Opinion
Teaching Opinion

I Am a Badass and So Are You

By Starr Sackstein — August 01, 2019 2 min read
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We are only limited by our thoughts and beliefs about who we are and what we do.

On some level, I have always believed this around most things in my life and I have tried to instill it in my students. We are all uniquely qualified for the lives we create for ourselves, and therefore, our actions have a way of paving the way for the futures we enjoy.

How many times have I heard students tell me they hate to read or they can’t write? Heck, I’ve heard adults say the same thing. The truth is we are all writers if we want to be.

The audience we make for ourselves is also limited only to what we believe we can do.

As a child, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I didn’t think about how I’d get it done, but I have and I’m proud of that.

Recently, Connie Hamilton suggested I read You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jennifer Sincero. On our drive to Colorado, my husband and I listened intently and discussed how much of what we heard was true for both of us.

So much of the successes I have created for myself came along only after I stopped believing I didn’t deserve it. Money has been the hardest part of the equation, but the older I get, the more qualified I feel to request what I know I am worth.

As educators, we often feel that our work is a calling and therefore feel weird about asking for more money to do it—at least that is how I felt for a long time, but our time is worth it. So much of our lives are devoted to helping others be successful, why shouldn’t we be successful by our own definition also.

One of the major takeaways for me is that we all can have it all and that doesn’t take away from anyone else being successful. There are enough resources for everyone to get what they need and deserve.

Here are some thoughts from the book that resonated:

The first key to ridding yourself of limiting subconscious beliefs is to become aware of them. Because until you're aware of what's really going on, you'll keep working with your conscious mind ... to solve a problem that's buried far beneath it ... in your subconscious, which is an exercise in futility." (26) "The Universe loves us so much, and wants us to partake in the miraculous so badly, that sometimes she delivers little wake-up calls." (37) "You are a badass. You were one when you came screaming onto this planet and you are one now." (50) "Really listen to how you speak and pay attention to what you do, and make a conscious effort to increase your joy in whatever capacity you can." (57) "Do not waste your precious time giving one single crap about what anybody else thinks of you." (64) "Your job isn't to know the how, it's to know the what and to be open to discovering, and receive, the how." (96) "When we're in fear, we hold on to what we've got because we don't trust that there's more. We pinch off the energy, we're scared to share, and we focus on, and create more of, the very thing we're hoping to avoid, which is lack." (110) "The more consistently you stay in gratitute and focused on that which is good, the stronger your connection to Source Energy is, and the more quickly and effortlessly you'll be able to manifest that which is unseen into your reality." (116)

You get the point. The most resounding and repetitive message throughout the book is that we have to love ourselves the way we want and expect others to love us. This is the true key to being a badass.

As an educator, I’ve moved far outside the comfort zone of myself and others. I have often had to drown the voices of naysayers to do what I knew to be right for kids and I kept at it and it yielded the dividends I had hoped it would for my students and for myself.

As a woman and a person, I have struggled with my body for the vast majority of my life and I’m going to work harder to give myself positive messages about loving my body as it is. We only get one body, we have to be kind to it.

So if you’re looking for a good read and to start shifting your consciousness around some of the sticky areas of your life, I strongly recommend this book. This way you can be the best badass version of yourself.

What do you need to work on to be a badass? Please share

The opinions expressed in Work in Progress are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.