What is your WHY?
Dear EQuipped Leaders,
It’s April—the final stretch of the school year!
How are you? Still feeling good and going strong? Counting down to the finish line? Somewhere in between?
Just like we teach students in our curriculum, I want to offer to you: “All of your feelings are okay.” :)
As you wrap up and reflect back on ALL that has happened this school year, I have a question for your consideration.
What is your WHY?
NOT: What do you do? Or what have you achieved? Or who have you helped?
What is your, unique to you, very specific WHY?
How did you get here?
What drew you to your current career?
What is the story of your WHY?
When you go back to the root and tap into your deepest intentions, what do you find?
When we train teachers in the EQuipped Classroom, we always open with a discussion of WHY. It helps us get right to the heart of each educator’s motivations and desires for their school. I love feeling the energy in the room lift as everyone bravely shares their dreams for their own career, life, and school. It’s a beautiful thing.
While writing to you a couple of weeks ago, I had an epiphany about my current WHY. I was writing about my own unmet needs as a teacher, and how I was unconsciously working those out in my classroom.
After I wrote about that, I started thinking about my current WHY.
I work at Applied EQ now. I have been studying emotional intelligence for over a decade, so the EQ part I have pretty down. The “Applied” part is what I’m still working on. That’s my current WHY.
It reminds me of being a junior in high school. The only “B” I ever made throughout my educational career was in Driver’s Ed. I took a summer course on driving in order to get a discount on car insurance. I (of course) aced the written exam, no problem. On paper, I was a perfect driver. But when it came time for the actual driving exam, I did not shine as brightly. In my terror of learning to drive, I pulled out in front of another car. I didn’t get into a wreck, but I did earn my first ever “C” on a test.
I was mortified.
Since it was a summer course, I was able to get my embarrassing “B” discreetly removed from my transcript, but I always knew it was there. Proof that I wasn’t perfect after all, no matter how hard I tried.
Just like Drivers Ed, the application component is still what gets me today when it comes to emotional intelligence.
Because thinking about driving is not the same as actually driving.
Just like thinking about feeling is not the same as actually feeling.
I’ve read all the books, listened to all the podcasts, done all the things. I think when it comes to EQ, I’m still an A+ on paper and a C- in application.
But I no longer feel embarrassed about that. I’m growing.
I feel like my current WHY is to be really honest with myself and with others about where I actually am, even when I’m at a C-.
I would much rather be an honest C- than a fraudulent and ashamed A+.
I feel motivated when I think of my WHY. Learning how to own my C-, so I can stop keeping secrets from myself and others is slowly helping me apply my EQ.
Where does this land for you today?
What is your current WHY?
Has it changed over the course of your career?
When you think back to what drew you here in the first place, is that core WHY still there?
What is your dream for your own life? When you retire and look back, what do you want to see behind you?
Would you like help living out your WHY at your school? We can EQuip you! Let’s connect.
Better EQuipped Together, Elizabeth Eason Martin
Email me at elizabeth@appliedeqgroup.com with any questions about how we can support your personal and professional development. :)
