My energy levels have been low (falling asleep at about 9pm, struggling to get up in the morning) and really not feeling on top of things at school. Fortunately, I'm surrounded by an awesome team at school who have just got on with things and kept me in the loop (thanks Lea Vellenoweth, Sally Hart, Jill MacDonald - my SLT Team - and Maliina - PA - and Jill Gatcum - Business Manager - and our awesome front desk team).
This all seems a bit gloomy and I know I have no monopoly on getting run down etc, but I'm blogging (after 4 months absence) because I feel as if I've turned a corner, and the impetus for that came from quite a surprising area and reminded me that proclaiming that you put well-being at the centre in your school means that, while the main focus of this is for students and your staff, you're no good if you don't think about your own well-being.
I'm fortunate to have an outstanding BOT which, earlier in the year, built into my performance management a requirement that I try to take a 1/2 day off site each week to be able to focus on some of the bigger stuff without interruption (managed it most weeks last term but failing on that this term), one full day off each weekend (doing my best) and a full week off each term break.
What I had noticed, as I was feeling sorry for myself, was that for various reasons I had not got involved in as many adventure races this year (only 2) and as a result through the winter I had drifted away from regular exercise. At 60 years old you can only keep fit on memory for a short period and it's harder to convince yourself that you're fit when you're not!
Just by chance I stumbled across a couple of crazy buggers (one of whom is a parent [Eugene Bingham] of one of our students) who have set up this thing called Dirt Church Radio. I listened to their first podcast while flying to Wellington and then the 2nd on the way home a couple of days later (I'd gone to Wellington to attend a conference and then go onto Beervana - tickets paid by my extended whanau - only to spend 3 of the 5 days in bed and missing Beervana!). So Eugene and his mate Matt Rayment have inspired me in a couple of ways.
The first is that they've got me out running again (running might be a stretch - have built up from 3k shuffles to 5k shuffles) and they introduced me to the trails at Riverhead where I went yesterday with my wife and we mudlarked our way around for 12k. After a fortnight of 4 runs and a trek per week I'm thinking a 10k run might be possible next weekend.
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| Saturday's Trek |
But secondly, and more importantly, they have inspired me by the way they have used the context of trail and ultra running, and the medium of kōrero with interesting people to explore the human condition. These podcasts have reminded me that mindset is everything and that most crazy things are possible.
So my goals are:
- 4 runs of increasing distance and 1 trek per week
- Look for some races
- Be mindful of own mindset (keep those podcasts coming Dirt Church Radio!)
- Try my best to do what BOT has told me to do
- Get blogging
- Have more days like today - it's Fathers Day so went with my son to Real Groovy and we bought some cool vinyl to "share" (he's not a father so they are mainly mine!) and going out to dinner tonight to catch up with daughter to celebrate her birthday (haven't seen her for about 3 weeks) and have the stereo up loud (as it is now!).
3 comments:
Love your honesty and your transparent thought processes, Maurie. You've had such a tough wee while but good to hear you're turning a corner. I've been pondering my own well-being this weekend too as I'm getting grumpy with my kids while trying to finish my first essay on my first paper of my Masters. I've also been thinking more widely over the past few months about how successfully we focus on well-being for students and staff. Awesome to hear what the BOT have worked on with you. I wonder how we can be more explicit about well-being with staff and students in a genuine, meaningful and sustainable way, and whether we can think about placing well-being more centrally in the Kāhui Ako achievement challenge review, too.
As part of my paper, I've been reading about 'courageous' leadership and I do feel incredibly privileged to have just that at HPSS. Kia kaha, boss.
Looking forward to the grad profile work informing Kahui Ako thinking and there's certainly a place for well-being (own and others) right there.
Hi Maurie, lovely to see that you have bounced back. It is good that you have a very supportive staff, BOT and community.It is so important to focus on our own wellbeing first. Dr Denise Quinlan's work has had a marked imoact on my thinking around and initiatives around wellbeing. I had an opportunity to do a presentation for staff PD on wellbeing last term and at the #MIEE Hui in July. The Education Council podcast on Teacher Wellbeing is also worth listening. Stay well and I think I need to follow your lead on the exercise regime.
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