Give thanks for the entire month of November!

It’s Time for a Little Gratitude and Inspiration

I know I normally do a blog post dedicated to National Days, but when I did November Days a few weeks ago, I missed a couple that I really want to mention.

November is National Inspirational Role Model Month.

No matter your age, no matter you job, no matter what stage of life you are in, you always want to have someone in your life who inspires you.  It might be a friend, a colleague, a professional, someone famous.  You may know them personally or know them from a distance… none of that matters.  The main thing is to have someone in your life inspires you to be the best version of yourself.

You also need to remember that you are most likely a role model to someone else.  Remember that when you are working with students.

Show your leadership.  When things get stressful, remember there are always eyes looking at you and watching how you are going to respond.  Always try to remain positive and stay calm, cool and collected.

Always keep an open mind.  Give up the “my way or the highway” attitude and realize that there are lots of great ideas out there.  Be a role model to your students by asking others what they think or how they would handle a situation.

Be available to everyone.  It is so easy to give your attention to the students and colleagues who are easy going.  We often want to hide from those who create drama and rock the boat.  But a true role model makes them selves available to everyone.

You don’t have to be perfect.  Keep that in mind!  Great role models know that it is ok to make mistakes.  Make them, own them, and learn from them.  That is how we grow and that is what others will admire in you.

November is also National Gratitude Month.

I always enjoy those Facebook friends of mine who spend the month of November posting one thing each day that they are grateful for.  I never get around to do for some reason!  But I still think it is a great idea.

You can easily incorporate this idea into your school – in person or online.  Starting each day by asking your students what they are grateful for.  Be sure you play along too.

To help them out give them conversation starters.

• What do they love about doing hair, skin, or nails?
• Why are they excited about their decision to enroll in school?
• What client are they looking forward to seeing today (or again when this pandemic is over)?

Getting them thinking about all the good things in their life first thing in the morning will set the stage for a great day.

If every day seems taxing, switch it up.  One day do the question in the morning and the next day wrap up the day with the same type of questions or simply ask at the end of the day “what is the best thing that happened to you today?”

So, I will leave you with two questions.

Who inspires you?

What are you grateful for?