Onward

  The 12 Key Habits to Develop and Grow Resilience in EducatorsOnward, by bestselling author Elena Aguilar (Art of Coaching, Art of Coaching Teams), is a new resource that focuses on practical ways to build reslience in educators. Resilience is how we weather the storms in our lives and bounce back after something difficult. Resilience is not just about our attitude or habits, in fact, researchers say that about 50% of our ability to be resilient is in our DNA (meaning that we are born with a set amount). The good news is that we can deeply influence the other half of our ability to be resilient.  Cultivating resilience in schools has one ultimate goal and that is to ensure that we are working in, teaching in, and leading organizations where every single child thrives, in which the potential of every child is recognized and nurtured. This book is anchored in a four-part framework describing the components of resilience. It focuses on twelve key habits, outlined below. There’s also a companion workbook to aid implementation and to further build resilience in both individual and group settings.   1. Know Yourself: Self-knowledge is empowering and foundational for all other habits. This includes core values, personality type, and social identities. 2. Understand Emotions: Emotions are at the heart of the conversation about resilience. We need to understand what they are, how we can respond to them, and what role they play. 3. Tell Empowering Stories: A mental habit about how we interpret and make sense of things that happen. 4. Build Community: Our social behaviors with colleagues, students and families can be a great source of strength. 5. Be Here Now: Mindfulness, the cultivation of non-judgmental awareness, is a foundational mental habit of resilient people. 6. Take Care of Yourself: Physical self-care is a foundation for many of the other habits to take root.  7. Cultivate Compassion: Compassion for ourselves as well as for others is a habit of heart that helps us manage change and pain, and form bonds with others. 8. Focus on the Bright Spots: Training ourselves to use an assets-based approach and focus on what’s working helps us respond to challenges. 9. Use Your Energy Where it Counts: A mental, physical, social and emotional habit that weaves through context, time management, prioritization, courage and more. 10. Be a Learner: Learning and curiosity are mental habits that foster resilience. 11. Play and Create: Creativity and play impact our brains, emotions and bodies in a way that allow us to confront challenges and find solutions. 12. Celebrate: Individual and collective celebration, as well as ritual and the practice of gratitude, are social, mental and emotional habits.