Focus on the Bright Spots
When times get tough, we have to be intentional with what we focus our attention on. If you feel like that’s difficult to do at times, it’s because it is! There are very real reasons, anchored in our neurology, culture, and emotions, for reacting more immediately to all the negative junk. Our brains actually have a negativity bias and they perceive negative stimuli faster and more intensely than positive stimuli. In fact, it takes the brain one-tenth of a second to process and store a negative event. In contrast, it takes a full 12 seconds for it to do the same for positive stimuli. If that’s not bad enough, this negativity bias is amplified by fatigue and poor self-care.
So if it’s natural for us to focus on the yuck, how the heck do we get out of that rut? And more importantly, CAN we get out of the dark? Fortunately, there are many things that we can do to retrain our brains to look at the light more often than the dark. When we CHOOSE to focus on the “bright spots”-our strengths, assets, and skills- we feel more empowered to deal with the tough stuff. We feel better overall and this enables us to respond more effectively to the challenges that get thrown at us with lightning speed. This in turn boosts our self-efficacy, which then further contributes to strengthening our teacher resiliency.
Read more about the habit of focusing on the bright spots in Onward, Chapter 7, pages 173-188, and refer to the resources below.
Consider including some of these as the topic of conversation during your weekly mentor/mentee meeting.
Train Your Brain to See the Bright Spots
If you read Onward Chapter 7, you know that there are several reasons (out of our control) that result in our brains naturally leaning towards the "dark side" of life. As disturbing as this fact might be, there is GREAT news. We have an endless number of ways to retrain our brains to kick the negative thoughts out to make room for the positive and light.
Watch this short video on the origins of our negativity bias.
