Action Steps: how Should I Do It?

the area of education in which you are working could be the answer. This might include moving to a different content area or grade level or finding a different area of specialization, such as counselor, school psychologist, instructional coach, administrator, and so on. For example, I loved teaching students, but when I began providing professional development for teachers and administrators, I realized that I had truly found my niche.

Action Steps: How Should I Do It?

Do What You Love

I once heard someone say that you will know you are in the right profession if you are willing to do the job to the best of your ability even if you are not being paid one dime. There may be times when you have to take a job in the short term to make ends meet that will not necessarily be one you would choose as your life’s calling. However, never lose sight of that calling.

Recall Lightstone’s (2021) ten criteria presented on page 11. Based on the ten conditions, consider whether you are already in a profession that you truly love or whether you might select a different profession that would allow you to have passion for your purpose. Here are some reflection questions to guide your thinking. • Do you ever end the day thinking, “Where did the time go?” • Are you satisfied that you can be of service to improve the lives of others? • Are you excited and energized to start each day? • Are you happy to work side by side with coworkers who share your beliefs? • Even when facing challenging tasks, do you feel that the effort is worth it? • Even though you are weary at the end of a long day, do you know that you have been productive and accomplished great things?

Set Healthy Boundaries for Work Time

No matter how much you enjoy what you do, doing too much of it is not a good thing. The older I become, the more I realize that everything in life is supposed to be in balance. When there ceases to be balance, something suffers.

Allow me to relate a personal story. When I retired from the DeKalb County School System and my husband and I founded our company, Developing Minds, Inc., I didn’t turn down any requests for workshop bookings. After all, I was building a new business—the more clients, the better. There was one week when I boarded ten flights in five days. Every day, Monday through Friday, I presented in a different state. At the end of that week, I said, “Enough!” I realized that one of the