It has been a while

After completing my second year as a school counselor, I realized that I had let this blog fall to the wayside. My apologies; I have not made keeping this blog updated a priority. In the spirit of priorities, that is the focus of this entry

https://zestnzen.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/best-new-years-resolution/

Recently I attended a training on School Counseling leadership which used one session to emphasize our roles in career exploration by intentionally and individually encouraging passion and purpose. In that session, the "Jar of Life" story was brought up. From what I can best tell, this metaphor was presented by Stephen Covey in his book First Things First. The basic premise is that we have these big rocks that can fill a jar but the jar is not full until the pebbles, sand, and even water are added to the jar. However, if you fill the jar with water or sand first, the big rocks won't fit. In this roundabout way, the speaker pointed out that these big rocks are our passions - the consistent forces that bring us purpose and joy. As school counselors, we can support students in identifying what their "big rocks" represent. Hence, my introductory activity was envisioned. When I go into classes this September, beyond letting students know who I am, I hope to help them brainstorm a bit about who they are. While going through this metaphor, students will write down what are some of their "Big Rocks" and then some ideas for pebbles and sand that might feel more pressing but might take away from their rocks and values. Not only might this be a time-management metaphor, but it also relates to interpersonal relationships, values, and future planning.


So now its time to practice what I preach. I took a smidge of brainstorming time and came up with a couple of ideas for my "Big Rocks." These are my values that help fill my cup and increase my excitement about working with students. These values may not have led me to school counseling since there are many careers where I could live out these (let me hear some suggestions in the comments) but they are present in my work as a school counselor. I also filled in a couple of ideas for the pebbles and sand that also occupy my job. These I've applied more directly to school counseling because that is where my mind currently is and the focus of this blog. However, it could also relate more broadly in your life. For instance, I think of working out or reading as activities that might fit in any of the three categories depending on the individual.

My List

Big Rocks:

↦ Honesty

https://zenhabits.net/big-rocks-first-double-your-productivity-this-week/

↦ Respect

↦ Trust

↦ Joy

↦ Helping others feel important

↦ Creativity

Pebbles (smaller to dos):
↤ Working with staff/parents
↤ Seeing growth
↤ Listening

Sand (what else):
↳ Lunch/Hall Duty
↳ Scheduling
↳ Smiling

Through identifying a few of my "Big Rocks," I now have reminders of what brings me to school counseling and excited to start my third year!

Resources:
Jar of Life story: http://www.worklifecoach.com/Big_Rocks.pdf
Animated Jar of Life story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5ZvL4as2y0
Photo 1 (2 jars): https://zestnzen.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/best-new-years-resolution/
Photo 2 (3 stones): https://zenhabits.net/big-rocks-first-double-your-productivity-this-week/