My entire career has been spent in education, and for a short season, I coached cross country. I have learned much from both experiences. One of the things I learned a lot about is hills. Steep hills. Long, mildly inclined hills. Lots of little hills. No matter the hills' size and shape, they bring a groan out of cross-country runners. Any mention of hills to cross-country runners likely prompts two negative thoughts in their minds:
1) ‘I hate hills. They slow me down, and I can’t go as fast
2) ‘I hate hills. I have to work twice as hard to go half as far.’
But a seasoned runner knows that hills can produce a lot of benefits. First, training on hills makes regular training feel easier. Second, the benefit of hill training is you can go much faster in regular races.
Hills present runners with a training paradox. The paradox of managing hills is twofold:
A) Maintain the same effort when running up the hill as you would when running on a flat surface while understanding your pace will slow down. This is a hard thing for runners to do, but those that do successfully run up the hill.
B) Don’t change anything on the way down the hill. Just let gravity make you go faster. This is hard to do if you do not manage your effort on the way up the hill.
A steady, focused plod-up will allow you to manage your energy to keep up with the momentum you created for yourself on the way down.
I find hills to be a subtle analogy for a school year. There are seasons when you move steadily on a smooth, flat surface. There are seasons when you run uphill and feel it might make you quit. You are working twice as hard and only getting half as much down. There are seasons when you fly down a hill, and you are unsure if you control it or if it is in control of you.
Educators must control how they handle all seasons, just like runners must control how they manage hills. So, how can we manage the ‘hills’ of the school year?
Manage your energy going uphill - Running uphill can make you take your focus off maintaining a steady effort (significant) and work in futility to maintain your pace (panicked urgency). When the uphill season arrives in your department and your team, focus on the essential things. As Dwight Eisenhower said, ‘I have two problems: urgent and important. The urgent are rarely important, and the important are never urgent.’ Manage your energy in the uphill seasons by focusing on the essential things.
Manage your energy going downhill - The downhill seasons are fast, easy, and effortless if we are not careful. But, an educator must maintain a focused effort in these seasons. Andy Stanley notes, ‘When you fail, you want to pull the steering wheel of your life wildly in the other direction, and when you succeed, you want to take your hands off the wheel altogether. Both are over-corrections, and over-corrections are always a mistake.’ Don't get careless when the season of your role and responsibilities is fast and easy. Maintain a steady effort to take advantage of the momentum.
Be confident you can manage your energy - If you are like me, sometimes you find yourself in a season where you feel like you are not in control of anything, and it produces fear. Dr. Jordan Peterson states, ‘If you want to conquer fear, start cleaning your room. The most basic antidote to fear is to face it with self-control.’ The Apostle Paul of the Bible placed self-control as a part of a juxtaposition to fear when he told his protege, Timothy, not to have a spirit of fear but of self-control. Maintain your self-control, and you’ll manage your energy during the uphills and the downhills of our school year. And you’ll do it all courageously!
Keep on, keepin’ on, friends!
Bite Down and Don’t Let Go is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader with more than two decades of experience. He’s earned a few degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school sweetheart, and they have three children. Life is messy and complicated most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter for inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
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