In districts across the country, professional development season is in full swing. Schedules are filling with sessions on instructional frameworks, classroom management, and data-driven strategies. But one critical issue continues to be overlooked—one that quietly undermines all the others:

Educators are exhausted. And pedagogy won’t fix burnout.

We don’t have a professional development problem.
We have a human sustainability problem.

The assumption that more training will automatically lead t...

By Lisa Imel

Founder & CEO, EdSolutions Group
Author of Unleash Your Potential

Most people don’t call it burnout. Not at first.

They just start dreading Sundays.

Not the kind of dread that announces itself loudly—but the kind that simmers. That cancels plans. That creeps in the moment you wake up Sunday morning. By midday, unease builds. By evening, your chest tightens and your mind races. You’re physically tired, but mentally on alert. You’re reliving last week—and already bracing for the ne...

It's not uncommon to encounter moments when the smallest of challenges feel utterly overwhelming. From a missed deadline to a minor disagreement with a colleague, these seemingly insignificant stressors can snowball into something much larger, particularly for individuals grappling with burnout and chronic stress.

As an expert in burnout and chronic stress management, my work involves understanding the intricate relationship between everyday stressors and their impact on educator well-being. Re...

Barriers to self care should be evaluated early on in your self-care journey so that you have the highest probability for success. The goal is to remove the barriers so you can prioritize your well-being and enhance your long term health and wellness. Remember self-care is not selfish! 

Many people struggle with barriers to self-care and taking action to prioritize their wellness. People resist addressing the barriers because it seems like it’s “just easier that way”. That isn’t the case though...

Make today great!

Do it for yourself, your friends, and your family. It’s so easy to get caught up in a negative mindset and pulled into the minutiae of what is going wrong in our lives, or at the job, or in the world. Instead of focusing on the plight of all that is wrong, focus on what is going right! Live your life in the ‘Positivity Zone’.

Eckhart Tolle said “Every ego wants to be special. If it can’t be special by being superior to others, it’s also quite happy with being especially miser...

The Crisis of Calm is Real

Are you or someone you know experiencing a crisis of calm? Do you feel like you are in the cycle of reactivity where everything is elevated and magnified? What is the biggest gift you can give yourself right now? Calm.

Calm can be challenging to accomplish and it’s what you need to overcome the current challenges and persist for the rest of the year. The frantic pace that many are experiencing can only be sustained for so long and run the risk of burnout.

You Are ...

Let's Change the World One Positive Parent Experience at a Time

In the spirit of teaching excellence, I challenge you to incorporate a strategy that I began implementing early in my teaching career. The ‘Positive Parent Phone Call Challenge’ is a strategic parent engagement initiative where positive parent phone calls are employed to improve school and classroom culture and ultimately student achievement and success. Not only is it a strategic effort. It has the power to change the world simply...

Life can be tough.

Have you ever felt like giving up? Do you need a little extra motivation? Do you have a past regret? Have you been through unusually tough life circumstances? Does it feel like you keep hitting a brick wall? Sometimes the challenges that come our way are more than we think we can handle. One after the next, difficulty after difficulty. 

A few years ago, I read the article Don't Despair; success is near (you can click on the link to access it yourself). Please let it be my gi...