Our book club inside the Prepared School Psychologist membership community is reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey). Today, I want to share my takeaways from the first three habits and how they can be applied to your personal life and as a school psych. If you are interested in watching the video replay where I discuss this topic, please click here.
Habit #1 Be Proactive
When I think of being proactive, I think about being prepared and getting tasks done ahead of time. But being proactive goes deeper than that; it’s how we feel and respond to situations. When we shift our thinking to “I get to do this” instead of “I have to do this,” we move our thinking toward positivity. Think about how many times during the day or week you say to yourself (or aloud), I “have to” do something. Is that a true statement or do you “get” to do it? I used to be very focused on this slight change in my language and have gotten away from it lately. This chapter reminded me of this practice. Are there areas in your personal life or work with children where you could be more proactive?
Habit #2 Begin With the End In Mind
Visualize yourself walking down the street; about a block away, you see someone in the distance. As you walk toward this person, you realize this person is you, but a year from now. Where do you want to go in your life? What goals do you have around your personal and professional relationships? I have found it helpful to journal in the morning and use that time to reflect on where I see myself in the future and what steps I can take to get there. This can also be a helpful tool when working with students. Ask them who they want to be in a year from now and what actions they can take now to get themselves there.
Habit #3 Put First Things First
What is one thing that, if you regularly did, would make a tremendous positive difference in your life, personally and professionally? This was a question posed in the chapter for habit #3. For my personal life, it would be walking outside. I enjoy the outdoors and know it would help alleviate stress and improve my overall health. Where my professional life is concerned, it would immensely change my life if I stopped checking my e-mail dozens of times each day. I have taken reasonable steps in reaching this goal, such as silencing e-mail notifications on my phone and computer and creating a folder system within my e-mail account to help with organization. But there are definitely more steps I plan on taking in the near future to get me closer to this goal. Take a moment and think about what you would like to implement regularly to improve your personal and professional life.
The Prepared School Psychologist (PSP) community focuses on helping support school psychologists in their work with children, teachers, families, and colleagues. Other than our informative book clubs, we offer hundreds of resources and support for school psychs in the areas of eligibility, report writing and assessment, behavior, and much more! Now is a fantastic time to join because in February, in addition to continuing our look at The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, we will look at the eligibility category of traumatic brain injury, and new counseling resources will be available. So click the link below, begin your journey as a prepared school psychologist, and make this your best school year yet!
