What’s Your One Word for 2019? 

If you’ve read my book, Building School Culture From the Inside Out, you know that I believe messaging is the surest, fastest, cheapest way to build school culture.

The schools that do it well are alive with activity. The ones that don’t usually lack that magic pixie dust that pulls everything together.

But what is true for our schools can also be true for ourselves!

Sometimes we get moving so fast that we often lack valuable messaging in our own lives. New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier, accomplish various goals, or exercise more often fall flat before they can even get started. So why not switch it up this year? Create a slogan, motto, or theme that you can use to guide your decisions the entire year.

I’ve been doing this since 2009. I pick one word to live by for the year. Some years I have had tremendous success, like in 2015 when I picked the word FOCUS. That was the year I took over as CEO of TEEN TRUTH. I knew I needed to FOCUS our strategies for building school culture and empowering student voice. Some of our filmmaking efforts took a back seat, but it accelerated our effectiveness in our schools, and ultimately lead us to 2018 when we would have the most successful year in our history.

Of course 2011 was stress free when I picked the word ABIDE and 2016 was awesome as I focused on JOY.

This year I am going to be living by one word… STRUCTURE.

TEEN TRUTH has matured to a company that has many facets beyond our films, my family has grown to include two young boys, and our lives here in Austin seem to be busier than ever. So at home, at work, and in life, I am going to need solid STRUCTURE around me to be able to call 2019 a success.

What could your word for the year be? Forget the resolutions and hopes for 2019. Let’s hunker down and make something happen for all 365 days!

Better yet, challenge your staff, students, and team members to pick their word for the year and hold them accountable 🙂 

Sarah Hayden, TEEN TRUTH’s instructional coach, wrote a fantastic blog this month about changing the language we often use to label our students. And Penny Knight, TEEN TRUTH’s school counselor, took New Year’s planning to the next level with step-by-step advice on how to focus on time to make 2019 the most successful year yet. Both of these veteran educators included FREE lessons and activity sheets for you to use.

So CLICK HERE to read Sarah’s blog and CLICK HERE to connect to Penny’s words of wisdom.

Let’s make 2019 the best year yet!

Want to take even more steps towards positive culture? 

CLICK HERE to fill out our school culture check up and I will create a personal video response to you that highlights where a few tweaks in your culture might be needed.

CLICK HERE to download a FREE copy of my book, Building School Culture From the Inside Out.

And CLICK HERE to join our closed school admin group on Facebook. What started off as just a small group of TEEN TRUTH’s admins, has now grown to over 1,300 of the best admins, principals, and counselors on the planet!