When school starts, anticipation is high. Anxiety is too. Expectations are great and uncertainty is too. Will this be a good year? Will I have a good class? Will I fail? Will something bad happen? Will this be the year that we see unbelievable results? Even right now, the questions I have asked you have filled your mind with anticipation, hope, fear, anxiety and uncertainty about how this year will go. All the while, absolutely nothing has changed in your life, but your mind thinks it has.
Think about it. Your brain is wired for anticipation.
1. Ever wondered if you were going to get paid? Anticipation.
2. Have you ever stayed up all night worried about a problem that hasn't even happened yet? Anticipation .
3. Ever dreamed that you were going to get promoted? Anticipation
The brain is constantly yearning to make sure that you are safe, that everything is alright and that everything will be in place, but here's the reality. The more we get stuck in worry and anticipation, the less we get done.
When the brain doesn't know something with certainty, it plays tricks on itself. When it comes to a new school year, the brains of students, parents, teachers, and leaders are firing on all cylinders anticipating, wondering, and worrying about one thing.
Will everything be good or bad?
With uncertainty, the brain will stress itself out, but with certainty, the brain will shift from unproductive thinking and a negative attitude to productive action and a positive outlook. We can influence where the brain will go it when we start having the right mindset about their mindset.
Our Certainty can Foster their Certainty.
So how can we ensure that the people we serve are in the land of certainty rather than the wasteland of ambiguity.
Build a Strong Structure Filled with Certainty
Organization - Is your work, your room, your school, your website, your professional learning organized? If it is not organized where people can easily access information and assimilate to the culture , anxiety and frustration will take over. It will kill your culture.
Communication - Is your communication proactive or reactive? If you are mostly responding to questions, frustration and people not knowing, that means the people you serve are living in the land of uncertainty and their anxiety is through the roof. Reactionary communication kills your culture, but proactive communication cultivates culture.
Relationships - Are people getting excited or are you wasting precious time calming them down? If you're calming them down, that means they are overwhelmed with uncertainty and not knowing. That also means that you are in the land of reactivity rather than proactivity. People don't stay in the land of uncertainty for long. They will eventually leave you in search of someone who will give them certainty.
How Do We Guarantee Certainty?
The key to certainty is planning with anticipation.
What do people need to know or do? Tell them in a concise and precise way. Keep it simple and easy to understand.
How can we set up that work in a manner that is organized in the best way to help them easily do the work with the least amount of stress and brainpower? If they have to waste brainpower searching and understanding, you are breeding uncertainty and stress throughout their brain.
How can we communicate in advance so there are no surprises? Surprises increases stress. You cannot overcommunicate, but you can say too much. Keep it short, but say it often. When you do that, people believe in you because they are certain in what you were saying.
The more we anticipate their needs, the less they will have worry, and the less they worry, the more they will believe in you and your classroom, or school. That is for certain.
Certainty is hallmark of great teachers and leaders. How will you bring it to those you serve this year?
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