The Mindful School Leader Chapter 4 #worklifebalance

Full disclosure. I read chapter 3, and just never got my blog post together. Why does this matter? I'm sharing because I'm trying to be mindful about my mindfulness. Trying not to obsess or be a perfectionist. So I read chapter 3. And now I'm blogging about chapter 4 and I am GOOD with that! 

Onward and forward.

This chapter was focused on being mindful in communication and connections. So many great quotes in this chapter, and this chapter also references several other books that I either need to read or highly recommend.

The opening quote for this chapter comes from a must read book that I read this past summer: Fierce Conversations. 

"Our work and our relationships succeed or fail one conversation at a time." 

This is so true. In this chapter, the author refers to conversations as "mini-mindfulness moments", where we can focus, listen, breathe before replying, and truly be present. Conversations should should allow space for quiet and reflection.

And as leaders, we have to have hard conversations. Fierce Conversations is a great read- and has really helped me this year to build better relationships and say the hard things- which are really difficult from this girl who loves to roll in sparkle and celebrate mode most of the time. I love the following quote in this chapter by Brene Brown in Daring Greatly- a book I need to read.

"To reignite creativity, innovation, and learning, leaders must re-humanize education and work. This means understanding how scarcity is affecting the way we lead and work, learning how to engage with vulnerability, and recognizing and combating shame. Make no mistake: honest conversations about vulnerability and shame are disruptive. The reason that we’re not having these conversations in our organizations is that they shine light in dark corners. Once there is language, awareness, and understanding, turning back is almost impossible and carries with it severe consequences."

- Brene Brown, Daring Greatly 2012

Finally, something I loved in this chapter is the idea that we need to hardwire ourselves for happiness and consciously build moments of happiness into our daily lives.

"Every day you have countless opportunities to create good in your life, and these can be very simple." Some examples include:

• complimenting someone
• greeting another person (I'm thinking drop off and pick up every day!)
• giving a small gift (I thought of thank you cards or notes of appreciation)
• gazing at a flower (or clouds, or the sunset, or faces, or the sky)
• listening to beautiful music

What I'm loving about this book is how much I am noticing everything. I've been so busy that I've been missing a lot. 

image credit