We hope you have been making the most out of your summer! Hands down, our favorite thing about summertime is…Time! Unlike any other season of year, summer brings a different pace – time with loved ones, time for adventure; it’s time to catch your breath, dust off those goals, and complete that project just like you keep promising yourself.
If you feel like time has been slipping through your fingers, you aren’t alone! While summertime boasts incredible opportunities, we find that summer planning is what truly helps us take advantage of the change of pace. Here are 6 ways to value your time, reach your goals, and make memories worth sharing!
6 Tips for Using Summer “Time” to Reach Your Goals
1. Make Time for Awe and Wonder!
Give yourself permission to plan fun, celebrate the people you love, and go on adventures. Our email boxes will never stop filling up, but our kids do grow up and our opportunities to savor the moments pass daily.
Science even reveals that taking time to relish the awe inspiring world around us actually increases our ability to pull ourselves out of the daily treadmill and re-evaluate what matters. The Annals of the New York Academies of Sciences dubs the impact of wonder on the human brain a “little earthquake of the mind” and according to the Washington Post, the process of experiencing wonder decreases stress and increases personal satisfaction and well being – all while triggering our compassion for others and stimulating the curiosity and creativity with which we engage in our world.
This is why the first step to owning our time is to make time for the people and moments that fill our lives with wonder!
2. Do a Summer SWOT Analysis with Your Family or Community
This might go without saying, but the opportunity to connect with your people, receive valuable insight, and enlist support from your community is invaluable. It can also serve a dual purpose to celebrate past success, while brainstorming solutions for emerging challenges.
According the Psychology Today, the incredible gift of listening builds trust and shapes both personal and workplace relationships. It is foundational to any community and we love using the summer to lay the groundwork for powerful teamwork!
3. Plan Action Steps Toward Your Goals
Working culture today boasts an epidemic of busyness for individuals and organizations, but while the daily treadmill takes our time, it rarely brings us closer to important goals. To break this cycle, we recommend becoming crystal clear on your goals. Then, take the summer to plan bite sized steps and lay them across the calendar year. This simple proactive step gets you started, keeps things manageable, and provides clarity for others to team up with you!
Looking for resources to help you reach your goals? We love the resources from goal guru, Jon Acuff. If you like to laugh (another form of wonder) while also gathering hard hitting tips and tools, check out his books or podcast.
For school leaders, School Connect has a new year-round training and coaching program that walks school leaders through goal setting, tracking and progress reporting! More details here and below.
4. Look for Community Leaders to Help
One reason many of us find ourselves overworked and watching our “time” slip away, is that we try to do too much by ourselves. Fortunately, our communities hold a diversity of talents, skills and connections. Look for leaders in your community who hold the skills or connections you seek and invite them to take a leadership role.
Not sure where to start? School Connect can help! Reach out to our team to discover partnerships opportunities and for help finding champions in your community!
5. Take Advantage of School Connect Programs
School Connect created programs such as the School Connect CAFE and Love Our Schools Day, specifically to help your community take action toward your goals. Right now is the time to put these dates on the calendar before the busyness of the school year pushes your goals to the sidelines.
For business, faith, government and nonprofit leaders, School Connect CAFEs and Love Our Schools Days provide the perfect opportunity to connect statewide with the education community! Love Our Schools Day projects are beginning to be loaded onto our site here and you can reach out to Keely Embleton for more information. CAFEs are currently being scheduled for the fall and you can find more information from Chance Stribling.
6. Consider Training and Coaching for Year-Round School Capacity Building
Our team discovered how valuable planning and coaching is when it comes to taking advantage of all your community has to offer. We started a school capacity building program to help schools customize their engagement strategies, plan their year, and measure their success! The program is taking off and we can’t wait to share the results. Find out more here!
Wishing you a relaxing, productive and memorable summertime!
Tracey Beal
Founder & CEO, School Connect
PS. This summer we are hosting two fundraisers designed to help us connect, have a whole lot of fun, and take action toward our goals!
⇒ Individuals: Brewery Tour Fundraiser: Information here. Fundraising tickets found here.
⇒ Sponsors: 2nd Annual Bowling Tournament Fundraiser: Sponsor information here
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