How can educators pursue excellence without sacrificing their well-being? In the Season 6 premiere of the AMLE Walk and Talk Podcast, hosts Phyllis Fagell and Jessica McGuire explore a challenge familiar to many middle level educators: balancing professional ambition with personal sustainability. Their conversation offers timely reminders about self-compassion, goal-setting, and the importance of honoring where we are in our lives and careers. You can listen to the full episode or read a recap here.
The Pressure to Keep Raising the Bar
Many educators enter a new school year carrying expectations they’ve placed on themselves over time. McGuire shares the story of a veteran teacher struggling with the decision to let go of a beloved classroom project that had long been successful but required more energy and preparation than she could realistically give this year. For experienced educators, letting go can bring feelings of guilt. For newer educators, the challenge often looks different: trying to do everything at once while learning new systems, practices, and responsibilities. In both cases, educators can find themselves measuring their worth by what they accomplish rather than by what is sustainable and meaningful.
Understanding “Hedonic Adaptation”
Fagell introduces the concept of hedonic adaptation, the tendency to become accustomed to accomplishments that once felt significant. What once seemed innovative or challenging eventually feels routine, leading educators to continuously seek bigger goals and greater achievements. While professional growth is valuable, constantly raising the bar can create a cycle of temporary satisfaction followed by renewed pressure. Over time, that cycle can contribute to stress, disengagement, and burnout. Instead, educators can benefit from recognizing that different seasons of life call for different levels of capacity and commitment. A shift in priorities does not mean a decline in effectiveness.
Reframing Success Through Reflection
One of the most powerful suggestions from the conversation is to shift from achievement-based questions to curiosity-based questions. Rather than focusing solely on outcomes such as test scores, mastery percentages, or professional milestones, educators might ask:
- What do I want to learn this year?
- What do I hope to notice or experience?
- How do I want students to feel in my classroom?
- What kind of environment do I want to create?
These questions allow educators to focus on growth, relationships, and personal meaning while reducing the pressure associated with narrowly defined measures of success.
Fresh Eyes for Familiar Work
For veteran educators, routine can sometimes mask the meaningful aspects of teaching. Fagell encourages educators to identify parts of their work that have become automatic and intentionally revisit them with fresh perspective. McGuire reflects on her own experiences as a teacher and principal, noting that educators often seek change when their work begins to feel repetitive, even when it remains effective. Looking at familiar practices through students’ eyes, gathering feedback, or focusing on school culture can reignite a sense of purpose and professional growth.
Supporting New Educators
While experienced educators may struggle with routine, new teachers often face the opposite challenge: everything feels new and overwhelming. The hosts emphasize the importance of mentors, instructional coaches, and supportive administrators who help new educators focus on manageable goals. Success may not mean mastering every platform, initiative, or instructional strategy immediately. Sometimes a meaningful goal can be as simple as developing reliable routines and building confidence one week at a time. Progress occurs through small, consistent steps rather than instant perfection.
What Leaders Can Do
The conversation highlights the critical role leaders play in helping staff maintain balance. McGuire suggests a simple but powerful exercise for leadership teams:
- Adopt: What should we begin doing?
- Adapt: What should we modify or improve?
- Abandon: What can we stop doing?
These discussions help educators identify priorities and challenge the assumption that every existing task is equally essential. Equally important is a leader’s willingness to acknowledge when staff members are stretched thin. Sometimes validation and understanding can be just as meaningful as removing responsibilities.
Recognizing Big, Small, and Invisible Wins
Fagell encourages educators to broaden how they define success by recognizing three types of wins:
Big Wins
Major accomplishments, professional achievements, or significant milestones.
Small Wins
Incremental improvements, successful adjustments, or situations where a challenge was prevented or addressed.
Invisible Wins
The moments that are difficult to measure but deeply impactful, such as supporting a struggling student, strengthening a relationship, or creating a sense of belonging. By noticing all three types of victories, educators can build a more balanced and realistic understanding of their impact.
Creating Healthy Boundaries
The hosts also discuss the importance of separating work life from home life. McGuire shares several strategies she uses as a principal, including:
- Turning off work email notifications on her phone.
- Scheduling emails to send during work hours.
- Respecting staff members’ personal time.
- Creating intentional family routines after school.
These practices help establish healthy boundaries while modeling sustainable habits for colleagues, students, and family members.
Lessons from Middle Schoolers
An especially insightful part of the discussion centers on the similarities between educators and the students they serve. Just as adults often need time to transition from work to home, middle schoolers frequently need time to decompress after a demanding school day. Students may benefit from movement, conversation, play, or downtime before immediately launching into homework or discussions about school. Recognizing this shared need for transition can help educators and families support both students and themselves more effectively.
A Question Worth Asking
As the school year begins, Fagell offers a powerful reflection:
Whose goal is this?
Sometimes the goals we pursue no longer align with our current needs, circumstances, or priorities. An aspiration that made sense years ago may not fit our present season of life. Giving ourselves permission to reassess, adjust, and redefine success allows us to sustain our passion for the work that matters most.
Final Thought
The conversation concludes with a simple but meaningful reminder: educators cannot care for students effectively if they do not also care for themselves. By checking in regularly, celebrating visible and invisible successes, setting healthy boundaries, and extending themselves grace, educators can begin the school year with a mindset focused not only on achievement, but also on joy, sustainability, and purpose.
Reflection Question: As you begin the school year, what is one expectation you can release and one practice you can embrace to better support your well-being and your students?