite authors, Gabrielle Bernstein, says, obstacles are detours in the right direction. Every setback that we have can help us get closer to where you’re meant to be, and it’s all part of the process. Another quote that kinda just ties up in a nice little bow, that whole staircase metaphor, comes from Martin Luther King Junior. He once said, faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the full staircase. And even if you fall down from that staircase back onto a trampoline and bounce back up. Right? We just need to take that next step, even if it’s 20 steps below where we are now. We just keep on going, and, eventually, we’ll see.

Speaker A 00:21:13 – 00:22:04

We’ll get that vantage point where we see what it was all for. I just really find that to be so powerful. And then, the other thing is whenever you can find yourself redirecting yourself and doing what I was mentioning, like, in your lesson plans instead noticing, oh, my inner critic’s being hard on me right now about this setback. It’s blaming myself, and maybe it’s not even my fault. You can celebrate each time you catch yourself doing that because you’re like, oh, I’m choosing again now. Right? You’re becoming more self aware, and that’s a big thing that we talk about here on educate and rejuvenate the podcast, is becoming aware of our thoughts, aware of our feelings, aware of what our needs are and what is going on. And each time you do that, you’re flexing those muscles and creating new neuro pathways and rewiring your brain. So you can celebrate every time you notice your inner critic because you noticed it.

Speaker A 00:22:04 – 00:22:43

Right? Because how many times did you not even notice it and just let it play on replay all day long? I love that. Kim in the chat here on the live recording, she said a growth mindset is sometimes hard for kids as well as teachers. And exactly. I feel like so many of us were focused on adding social emotional learning into our curriculums, but we really need it for ourself too. That’s kind of what this coaching is and what this podcast and the part that I teach and Christina teaches at the event as well is really to help you with that social emotional learning, but for yourself. And, honestly, once we do that for ourselves, we can be so much better at being there for our students. I love what Kelly said here too. Fall 7 times, stand 8.

Speaker A 00:22:43 – 00:23:00

Yes. Exactly. And Melissa said, I keep this quote by Stephen King up in my room. The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better. I love that. Hannah says, I joined this club 1 year ago. I started noticing a difference in my own life almost immediately.

Speaker A 00:23:01 – 00:23:52

Even so, progress can sometimes be messy and definitely not linear. I’ve had some setbacks and some victories, and every day I grow stronger because I know myself well and I have that awareness. And, Hannah, I can’t believe we are almost to a full year ago when we first met, educate and rejuvenate last year. And I, again, I have seen so much progress, and you’re doing amazing. And I just love having you in the club and working with you, and seeing that growth, and seeing the messiness is part of the beauty of it. It’s part of the beauty of our shared humanity because so many of us would like to try to pretend like, not even pretend we’re not trying to pretend, but we only wanna put our best self out there, like, when we’re posting on Instagram or whatever. But realizing that, oh, like, I’m messy, but so is literally everybody else, when we realize that, oh, that’s literally just part of life. Right? Beth says, a growth mindset and productive struggle are always hard.

Speaker A 00:23:52 – 00:24:28

The negative critic is stronger when there is a failure and refuses to let go initially. It takes a bunch of practice to break down that super negative voice to find the good and bad and to become better for the students. Yes. It does take practice. Right? And that’s why just those little steps and even when you notice and redirect, even little things like that are so good to be aware of and bring to our awareness. So we can see that we are making progress, even if it’s taking some time. Right? So as educators, we also we all face struggles, wins, and losses. There will be times where we feel sad or angry or stressed, but we don’t have to go about all this teaching alone.

Speaker A 00:24:28 – 00:25:26

When we combine the tools and concepts from this podcast and the connection from the community, it makes it even more powerful. And the numbers backing, like, us coming together as a community don’t lie. I was doing some research for my upcoming book that’s coming out August 13th. The book is called Educate and Rejuvenate, just like all of our stuff lately. And in that, I was looking over some studies that I learned about from my life coach school mastermind last year, which is really like professional development for coaches that we go to every year, all of us who sort of ride through the Life Coach School. And one of the presenters shared this groundbreaking study that involved a 1000 women physicians across 26 medical institutions, and it revealed significant improvements in their well-being through a 4 month online group coaching program, and they’re using the same strategies and model that we use in our coaching as well. And participants reported experiencing less emotional exhaustion, a sense of disconnect. So less of all these things.

Speaker A 00:25:26 – 00:26:23

Right? So less emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, which is disconnecting from self, so they felt more connected with themselves, feeling like they’re not as competent as others, so again, imposter syndrome. Right? They felt less imposter syndrome, and they felt less distress caused by actions conflicting with our moral values. Because, again, they were more in line with their values. They were less likely to go along with just people pleasing for the sake of people pleasing, and they were able to speak up more about that. They also showed increase in self compassion as measured by the NEF Self Compassion scale short form. And NEF this is Kristen Neffer referring to, her way to track self compassion, and she is, like, the leading self compassion researcher. I talked a lot about her during the self love challenge we did back in February, which you can still access on the podcast if you scroll back to those episodes. But overall, the findings of this study highlighted the transformative potential of using coaching tools within a group setting to foster connection and alleviate professional distress.

Speaker A 00:26:23 – 00:27:25

So this was in their career as doctors. So while I don’t have quant quantitative data on how our group coaching has impacted educators just yet, we can safely assume that these findings could translate to other professions as well, such as teaching. And the qualitative data that I’ve seen in the past 2 years of offering coaching have shown a significant impact on people’s lives, as you see from what Hannah shared in the comments. And I don’t know if anybody else here has either been part of coaching in our educate and rejuvenate events, or one of our pop up events, like the vision board challenge, or 3 day teacher transformation, or if you’ve been in the club, would love to hear if you kinda have some qualitative data to share. Like, how has it impacted you? One example that comes to mind too is when one of our educate and rejuvenate club members said that her favorite part of coaching is how the community comes together. And when she hears problems others are facing, she realizes that she has some some of the same things going on even if they present themselves differently. And it’s really a safe space where we can learn from each other and grow and come together. Just kind of like we’re doing right now on this live podcast recording for those who are here live.

Speaker A 00:27:25 – 00:28:00

And it doesn’t only happen in group coaching. It also happens in just, like, support groups of all kinds. Christina, in her book that I was referring to earlier, she shared that her son, Luca, also found support groups that were helping him with his addictions and his depression, his mental health. With all of that, he found the support groups actually more helpful than even the individual therapy. And while the individual therapy was needed, he needed that. The support groups and just seeing that I’m not alone. Other teens are struggling with this too, and the connections he was able to make and foster were even more powerful. And so I just see this again and again in different situations.

Speaker A 00:28:01 – 00:28:34

Really finding your people, whoever that is. I would love for you to join us at our educate and rejuvenate event or in the educate and rejuvenate club, obviously, because I love our community. But however you find it, you really wanna find that community because that is what’s going to help you navigate the setbacks as they come up. And as while progress isn’t linear, they’ll be able to help you through the messy journey that we call life. Right? Betty says this is her 1st to educate and rejuvenate, and she’s looking forward to getting her joy of teaching back. Betty, we’re so excited to have you. Marie Chris says hello, hello. Kelly’s clapping.

Speaker A 00:28:35 – 00:28:52

And Gloria says, overall, we can all use help. Yes. And Gloria Gloria is amazing. She’s always on our coaching calls. She says, love all coaching calls, has helped me in my teaching job now. So glad to hear that. She says she turned around from a burnout since I joined this club. And I love seeing some of you having these conversations with each other, too.

Speaker A 00:28:52 – 00:29:19

I love it. You’re all I mean, I see and that’s what I love. Like, it’s not just me, all about me being here on the live. Like, I’m the only one on the screen right now, but it’s really about everybody and how we all come together. So it’s so important to find your community. For those of you who are in the Educate and Rejuvenate Club, since I know some of you are here, make sure that you come. I saw some questions in the group today, so maybe we weren’t clear enough about the book club. We do have our next book club called this Thursday, so we’re going chapter by chapter.

Speaker A 00:29:20 – 00:29:58

On Thursday, we’re talking about chapters 1 and 2. So So we we did have to combine them just to actually get it done by the end of July, but it’s going to be so much fun. We have some surprises in store along the way, so it’s going to be a great time. For those of you who are not in the club, the doors to the club are actually closed right now. But as of June 18th, when I’m recording this podcast, or 21st, when this will air on All the Fiends, If you purchase a ticket to educate and rejuvenate 2024, if you haven’t yet, there’s an opportunity to join the club if you’d like. Or if you already have a ticket and you just wanna find your way in, be sure you can email us at hello at educateandrejuvenate.com, and we will help you out with that. We will help you get in if you’re like, wait. I wanna be part of the book club.

Speaker A 00:29:58 – 00:30:19

I don’t wanna wait. The page isn’t up yet because we’re still working on rebranding it and making all the changes that we need to make. But the event is going to be really fun. We have Christina as our keynote. I just confirmed a new workout instructor. Lindsey, the owner Lindsey Stevens, the owner of Wild, which is a meditative dance practice. So it’s like Zumba meets meditation. I love it so much.

Speaker A 00:30:19 – 00:30:52

So that is our cardio workout for day 1. And then day 2, we have yoga. We have Gaspar Randazzo, who’s a comedian. He’s gonna teach us how to use humor in our teaching, while also being super funny himself. So you’re gonna laugh, but also learn how can I use humor in my teaching? Christina, who’s gonna talk to us all about mental health and kind of a lot about what we’ve talked about today. We’re gonna have teaching experts in all the different areas, It’s going to be such a great time. And we’re also doing a special thing right now. So if you leave a review on educate and rejuvenate the podcast and email it to hello what educate and rejuvenate dotcom.

Speaker A 00:30:52 – 00:31:17

We we will email you a $5 coupon that you can you can apply to anything. It can be to any future purchase. So it can go towards the educate and rejuvenate club. If you’re already a member, you can apply it to that. It can go towards getting your educate and rejuvenate ticket comp to our conference. It can be to grab a resource in the shop. So just leave a review. If you enjoyed this podcast today, go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review.

Speaker A 00:31:17 – 00:31:44

Send us a screenshot of your review, and we’ll send you a $5 coupon. Let’s see. Let’s recap really quick what we went over today. So we talked about setbacks, but they’re going to happen. They’re going to continue to happen. It’s not a straight line, and it never will be. But we can look at our progress along the way, learn and grow from the setbacks, and our struggles can bring us together with those around us knowing that we are not alone. So that’s what we went over today, and I appreciate all of you who are here live in the studio with me for all you had to share.

Speaker A 00:31:44 – 00:32:21

And then for everybody listening today, don’t forget to leave your review on Apple Podcasts and send us a screenshot for your $5 code. It can go towards anything. A resource, discount on your educate and rejuvenate 2024 ticket, or even apply to your next club renewal if you’re already a member of the educate and rejuvenate club. And, again, if you haven’t yet bought your ticket, what I recommend you use that $5 code for is a discount on our educate and rejuvenate summer 2024 event. It is such a great value with all the way packed into this event, and you’ll get $5 off too. So it’s really a no brainer when you do that. Okay. That’s everything for the podcast today.

Speaker A 00:32:21 – 00:33:05

I hope that you have a wonderful day, and stay tuned for the upcoming episodes we have coming up. And I’ll see you next. If you enjoyed this episode, please hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next one. And if you’re hungry for more, be sure to check out the book that I wrote. It’s called Educate and Rejuvenate, a 3 step guide to revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit, and reignite your passion for life. It is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2024. This book takes all the life coaching skills we talk about here on the podcast and puts them together in one easy to understand guide. Plus, when you pre order, you’ll receive a PDF workbook and additional resources to deepen your understanding and application of the concepts we’ve covered on the book and on this podcast.

Speaker A 00:33:05 – 00:33:21

More about Educate & Rejuvenate: The Podcast

Being an educator is beyond a full-time job. Whether you’re a teacher or a homeschool parent, the everyday to-do list is endless. Between lesson planning, grading, meetings, and actually teaching, it probably feels impossible to show up for your students without dropping the ball in other areas of your life.

Educate & Rejuvenate: The Podcast is the show that will bring you the teacher tips, practical strategies, and inspiration that you need to relieve the stress and overwhelm of your day-to-day. Your host, Kelsey Sorenson, is a former teacher and substitute turned homeschool mom. Tune in weekly to hear Kelsey and her guests cheer you on and help you thrive as a wife, teacher, and mommy. Because with a little support and community, you can do it all. For access to every single Wife Teacher Mommy resource, join the club at educateandrejuvenate.com/club.

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Educate & Rejuvenate is the virtual teacher conference that you can not miss! Find out more about our summer and winter events.

Inside Educate & Rejuvenate Club, you will get access to our weekly teacher-life coaching AND our Pre-K to 6th grade resource library to achieve more of a work-life balance.

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