How well am I occupationally?

Dear EQuipped Leaders,

Hi! How are you?

I hope you are enjoying a hiatus from the fast-paced school year and soaking up some relaxation and fun time.

I hope you aren’t doing anything productive for next school year. If you are, please stop. Seriously, stop it. I’m telling you that because that’s what I need to remind myself: it’s okay to rest. It’s okay to pause.

This month on the blog is all about wellness. Each week, I’m going to take you through my experience reflecting on and attempting to grow my awareness in these five areas:

Occupational Well-being
Emotional Well-being
Financial Well-being
Spiritual Well-being
Physical Well-being

First up: Occupational Wellbeing!

I like starting here because work has always been a place where I feel more confident in myself. From making high marks in school to achieving in my career as a teacher, I’ve always known how to pour myself into work.

However, you’ll notice there are five areas of wellness, and work is only one of them. If I think of each of these five areas as five different versions of myself, work would be the one I’ve traditionally given the most attention to. The favorite. The one the other four envy.

I used to describe myself as a workaholic. I saw it as a humble brag and laughed as I would casually confess how much of my personal time was eaten up by grading and prepping and how massively out of balance my life was. I had no idea that it was actually a problem. I’d always been rewarded for my over-functioning, so I assumed it was what people wanted and expected of me. And it sort of worked. I got a lot of stuff done. But my efficiency at work came at cost.

Because I poured the majority of my time and energy into my occupation, other areas of wellness suffered, especially my emotional wellness.

It’s been well over a year since I first took this inventory, and as I reflect back, I see how much I’ve prioritized occupational wellness and how much my deficiency in emotional wellness would sneak up at work.

Here is the first question of the ten occupational wellness inventory:

“I am able to let go of frustrating or challenging situations over which I know I have no control, and such situations do not steal from the enjoyment of my life apart from school.” True or False?

What is it for you?

For me, it was a definite FALSE. I was experiencing major conflict at work with a new administration, and it was most definitely “stealing enjoyment” from every other area of my life.

More than that, it felt like my world was falling apart.

I had invested so much of my identity and self worth into success at work that when things “over which I knew I had no control” got rocky, I lost it.

I became obsessed with the conflict at my school and my sole focus became “saving” my students and colleagues.

To be fair to my past self, it was a toxic work environment. If you’ve ever been screamed at in a faculty meeting or had an encounter with the campus grump, you’ll know what I’m talking about. There was definite dysfunction that demanded assertive communication and accountability.

However, the degree to which I personally reacted to the dysfunction at work signaled that there was something deeper going on with me. The conflict at work was triggering within me trauma from my childhood that I was totally unaware of.

It turns out that I was not as emotionally well as I thought, and my lack of awareness and health in that realm was exposed in the one area of wellness I gave my attention: work.

I needed to celebrate my success, passion, and dedication to work, but I also needed to learn to pump the breaks and take care of all five areas of wellness. Ironically, I still score very high on occupational wellness even though I’m now less centered on work. I find as I nurture the other ares of wellness, it’s much easier to show up and contribute at work.

Where does land for you today?

How well are you occupationally?
What are the main emotions you feel while at work?

Want to take the inventory and find out how well you are occupationally?

You can, right now, for free! Yay gifts for teachers!

The course and wellness inventory are normally $75.99, but if you use the coupon code Summer22, the cost is waived. Enter the coupon code to the right when you create your account. Here’s mine as an example:

Access Course Here

I’m making the month of June all about wellness here on the blog, so I’ll be sharing personal stories of how I am applying the lessons learned through this course in my own life.

I’m so glad you’re here. Let’s be well together this summer!

Better EQuipped Together, Elizabeth elizabeth@appliedeqgroup.com

Elizabeth graduated with a B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of Central Arkansas. She taught English for a decade and got to read and write alongside kids in 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. The Applied EQ Group played an important role in her own personal EQ Intervention, and she is grateful to be able to spread the love and EQuip, empower, and encourage others. :)

Want to better EQuip your school’s leaders, classrooms, and parents?

Connect with us through email or Schedule a free call with Jenny, our Director of School Partnerships, to discuss your school’s needs and if we’re a good fit for your campus.