No need to justify your actions

Recently a few people have come up to me and commented about my appearance, "Nice suntan" or "Wow, where have you been that's so sunny?" What they don't realize is that I haven't been on some exotic beach somewhere (I wish!). Instead I've been running. Outside in the cold. In the rain. In the wind. I'm pretty sure that most of what appears to be some added colour to my face is actually just windburn. 😆😂

Herein lies the idea of this post - "just" windburn!? It's not "just" anything! The truth is that the "just" doesn't do us any justice (pun intended). It doesn't necessarily explain what is going on beneath the surface. But we use "just" a lot in our conversations in a way that actually devalues all the hard work that goes into what we do and who we are! Often it's when we don't feel 100% confident in what we are doing when we compare ourselves to someone else and what they do. I've been very guilty of this and I try to catch myself before I add a "just" before something defining about myself. I've said things like, "When I was just a teacher." I was trying to rationalize or justify why something didn't work out like I imagined or might not be useful in my role now as a principal, but that's not very helpful and it also devalues the lessons I learned. There's actually so much from my teaching days that helps inform what I do every day now as a lead learner in working with teachers, students and parents.

I have a little lesson for you about how to remove "just" from your thinking and vocabulary, and I will use running as the first example (of course!):

I'm just running or I'm just a runner. (what you say now, it works either way)
I run. (get rid of "just", and now it's simply the action)
I'm learning how to run. (make yourself a learner of the activity)
I'm learning how to be a better runner. (challenge yourself to be better at what you do)
I'm learning how to be a great runner. (envision what you can become in your role)

Now apply it to something that really matters to you and maybe even defines who you are:

I'm just a teacher.
I teach.
I'm learning how to teach.
I'm learning how to be a better teacher.
I'm learning how to be a great teacher.

I'm just a leader.
I lead.
I'm learning how to lead.
I'm learning how to be a better leader.
I'm learning how to be a great leader.

Perhaps you are not aware when you have done this, but I think it's found it's way into all our conversations and thinking. It's important to appreciate the value in what you do, so don't "just"ify your actions anymore. Instead challenge yourself to be better and envision how you can be great!