Am I good enough?

Have you ever asked yourself whether you are good enough?

If you have, let me start off by telling you that you are not the only one.

I am 99% sure almost everyone has asked themselves this question at some point in their lives, and this is just as true for the teachers that I work with.

They may be worried that their pronunciation is not good enough, or that their English language is not quite at the level that they want it to be, because they are grading their language for their students and not having the regular practice of a higher level of English. Or maybe they are worried about their classroom management style.

Whatever the reason, whatever your reason for asking this question, I would like to tell you, you are enough.

Just to emphasise this point; you are enough.

That is not to say that we cannot improve. All of us can improve at whatever we are working on. However, with the knowledge that you currently have and the information that you have to hand, you are enough.

So the next question is, how can you gain confidence to believe that you are good enough?

The first thing to try is really simple: smile.

Smiling sends a little signal to your brain that you are happy. And when we are happy, we are likely to act in a more confident way.

Secondly; good posture. Get those shoulders down away from your ears. This could be as simple as walking around your classroom with purpose rather than sitting behind your desk with your arms folded across your chest. We want to see good posture when you are moving around. And this sets a good example for your students as well.

Next, be prepared. This can be making sure you have got a backup plan if you are going to be using technology the next day in your class. Or, if you know that the topic is a little bit more challenging, make sure you have some extra notes written for yourself. Being prepared allows you to deal with the situation if anything goes wrong, and it is only by dealing with the situation, by coping with whatever happens that you can build your confidence.

If you are not prepared, you may still be able to deal with the situation, but by training yourself to expect the unexpected you will be able to deal with the situation much more smoothly and you will be able to cope with a wider range of situations.

The next one is, give yourself a small challenge. This could be as simple as going for a 20 minute walk three times a week, or it could be trying a new activity with your students once a week. This could be a new game or a new app. Whatever you like, find something that you want to do, something you want to include in your life . So make sure that you have got something specific, so not just, I want to do more walking, but I want to walk for at least this amount of time, this many times per week .

And that way, you can see whether you have achieved your goal or not. Of course the goals can be bigger, but let's start small and work up. So when you have gone for a walk three times a week for a month. Celebrate this. Do a little dance round your kitchen or pat yourself on the back. Do something small, or big if you want, to celebrate your achievement.

When we celebrate even these small goals, it trains our brains to want to achieve the next goal that we set for ourselves. So that we can then set bigger goals and we are then more likely to achieve them.

Of course, there are other things, such as meditation, journalling, as well as exercise and healthy eating that can all help us feel more confident in our day-to-day lives. My main advice for you is start with small changes, as humans, we do not like big changes and our brains will actively find excuses for why we cannot do something new.

The last thing that I would like to say is be kind to yourself. As we do not like change, trying to implement any new things into our lives is never going to be easy.

However, by taking it small, one step at a time, I am sure that you can achieve the goals that you want to achieve.

If you would like more information about setting goals for yourself as an English language teacher, please get in touch. You can contact me through my website, send me an email or a direct message on LinkedIn. I look forward to speaking to you soon.