Followers, Likes, Favorites and Thumbs Ups

Confession Time: occasionally I look at the stats on my blog to see how many people have read specific posts and to see if anyone gave posts a +1.  I know these results are arbitrary, but they still make me feel good.  I know I should not base success on these statistics, but it is hard to not find value in followers, +1 and favorites. 

How do we teach our students and ourselves to not base our success on how others view us?

I have eleven players on my softball team this year; last year I had sixteen.  I have to fight myself from thinking negative thoughts.

• They don't like me.
• I am doing something wrong.
• If I was a good coach, girls would want to play for me.
• If we won more girls would want to play.
• I am not a good coach.

I find myself doing a similar thing when I have a rough lesson with a class.

• They don't like me.
• I am not a good teacher.
• I am terrible at this.
• I don't know what to do.

Some of these thoughts may point to valid questions, but a lot of them are not beneficial.  Yes, it feels good to have others validate our work and ideas, but how can we validate our self without an outside influence?  At the end of the day, I am the one who has to live with my choices and ideas.  Therefore it is more important what I think about myself than what others think.

In my opinion, most people struggle with similar challenges, some people are just better at hiding it than others.  Chances are you are not experiencing something new.  We have all been there before.  Keep learning and keep growing.  This is a message we need to tell our kids daily and it is one we need to remind ourselves of too.

Serve~Learn~Grow