To The Teaching Profession 24-Hour Program: Fill & Download for Free

The quality of people in the profession varies wildly. Many are truly awful at their jobs, but some are quite good. With trainers, it's very much a "buyer beware" sort of scenario.Sadly, there's no easy way to tell the dross from the diamonds. A trainer's physical condition isn't necessarily indicative of their knowledge, and popularity doesn't necessarily mean that something's being done right... it just means they've gained a following. (So did loaded squats on wobble boards and Bosu balls, and that was about as stupid a trend as there ever has been -- Hell, some trainers still do that to clients!)A good trainer can make a world of difference in how safe and effective your program is. They'll teach you good form, see to your well-being, and put you on the right path.Here's a quick check list of warning signs for sub-par trainers:If they say squats are bad for you, they don't know enough about the subject to be talking about it.If they say the toes travelling over the knees in a squat is bad, they don't know enough to be coaching that movement.If you have trouble squatting down to parallel with your heels on the ground, and they say the problem is a weak core or glutes, there's a very good chance they're clueless. If you can sit in a chair upright, your core is strong enough to support you in a bodyweight squat.If they bring you around to a bunch of isolation exercises and machines, rather than trying to teach you proper form in big, basic movements (like the press, deadlift, squat, etc), then there's a very good chance they don't know what the Hell they're doing (unless you have physical restrictions that make such implements necessary).If they're not looking at the mobility and stability of your scapula when you're pressing overhead, and not watching for excessive curve in the lumbar spine or elevation of the ribs, they're either not paying attention to the biomechanics of your lift, or they're clueless. Either way, ditch them.If they're spouting broscience nonsense like "you need to eat 6 meals a day to stoke your metabolism and burn fat", they don't know what the Hell they're talking about and you should be wary of any advice they offer.

I started teaching in 1986 and retired in 2015. By the end of my career, I had the best teaching gig in America. I was teaching in an International Baccalaureate program, and I had outstanding students who generally came from highly supportive (sometimes too supportive) families. These were kids who, if they didn’t exactly care about education, at least cared about grades (sometimes too much). I had a beautiful classroom in an historic building.Early on, I had some rough characters and sweltered in an International Style building without air conditioning. And yet, I look back on those days and think about how much easier it was. You could get your professional development hours by taking college courses or choosing from a variety of workshops. If you were a foreign language teacher, travel to a country where the course you taught was the native language was considered PD. I wasn’t constantly being bothered with drop-in evaluations. I wasn’t overburdened with committee work. I was trusted to do my job and do it well.I think that sums up the biggest change. When I was 24 and a first year teacher, my administration trusted me more than the one supervising me when I was 52 and a 29-year veteran. Were my objectives posted on the board? Was I teaching while standing? Or is that standing while teaching? Had I garnered the appropriate number of district-sponsored PD hours (no more credit for college classes, etc.)? Were my students working collaboratively (i.e., in groups)? Did I have hands-on activities as opposed to seat work? Was I (horror of horrors!) lecturing? Had I been ineffective, I could understand all the scrutiny. But my students were being externally assessed via the IB program, and they were doing very well. I was starting to believe in merit pay for test scores. The truth is, I was a far better teacher 29 years in than I was in my first year, yet I was trusted more that first year.That said, I think there’s also a tendency to romanticize the good ol’ days. Perhaps my job was easier in 1986 partly because I was young and full of energy. Perhaps the camaraderie I enjoyed with my colleagues in a different setting energized me. Perhaps my bullshit tolerance level was a lot higher.

Along with the advise that everyone else gave here (which is excellent btw), I will give my take as well. First I will divide it amongst your professional life and your personal life and how you can improve it.Professional Life:1.) Learn Mathematics/Statistics: Even if you know you aren't going to be in fields that use them, the most important part that you get out of them is your ability to think logically and concisely. Mathematics teaches you reasoning and statistics teaches you to be an individual thinker. In any field, those two skills are vital!2.) Learn Computer Science/Programming: If you are in the technology field, being a programmer is a dime a dozen; however, in any other field, you are a savior. The ability to automate and understand how data is allocated is essential for productivity. Just even understanding how to program allows you to get a great sense of how programs work, which in my opinion is an essential skill in this job market.3.) Interpersonal skills: The ability to persuade and negotiate with people is a billion dollar skill (or more!). No matter what profession you are in, if you can't get along with anyone or make people like you, then you will be a poor man for life (I know, that sounds harsh, but it's true). A man would rather do business with someone he likes even if the person he likes is charging a higher price and/or has a worse product than his competition.Alright, now I will talk about how to improve your personal life (feel free to add on to the list since I myself am still learning as well). These things will also help out in any part of your life.Personal Life:1.) The Daily Practice: This is actually something I stole from James Altucher. Although he probably has a lot of these posts all around of the Internet, I can't stress how important it is. It has definitely changed me for the better. I will give a link to the daily practice right here so you can give it a try for yourself.2.) 1,000 hours of deliberate practice: Remember the 10,000 rule? It says that it requires 10,000 hours in order to be a master of a craft or skill. I'm not saying that is not true; however, learning is logarithmic. Unless you want to be the very best, most likely, you don't need to spend that much time to be good at something. In fact, you can spend up to 1,000 hours on something to be truly excellent in something. Most of the time, all of us don't need to be the best to do something. If anything, we learn because we want to do something that is catered to our needs! If you wanted to learn how to fish and your goal is get 10 fish in a day, then I don't think you need 10,000 hours just for that. Hell, I don't even think you need 1,000 either. Depending on your goal, the amount of time needed is variable. So, don't be afraid to learn something because of a stupid 10,000 hour indicator. Top performers don't care and will learn it anyway.3.) Self-Discipline: Well, you can't do any of those hours of practice without self discipline. We all have 24 hours in a day; however, what makes other people so successful and others not? That self-discipline allows people to go forward with your goals. Why is Germany so successful in terms of work-life balance in comparison to the US or even Greece? Greece works an average of 2000 hours a year. The US works 1750 hours a year (on average). Germany; however, works 1400 hours a year, but yet it is the most productive country in the world. It turns out Germany actually works during those hours. Imagine that, you're in the office 8 hours a day, but how much of that time is actually working? If you can add 5 more minutes everyday working, taking in consideration of holidays and such (in the US), then you would have an equivalent in working 21 more hours in a year! That's a whole day! Now imagine if you actually worked the full 8 hours productively. You're progress would skyrocket! Start now, and in 5 years, the world is yours.4.) Be proactive: This was the very first habit that Stephen Covey wrote in his book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Honestly, the other 6 habits mean nothing without this one. If I were to try to make friends, I would have more friends in 2 months than I would have in 2 years if I was proactive. Proactivity means creating opportunities yourself. In every game, on average, the ones that are proactive are the ones that win. If everyone reacted, then no one would anything in this world. In your job or in your life, being proactive moves mountains and creates heroes. So, one thing you should do now is to evaluate your goals and proactively go after them.5.) Stretch Goals: Speaking of being proactive, time to act bold too. Depending on how committed you are to the goal (hopefully you are 100% committed), then having stretch goals is the best thing that can happen to you. Most people think that you need incremental goals; however, if you do that, then you limit yourself to the possibilities of what might be your future. Let's say we created an apple stand and we currently make 3k a month. Let's say we have a new goal to make 4k a month. Is that possible? Yeah, of course! If you work harder and harder, then eventually you will make it. How about 5k? Maybe, if we work so hard that we don't get to see our families any more. Now......what about 20k? Ok, now most people are gonna say "Hell no, that's not possible, we only have 24 hours in a day. We would need more hours in the day to accomplish this! Jon, you are stupid as hell!" Yeah, you're right, it's not possible..........if you stick with the current strategy. What if you hired more people, did R&D and found new strains of apples, created an online website, did business overseas where apples are rare, made a deal with other neighboring fruit stores and become partners, etc? Is it possible then, of course it is! You just need to use your imagination and create new ideas (which btw, you should do the daily practice). Even if you don't achieve it, you probably achieved more than what you expected of yourself. Not only does the result increase, but your belief in yourself (which is definitely the most important). So starting today, create goals for yourself that you think are too big for you (to an extent of course) and use your imagination to achieve them. Trust me, in 5 years, you may not be a millionaire, but you have $500,000 more dollars, which is totally ok with me!Whoa! I wrote quite a bit! Yeah, these advice that I gave you doesn't seem to be just exclusive to just 5 years, but imagine how much your life will change if you stick with this advice? (Unless you are already super awesome, then I can't help you there haha) The better question is: What can people start doing now that will help them tomorrow, the day after that, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, any year from now? Remember, even 1% a day can compound into 3800% in a year.