Is Your Mind Set?

Tired of hearing yourself complain?

Tired of hearing your colleagues complain?

Three Ways to Claim a Creator Mindset When Others Around You Have a Victim Mindset

I’m just an old German farmer. I can’t help it. I can’t change.

That was the principal’s dismissive response when confronted about his behavior at what had turned into a contentious staff meeting.

In his declaration that change was not possible, he further alienated his faculty by singling out an outspoken teacher, telling her, “Your attitude sucks.”

The faculty gasped, and the maligned teacher walked out of the meeting.

Is his mind set?

An old German farmer. Really?

He’s in his early 30s, not exactly old.

He’s the school’s principal, not a farmer.

He doesn’t farm as a hobby, have a garden patch in his back yard, or read the Farmer’s Almanac. A farmer?

How many generations ago were his family farmers?

“Can’t help it?” Really? “Can’t help it?”

What is his payoff for abandoning any semblance of self-control?

Your guess?

How much of his own time and energy — not to mention that of his faculty — is he wasting playing the victim?

Let’s give him the t-shirt emblazoned with, “Seldom Achieves Desired Outcomes and Experiences.”

Can’t change?
Really?
Is that true?

I suppose he does change his socks and underwear periodically. That’s change, yes?

How oblivious to the situation and bereft of knowledge of human behavior did that principal need to be to make such statements? Talk about attitudes that suck!

Read on!

Any old excuse for behavior is as good as another.

Victim thinking does have its payoff.

Maybe he thought that by excusing his behavior he was playing it safe and didn’t have to take responsibility for his actions. It’s always the other guy, right? It’s parents, siblings, neighbors, the government, the educational system, space aliens, Wall Street, people whose attitudes suck or misfits on the faculty who are at fault, certainly not he.

The bad news is that until “that man,” as his teachers call him, understands how toxic it is to himself and others to play the victim role, he is not likely to change.

Until he comes to his own awareness that victim behavior doesn’t serve him well, he will continue to alienate his teachers, assured that it’s the teachers who are the problem, not he.

How, then, do you as a teacher deal with those who have a Victim Mindset?

Awareness is the beginning of change.

Don’t concern yourself with trying to change the Victim’s Mindset. You do know, don’t you, that you are not likely to change anyone, no matter how desperately you may want to?

The only one you can control is you.

How do you realize a Creator Mindset when others around you have a Victim Mindset?

How do you choose a Creator mindset rather than the Victim mindset?

An off-the-top-of-your-head response might be to consider joining the ranks of the 500,000 teachers who leave the classroom each year.

You think:

Out of sight.
Out of mind.
Life is too short to be miserable.

And just as quickly, you think: That’s just cutting off my nose to spite my face.

What if you left the very necessary life experiences you were put on Planet Earth to learn?

• You love teaching.
• You know you’re making a difference in students’ lives.
• You know your calling is to be a teacher.

How unfair would it be of you to withhold your gift of enriching students’ lives because you have a supposed leader whose mind is set — and not in a way that empowers, upholds and motivates?

So, how do you claim the Creator mindset, one in which you are aware that your choices — no matter how painful — create your life, choices for which you are personally responsible and that lead you to fulfill your calling so that you can Reclaim the Joy of Teaching?

That’s right: You choose!

Whenever you are faced with someone who has a Victim Mindset, you can Choose how to respond.

Here are three ideas to consider.

And remember, CHOOSE is the operative word.

It’s easy to get caught up in the drama of everyday activities.

• Name-calling
• Gossip
• Blaming
• Bickering
• Organization culture
• Working styles
• Everyday human relationships

Let’s face it: there is enough drama between the parking lot and the classroom to fill up multiple seasons of reality television.

Don’t get caught up in activities that drain your energy and leave you working at less than full capacity to fulfill your calling to make a difference in your students’ lives.

In the words of the song, “You have to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em!”

It’s easy to choose your battles when you remember your “why” for becoming a teacher.

All the other stuff is just a diversion.

When you hold on to having events that must turn out the way you want them or people doing what you think they should do, you set yourself up for disappointment.

The “gotta have it” is a sure road to unhappiness. Choosingg to go for “sure would like to have it” is a path to joy and wisdom.

Having an attachment to “sure would like to have it” instead of “gotta have it” opens you to the richness of new experiences.

Ask yourself,

What’s the worst thing that could happen if things don’t go as I want them to?

You take a giant step to Reclaim the Joy of Teaching when you realize the futility of trying to change people who don’t see a need for change.

Who knows? You might eventually decide to sing along with Garth Brooks, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”

Life is the ultimate in Continuing Education.

You know that when uncomfortable feelings are nudging you, your Continuing Education class is ready to start. You know that by consciously examining the causes of feelings of regret, restlessness, stress, anger or unhappiness, you are gaining insights into how to deal with nagging problems. This is your opportunity to choose to Reclaim the Joy of Teaching.

Are you receptive to the electives The University of Life is offering you?

Think about it!

With a Creator mindset, you will see new opportunities and multiple options.

Join the discussion in the comments section today. How do you claim the Creator Mindset when others around you have the Victim Mindset? There are classroom teachers out there who want insights that only you can offer.

Forward this message to someone who needs to Reclaim the Joy of Teaching!