The level 6 Education Department students kicked off semester 2 with a visit from Martin Burder from The Art of Being Brilliant. We made sure we wore our positive pants and strapped ourselves in for a motivational, inspirational, and emotional ride, and Martin certainly delivered.

We chatted through what it means to be more positive, how we can make daily changes to eventually form healthy habits, and the many benefits this has for us and others.

Did you know the average person’s energy levels languish on a scale of 1-10 at around 3?! That’s just a bit more than dead… so we’re totally invested in getting to at least a 7 by looking for the good in things and expressing gratitude frequently, boosting those energy levels.

Also, did you know whilst a child may smile 100s of times a day, adults typically smile around 17 times a day? Well, that’s not good enough for us, we want to be part of the 2% of people that have the best mindset in the world, and that includes smiling more.

Students (and staff) were indeed faced with the magnitude of what it means to work in Education, the profound impact we can have on peoples lives and the priceless value of this. With such responsibility it is important to engage in self-care because we can’t pour from an empty cup, so we explored ways and means we can do this so we can continue to get the most from life and give the best of ourselves to our learners.

One last thing… look at someone whilst they sit on their hands and smile, I bet they can’t help but react. That’s because we’re social beings, we need and seek those healthy and happy brain chemicals (serotonin and dopamine) for every single negative thought/word spoken, we need at least another 6 positive ones to get the happy balance back in our lives. Let’s commit to not being mood hoovers, instead, let’s commit to looking for the good in everything and spreading brilliance as we go.

Looking forward to a brilliant semester 2!!