How to Break Out of Unhelpful Patterns

You know what it’s like – you bounce into the new school year, full of energy and ready to tackle the world, but a few weeks in and the pressure is starting to pile up. Here’s how you can stay ‘in the zone’ when you’re feeling out of sorts

Rev up your resilience

It’s a marathon – not a sprint. Think about athletes – do they burn up all their energy in the first mile? No, they learn to pace themselves and you should too. Take some time to reflect on those behaviours that you promise yourself yearly you won’t fall back into – and then inevitably do! Resilience doesn’t just mean your ability to weather any storm, it also means setting your boundaries and taking steps to break out of unhelpful behaviours and patterns.

Control, influence, accept

Managing all the tasks that need to be done in a day can feel like a race to the finish line where the goalposts keep shifting, so it’s vital to get some structure in place. The CIA model is an approach designed to help you reassess situations, priorities, and challenges.

Control: This involves identifying what is directly within your control. For instance, this might be setting the agenda for an upcoming school meeting.

Influence: This refers to factors outside of your direct control but that you can potentially influence. For example, you can proactively anticipate questions by sending out a pre-meeting questionnaire so staff can ask things in advance.

Accept: This involves recognising what is outside of your control or requires adaptation. For instance, you know someone is going to ask a question on the spot that you haven’t prepared for, so accept the fact that you might just have to come back to them later!

Channel your inner dragon

In mythology, dragons represent power, strength and wisdom (we’re sure you can all relate!) but in the world of work, they represent protectors and guardians. As SBLs, you need to protect your time, energy and focus. So, think of every minute of your day as nuggets of time gold. Are you prepared to let people come and steal away bits of your precious hoard? OK, so you don’t need to breathe fire at people, but you do need to recognise those times when asserting your inner dragon can help you to feel more in control.

Make a promise to yourself

Making a commitment to treating yourself better involves reflecting on where you’ve made promises to yourself that you haven’t kept. We might promise a relaxing evening but end up in a Netflix marathon until 2 AM. Or declare a social media detox, only to sneak a peek at Instagram during a coffee break. Like how athletes review their performance to improve, taking time to assess our behaviours and patterns helps us course-correct and grow. It’s about recognising those recurring traps we pledge to avoid each year and proactively setting boundaries to stay on track. By doing so, we honour our commitments to self-care and ensure we’re nurturing our well-being effectively.