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Transcript

💆‍♀️Self-Care Series: Passion, Purpose and Product 👩‍🏫 · ✨️Aligned and Thriving: For Teachers🌿

• 0:05
  Hey, hey, beautiful humans. And welcome back to another
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  episode of Aligned and Thriving for Teachers.
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  It's Mel here again. And today we're diving into
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  another big one, something that's been bubbling inside me
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  for a while. It's about passion, purpose, and
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  product. 3 words that came into clear focus for me after the
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  absolute chaos that once was COVID and that completely
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  shifted how I see my life, my work, and even the way I show up
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  in this world. And this one's part of
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  storytelling, part pep talk, part soul check in.
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  And I hope it meets you right where you are at the moment.
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  So number one, I want to rewind with you back to the COVID
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  years. So let's just go back for a
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  second. When COVID hit and schools went
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  remote, I'm not going to lie, I cried a lot.
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  It wasn't just about the workload or the stress, although
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  yes, both were extremely real. In my case, it was more the loss
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  of connection. The classroom suddenly just
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  didn't exist in the same way. And I thrive on personal
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  connection, obviously. Hello.
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  I mean, I'm talking to all of you and I could talk underwater.
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  What do you do when those types of privileges are taken away
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  from you? I realised just how much I
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  needed that and I needed the daily rhythm, the space, those
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  tiny little moments with the kids, even the hard ones where
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  you felt sane, where you felt like you mattered.
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  I remember coming back after lockdowns, after being off sick
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  for an entire week and the kids would say, oh, we missed you,
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  miss. Even the tricky ones would
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  settle for a little bit, like they just felt safer with me
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  back in the classroom. And it hit me, I'd been pouring
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  so much into my job for years, running on empty half of the
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  time, but deep down, this actually was my passion.
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  And I knew that then. And it wasn't just my why, it
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  was my passion. My passion to show up, to
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  connect and to make a difference in the everyday mess of it all.
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  So for me, and I'll do some more talking about throwbacks to
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  COVID in some other later parts of the series, but I just wanted
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  to basically name it up with you that I think through COVID, it
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  became really clear to me that my passion is for teaching and
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  for educating and for assisting other humans in that space, even
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  if it is adults like you. But that is my passion and that
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  is a part of my why because I love doing what I do.
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  I love teaching kids. I love working with children.
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  I love working with adults. I just love helping people.
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  And what better way to do it than by being an educator?
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  And COVID really made me appreciate my job and the
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  privilege it was to be in a classroom because online
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  learning was just not for me when it came to teaching kids
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  through a screen. But as I said, we'll talk about
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  that at a later date. But the number one thing is it's
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  passion. And you've got to have some
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  passion for this, otherwise it gets really difficult to sustain
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  what you want to do. And I know I've talked to you
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  all about remembering your why before, but part of its passion.
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  So I really do have a passion for this.
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  But #2 passion isn't always fireworks.
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  So let me talk to you more about this idea of passion.
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  We often think that it has to be this huge lightning bolt or
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  creative explosion, but sometimes passion is quiet.
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  It's that moment when you realise you actually missed the
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  chaos of your own classroom, and I did.
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  It's the fact that even though it's exhausting, you actually
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  still care. Passion is what pulls you
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  forward, even when things are tough.
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  And again during COVID, I started reconnecting with that
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  feeling. But something just shifted.
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  I started asking can I still love teaching and put myself and
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  my family 1st? And that's sort of where this
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  journey for me really began. So #3 moving from passion to
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  purpose. So out of that messy emotional
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  space came my next step, which was purpose.
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  And for me, purpose is where your passion touches other
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  people. It's when you take what you love
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  and you use it to serve not just your students, but yourself,
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  your family, your wider community, just everyone.
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  And that's when I started doing this work on my mindset, really
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  putting myself first, not in a selfish way, but in a
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  sustainable way. I realised that my purpose
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  wasn't just about being in a classroom, it was about helping
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  other teachers remember their worth too.
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  To feel aligned, to thrive and not burnout like I almost did
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  many times before. And that's where the idea of
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  this podcast came from. That's where Aligned and
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  Thriving was born from. Me moving from my passion to my
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  purpose. And how could I make this go
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  further? So you're thinking about that
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  too. What is your passion?
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  Why are we doing this? What is your purpose?
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  What are we doing to keep moving each other forward?
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  Then we get to the 4th part, which is like the product.
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  So that became part of my alignment.
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  It can feel a bit icky though to talk about the word product when
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  you're a teacher. But hear me out.
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  Product doesn't have to mean salesy or businessy.
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  It just means taking your passion and purpose and putting
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  it into something tangible. So that could be making a
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  journal, creating a digital download.
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  And this is where I do my little plug that if you haven't gone
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  and had a look at my Teacherspayteachers page,
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  aligned and Thriving for teachers there, there are some
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  really good resources. There's a couple of freebies and
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  then some other ones that you could buy and use yourself.
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  And that's me trying to help you with your passion and your
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  purpose and to help move you forward.
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  You might create resources for other teachers too.
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  You might create a podcast episode like I'm doing.
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  You might write a book like I'm also doing, so surprised that's
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  still underway. Or you might just create Canva
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  templates and share them with other teachers.
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  You're not reinventing the wheel.
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  We're sharing, we're caring. It's all of the things.
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  But you don't need to be an influencer or own a store.
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  You just need to start with what lights you up and let it grow
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  into something that you can share.
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  I've seen many teachers that have gone through this process
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  from their passion, their purpose, to a product, which was
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  like presenting workshops around certain things to help support
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  teachers with stress prevention and all of those things.
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  You might do something like that, or you might just be the
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  absolute best teacher that you can be because your product
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  becomes your students, OK, because they are in your
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  classroom space. So that's where we start.
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  You have a passion for this job. You have a purpose and you know
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  why you're turning up every day, and then your product is how you
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  are showing up for your class and all of those things that you
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  are doing in that space. So that's what we're doing.
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  Honestly, this for me, my podcast has just all started
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  from mindset journaling, creating some affirmations for
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  myself, and now I've got a brand, I've got a message.
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  It's just a product of my growth.
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  And no, I'm actually not making any money on this podcast side
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  of things. This is just me sharing my
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  thoughts and opinions because I want to help others just like
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  you. Honestly, it still blows my mind
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  a little that I ended up with the confidence to progress this
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  further. I mean, COVID was a little while
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  ago, so it has taken a bit of time for me to get here, but
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  we're here now. And that means that for you 2,
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  that you're allowed to want more.
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  So here's the thing. I wish someone else had told me
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  during COVID that you're allowed to love teaching and still want
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  more. You're allowed to put your
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  family 1st. 110% even more, you're allowed to put your
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  family 1st. And through COVID, that is
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  something that I absolutely learned, but no one really named
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  it up for me. But I had my kids at home with
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  me, I had to focus on them and we wanted to keep everyone safe.
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  But never in my life have I also felt so alone and stranded away
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  from my family during those times of lockdown.
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  And how much we needed, like the grandparents in our household,
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  how much we needed to keep everyone safe and healthy, but
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  how much we missed the privilege of being able to just get in the
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  car and drive and go see them. So you're you were allowed and
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  you still are allowed to put your family first.
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  You're allowed to be more than just a teacher.
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  OK, Remember I've talked about that in other episodes that you
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  are more than just a teacher. You're a whole human.
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  That's just one part of it. You're allowed to build
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  something that lights you up, and you are absolutely allowed
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  to shift, change and grow out of roles that you once felt like
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  was your forever job. If you go all the way back to my
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  introduction, I've gone through lots of that process.
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  I really thought that I was going to be an assistant
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  principal by this point in a particular school, but that
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  wasn't meant to be. And I'm actually so much better
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  off for it at this point in time.
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  So you just never know. And you're allowed to have those
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  choices because you're not failing, you're just evolving.
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  And that all comes in time. So let me bring it all together
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  for you. This is like your alignment
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  flow. I want to call it your passion,
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  your purpose, and your product. So your passion, what lights you
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  up? What gives you energy?
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  What would you miss when it's gone?
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  That's what I really focused on during COVID.
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  Those things that you missed when you didn't have that
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  privilege. So what is your passion, your
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  purpose, how you use that energy to help others, and what your
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  work means beyond your task list?
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  Then you've got your product. How are you going to bring it
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  into this world? What you create or you offer
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  from a place of being aligned, You can flow through this cycle
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  over and over again in your life because every season might bring
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  a new version for you. You might have to change and
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  have a different passion. You might end up producing a
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  different product. It's just part of the process.
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  So if you're listening and thinking, Mel, I don't even know
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  what my passion is anymore. Oh don't worry, I've got you.
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  I've got some prompts to help you have a bit of a think and
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  reconnect. So I want you to sit down with a
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  journal if you've got one, if not, piece of paper, whatever
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  goes, and think about these things.
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  So #1 when do I feel most alive or lit up during the school day?
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  Is it when you're planning lessons?
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  Is it when you're having one on one chats with other staff or
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  students? Or is it when you're doing those
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  really fun creative activities? Have a think, brainstorm, jot it
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  down then #2 what do people ask me for help or advice on?
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  This is often a major clue into what your purpose is.
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  What do people come to you for or ask you about?
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  Like all of those things and #3 if I had one hour to work on
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  something just for me, what would I do?
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  And that is your soul asking to create.
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  You don't need to quit your job or launch a business tomorrow.
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  I'm not saying that. You just need to start listening
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  to what your heart is whispering or guiding you to do.
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  So if you have a think about those three questions that might
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  help you think, what is my passion, What is my purpose and
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  what is my product? And I'm not saying that you all
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  need to go out and produce a product.
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  Remember I said your product is starting off with your classroom
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  and within that space. And then let's finish with this.
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  Wherever you are right now, whether you're stressed,
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  hopeful, stuck, inspired, just know this.
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  You have something beautiful to offer.
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  Your passion didn't disappear, it just got buried under all of
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  your to do lists. You can create from your
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  purpose, you can turn your story into your product, and you can
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  do it in a way that feels good to you.
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  Now, ignoring the fact that my daughter just popped in while I
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  was trying to record, that was the little knock on the door.
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  She's now gone. I want you to go back to
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  focusing on you. OK?
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  So I want you to take a deep breath.
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  OK, so in for three and out for three.
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  Now I want you to put your hand on your heart and say this with
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  me. I am allowed to grow.
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  I am allowed to create. I am allowed to be more than one
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  thing. And keep telling yourself that,
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  OK? Because you're not starting
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  over, you're just returning to yourself.
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  I want you to think about all of those things.
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  And I know it's a lot, but it all has a reason to get you to
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  stop and think and focus on you for a few minutes and think
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  about what you might need to do moving forward.
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  So if this episode stirred something in you, I'd love to
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  hear about it. Feel free to DM me on Instagram
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  at Aligned and Thriving Teachers or share your stories, even if
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  you tag me in your stories too. And hey, if you've been dreaming
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  about turning your own passion into a product, but you don't
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  know where to start, reach out because I've got you back there
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  too. And don't forget, if you want to
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  have a look at some of my products that I've tried to
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  produce to help you further and help guide you with your
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  passion, purpose and product, I've also got some stuff to
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  support you there in the Teacherspayteachers space, so
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  the link will be in the show notes as well.
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  But until next time, stay aligned, keep thriving and
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  remember, you are allowed to want more.
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  So until next time, bye guys.