What does it mean to thrive as an educator or counselor?

We’ve identified five key pillars that thriving educators and counselors have in common.

The five pillars are:

• Awareness: Knowing and understanding ourselves, recognizing and regulating our emotions, and practicing mindfulness – even in difficult moments.
• Compassion: Developing kindness, empathy, and care for ourselves to sustain our work with our students or clients, our colleagues, and our communities.
• Agency: The beliefs we hold about our ability to handle challenging moments, and how we take steps to create the changes we want to see in our lives. 
• Connection: Strong, healthy relationships in and outside of our workplaces and the tools and resources to navigate conflict well.
• Purpose: Knowing our ‘why’, the motivation and meaning we find in our work, is key to being sustained in a rewarding and challenging career.

To teach or counsel well, we must be well. But, what is well-being?