Send us a text We are experiencing a global phenomenon right now, and it is impacting the health and wellbeing of thousands of individuals worldwide. It is also affecting the economy because of the uncertainty around global markets. There isn't a lot the average person can do about any of it except to stay informed and do what he or she can to protect themselves and their loved ones. In this episode of "Teachers in Transition," Dr. Kitty Boitnott urges her listeners to pay attention to the medic...
Mar 12, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Send us a text When you are thinking of changing jobs or careers, the first question that comes to mind is often what you want to do and what you feel you would enjoy, not to mention what you might be qualified to do. I recommend that you take time at the beginning of the process to do a lot of self-reflection and introspection. Consider what your core strengths, abilities, and aptitudes are. Not sure? Then start by asking someone who knows you well--a spouse, sibling, or close friend--someone w...
Mar 05, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Send us a text Stress affects us in a variety of ways including mentally, physically, and emotionally. We sometimes feel the emotional and mental impact of stress, and we may be aware of some of the physical symptoms, but few people know about how stress impacts a variety of hormones. One of the hormones that stress can wreak havoc on is cortisol. We need a healthy balance of cortisol in our system for quality sleep, to maintain a healthy blood pressure and sugar level and for many other reasons...
Feb 27, 2020•16 min
Send us a text If you are thinking of changing your job or career, chances are you feel stuck, and one of the reasons you feel stuck is that you don't know what you would like to do instead. In fact, you don't even know what you might be qualified to do instead. That's why you need to learn how to research. You need to research different jobs that sound interesting to you. You need to research different companies you think you might like to work for. And you need to research industries. You don'...
Feb 20, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Send us a text Self-care is not selfish, but a lot of people think that it is. They think self-care is for other people. Or they convince themselves that they have to take care of other people first. You ignore your need to take care of yourself at your own peril, however. Learn why I mean by reading my newsletter article from this week at this link: http://bit.ly/selfcarepracticestouseyourwholelife Self-care strategies can go a long way toward helping you both manage and relieve the stress in y...
Feb 10, 2020•19 min
Send us a text In today's episode, I interview Suzanne Klein, a former teacher turned serial entrepreneur. Suzanne worked as a teacher in multiple roles and different grade levels before becoming an instructor for BER (Bureau of Education And Research). She developed a writing curriculum that was so effective she was able to turn it into a million-dollar idea--literally. She started a business using the writing curriculum and eventually sold that business for 7 figures. Now she is starting a new...
Feb 06, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Send us a text A recently released study conducted by the University of Missouri indicates that 94% of middle school teachers are feeling high levels of stress . Needless to say, that is very alarming. Interestingly, the article posted in Science Daily entitled, "Nearly All Middle School Teachers are Highly Stressed" pointed to the negative effect that the high level of stress by teachers must be having on students "both academically and behaviorally." I don't doubt that stressed-out teachers in...
Jan 28, 2020•25 min
Send us a text When thinking about changing jobs (or careers) some people would rather work for someone else as an employee and others would prefer to strike out on their own. The trouble is they don't know how or where to start. My guest today, Brittany Long of My Life After Teaching offers in my interview with her that a health scare sent her looking for something she would rather do with whatever life she might have left instead of teaching. She found the answer in starting her own business. ...
Jan 21, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Send us a text Stress is on the rise as we enter the new year and a new decade. Indeed, I learned some startling statistics as I was putting together a presentation on stress and stress management last weekend. To hear more about those startling statistics, listen in. To watch the Facebook presentation, click here: https://www.facebook.com/kitty.boitnott/videos/10156961199070745/UzpfSTU1NjUzMDc0NDoxMDE1Njk2MTI5MjcwMDc0NQ/ To download a free eBook on stress management, click here: http://teachers...
Jan 16, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Send us a text We are a week into a new year and a new decade. Are you drifting along or do you have plans to make something big happen in your life this year? Do you want to lose weight? Change something about a relationship? (Maybe FIND a relationship?) Or do you want a new, more fulfilling job in 2020? Whatever you want for yourself, you should consider creating specific goals (like SMART goals) to get you where you want to go. And then you need to take action. If you have decided that this i...
Jan 09, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Send us a text The holidays may be behind us, but that doesn't mean our stress is. In fact, as we enter a new year and a new decade, stress may still be very much part of our lives to a greater or lesser degree. If you feel stressed but you aren't sure how concerned you should be about it, why not take this opportunity to take a stress assessment? I provide this instrument for my clients and participants in workshops and seminars that I conduct on stress management. To download the free Stress A...
Jan 02, 2020•9 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Send us a text I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say, "I am going to knock off the job search over the holidays and start fresh after the New Year," They mistakenly think that everyone else is taking a break for the holidays. I say "mistakenly" because they are wrong! Many companies only take the actual holidays off...and they still have openings to fill...sometimes openings that must be filled before the end of the calendar year. You've heard the saying, "You snooze, you lose....
Dec 19, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Send us a text The holiday season is stressful for some. In fact, for some people, it brings more stress than joy. Teachers hand on to the thought that during their holiday break, they can get some rest. But there is no rest for the weary person who is responsible for decorating, baking, party planning, and attending, and Christmas shopping while working full time. If you find yourself more stressed than usual with all the holiday activities going on, you may need to take a breath (literally, ta...
Dec 12, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Send us a text Too many people under-appreciate the importance of preparing properly for an interview. As a result, they show up under-prepared, and it shows. If you want to wow the people who are interviewing you, you need to do your due diligence by researching everything you can find about the company or organization, their mission, their vision, their challenges, their accomplishments, and the people who work there. Also, you need to understand the job and its requirements. When asked at the...
Dec 05, 2019•15 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Send us a text Happy Thanksgiving! In today's special Thanksgiving episode, I talk about the importance of practicing gratitude every day, not just on holidays like this one. Research supports the truth behind the principle that when we are grateful for things we already have in our lives, we open ourselves to receiving more. If you tend to be the "glass half empty" type of person instead of the "glass half full" type, consider working on a practice of gratitude every day. It will help to reliev...
Nov 28, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Send us a text I want to speak specifically to some resume do's and don'ts and things that I think are important to keep in mind when you're crafting a resume for a new job. This is especially important for my teacher peeps who are looking to change professional career lanes all together. Many of them mistakenly think that listing all the things they've ever done as a teacher will somehow translate into a new career path and that is just not how it works. The dilemma is to distill to the extent ...
Nov 21, 2019•15 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Send us a text Too many people believe that they can delay or defer sleep and still feel good and be productive. The truth is that they can't. At least not for very long. And as we get older, we become less and less able to get by on less than the amount of sleep our bodies require. Sleep is necessary for our ability to manage our day-to-day stress. So, it's important to pay attention to how much sleep you need and how to make sure that you get the sleep your body needs to be healthy. Listen to ...
Nov 14, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Send us a text When undertaking a job search or career change, it is very important that you adopt a "growth mindset" and adopt a positive and open attitude. You need to start out with a playful attitude and look at all the various possibilities as you start your search. Then, as you narrow your focus and develop some clarity around what you want, you need to be aware that the process rarely goes quickly or smoothly. So you have to stay positive, flexible, and adaptable as you go....
Nov 07, 2019•15 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Send us a text Clutter isn't necessarily a sign of being busy. It's more a sign of being unorganized . It may also be a sign of procrastination. And frankly, it could be a sign of a lack of personal control. More importantly than what clutter may be a sign of, however, are some of the problems that it can cause without your being aware of them. The truth is your clutter could be hurting you in ways you don't understand yet. Studies show that clutter is a problem that can manifest itself in your ...
Oct 31, 2019•21 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Send us a text In this episode of Teachers in Transition, Kitty Boitnott introduces a friend and coach colleague, Becky Berry . Becky is a former teacher who does executive career coaching with women (mostly although she has men clients, too) who are looking to expand their professional reach because they're "not done yet." Hear how Becky went from being a Special Education Teacher to Career Coach and how she urges her clients to consider the possibilities of their own careers even as one chapte...
Oct 23, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Send us a text There are many reasons why people hesitate or procrastinate when they want to change careers. They don't know how or where to start. They "hope" that an opportunity will find them or that someone will recognize what they have to offer and they will get tapped. Rarely do those kinds of things happen, however. The Job Fairy is not likely going to come knocking at your door unless you are making some sort of effort on your own. And there is no Prince coming to "save" you like the Pri...
Oct 17, 2019•24 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Send us a text Gratitude isn't often thought of as a stress management strategy, but it should be. Consider the various things in your life for which you could be grateful. The air you breathe, for example. The people in your life who are there to support and uplift you or make you happy. Your pets. Your home and material possessions that you treasure. The moments when you laugh or just smile. When life starts to feel overwhelming, take a breath, and remind yourself that this too shall pass, but...
Oct 10, 2019•15 min
Send us a text Passion and purpose are important components of any happy, fulfilling life, I believe. When you connect your passion and your purpose with what you do for a living...well, it just doesn't get much better than that. Learn in this video with Kitty Boitnott that it is possible to identify your passion and purpose and reinvent and retool yourself for whatever it is you want to do in your life work-wise. Listen to hear how. For the newsletter that is referenced in the video, click this...
Oct 03, 2019•14 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Send us a text There is an app for just about everything, including help for managing stress. Check out a list of apps from an Inc. article entitled, "13 of the Best Apps to Manage Stress" by Lolly Daskal. Kudos to her for compiling the list. This channel goes with a podcast by the same name, "Teachers in Transition." Dr. Kitty Boitnott addresses teacher burnout and the stress that many teachers experience while teaching. For those needing tips for extra self-care, Kitty offers stress management...
Sep 26, 2019•14 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Send us a text Most people who are thinking about changing their job or career start with the question, "What am I qualified to do other than what I am doing now?" This is a question that stumps a lot of the teachers with whom I work. They have only ever been teachers. In some cases, that's all they ever wanted to be. So, they really feel stuck and are unable to fathom "what else" they can do. I contend that this is the wrong question to start with. Instead, ask yourself, what do you WANT to do?...
Sep 19, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Send us a text Today's episode is about how certain diseases and conditions can be triggered or aggravated by stressful events in our lives whether the stress is "happy" or "bad" stress. The body's natural state is healthy, but when the body experiences certain conditions like arthritis, Lupus, diabetes, heart disease, etc., stress can cause flare-ups and aggravate their conditions. One solution is to practice extreme self-care in an effort to restore the body to its "natural healthy state." Lea...
Sep 12, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Send us a text We make different career choices at different times in our lives. Sometimes our choices are based on we are in life. Young people in their 20's and 30's often look for careers that pay well so they can establish themselves financially. They can pay off college loans, buy a home, start a family, etc. By the time they reach their 40's and 50's they start to think in terms of doing work that has meaning and isn't only focused on money. And by the time they reach their late 50's and 6...
Sep 05, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Send us a text We tend to think of stress on only negative terms. It is something we think we need to eliminate or avoid. The trouble is that life is full of things that cause stress, both good and bad. We need some stress in our lives, after all, or we would be bored! We need to strive for the type of stress where we are at our peak performance level. The term for that is "eustress" as opposed to no stress or distress. Listen to Kitty Boitnott of Teachers in Transition talk about how we want to...
Aug 29, 2019•15 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Send us a text When you are looking to change your job or career, you need to know what you are looking for. You also need to be able to communicate clearly to others what it is you are seeking to find. That's why having a well thought out, well-crafted "elevator pitch" is key to your success. It communicates to others what you are looking for and helps them to better help you in your search. Learn in this episode of "Teachers in Transition" how you should approach your "elevator pitch" and when...
Aug 22, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Send us a text We live in a world that is full of stress and drama. We need to turn it off periodically and remind ourselves of the importance of having FUN! We need to take a break each day to just do something for the pure enjoyment of it. Whatever it is for you that helps you de-stress and relax, do it! Your brain will benefit as well as your body and spirit.
Aug 15, 2019•9 min
