Love the Job, Lose the Stress

When I was at the end of my third decade of teaching, I found myself saying, “I love my job, but for the love of God, it is literally killing me.” My body and mind were worn out from the sheer numbers of students and events I managed every day. Decision-making was becoming too taxing because my brain was being overstimulated all the time. I nearly walked away from my life’s work in order to keep from losing my battle with chronic health issues that were exacerbated by the sheer exhaustion that came from my job.

In what turned out to be a very smart decision on my part, I decided to do whatever it took to figure out a way to balance my professional and personal lives in a way that let me be the mom and band director I wanted to be and that my children and students needed me to be.

Luckily, in that process, I discovered some strategies that helped me overcome the health issues and fatigue that had become my new normal and made it so teaching is now not the stressor it had been.

I have just finished writing the book that is literally the answer to the problem I’d struggled with for so many decades. In it, I share the secrets of how I’ve been able to up my game as a badass band director and regain control of my health in the process.

The changes I’ve made have impacted me in a million ways. Here are just a few:

• I haven’t gotten sick from being over-exhausted this year
• Teaching has become much less taxing, going from requiring my active management to students monitoring their own behaviors
• I no longer require medication for anxiety, depression, or ADHD
• I’ve lost 75 pounds
• My classes are SO easy to run – and that’s with 60 kids per hour, with instruments
• Students remember and retain what we work on in class
• Parental involvement supports the program in ways that free me up to spend more time with students and less time managing the program
• Classroom management is a breeze
• My stress levels are so low that it helps ground my students in my presence

In my second book, I teach you how you can take your high-stress job and restructure a few things in order to make it more manageable – so you’ll have the energy to do the things you love so much.

Let me know if you’d like to be on my list to receive an advanced reader copy of the manuscript draft. I’ve completed my rough draft and will have a high-level edit ready in a few weeks, so be on the lookout!

If this sounds like you a book that speaks to you, just click this link and you’ll automatically be put on my “Book 2” list to get it as soon as it’s ready to go!

Wishing you a joyous spring. May you rekindle that spark that lights you up with joy in your classroom and at home. You really can be living the dream!

With you on the journey!

Lesley