Were You Born to Teach?

All my life, I never thought I was a teacher. I thought I didn't have the patience to teach students, since my idea of being a teacher meant I would be standing in front of 25 or more fifth graders all talking at once, and my brain would immediately begin to smoke from mentally trying to control my patience. Then I moved through life and learned that being a teacher was more than just the formal academic style of teaching; it actually meant I would pass along my knowledge and expertise to those who want it, need it or request it. Wow! How empowering to think I have something to teach another individual. I must say that I highly respect those who teach in formal setting, and my hat goes off to them.

When I realized this, my personal philosophy began to adjust, transform and expand. I made the effort to become conscious of when I was "teaching" and when I might be "learning." It wasn't long before I understood that I was easily and instantaneously flipping between these two roles without interruption. I knew then we all were born to teach, and our teaching careers begin with our first breaths. As we journey through life, our "student" and "teacher" selves are invoked based on the experience or situation we happen to find ourselves in and at which point one of these two energies becomes primary. I was able to discern when my teacher role kicked in, which was when I was being asked to share any knowledge I had to another individual and realized that when I was in "listening" mode my student self stepped forward.

My question to you is, do you believe you were born to teach? If so, what is your personal teaching philosophy? I've spoken about this topic in previous blog posts. But with this new year, the new vibration and the new energy, we're all being asked to step up our teaching games. I didn't quite believe by how much until recently when I was asked to partner with an amazing woman and collaborate on teaching courses. Within the next four weeks I not only will be passively invoking my teacher self but actually standing in front of a classroom teaching. My younger years perspective of teaching is becoming a reality. (Not that I will be teaching fifth graders, but I will be teaching adults. And no, that doesn't mean I'm smarter than a fifth grader!)

Going back to my question, on what level do you believe you have some knowledge, wisdom or information to share and pass along to others? If you feel as though you have a lot to share based on your personal and professional experience, then what's holding you back from sharing it? Based on my interactions with clients and associates, the biggest road block to embracing their inner teacher is fear and lack of confidence. Lacking confidence that you have something of value to share and pass along to another will feed your fear of standing before a group. So how do you step out of fear and into a place of confidence? Practice. Practice. Practice.

You can begin with the type of work you do. Even stay-at-home mothers or homemakers have a great deal of wisdom that those similar to them are interested in learning. Begin to think outside the box with regard to opportunities you can embrace to pass along your knowledge. You may need to do this on a volunteer basis until you refine your niche topic while also creating a following of potential students.

Standing Phase

Before taking your first step, you need to be able to stand confidently. Being able to stand with confidence means you easily acknowledge you have something of value; if your self-confidence is your road block, then educating yourself on how to improve your confidence needs to be a priority.

Supported First Steps

Walking in the footsteps of previous educators, whether formal or informal, means you can easily draw on and pull forward all the amazing ideas and experiences you have collected throughout your life and formulate them into a subject or topic in which to share. Make a list of your experiences and use the power of the Internet to find other courses that are already offered on these topics. See how you can collect and create a program out of what you are now seeing as a viable topic to teach.

Normally a teacher works in a setting that has a single focus, but your inner teacher is not always going to be a supportive environment -- which can begin to erode the confidence you've worked hard at building. I've expressed this before, but it's important to restate it: "Your confidence in delivery and expression is what your students will remember, but the success of your student is not dependent on your delivery or depth of knowledge. Rather, it's rooted in their willingness to hear what it is you're sharing and delivering."

Discovering and embracing your inner teacher is a personal journey and one that never ends; this is also true regarding your student self. Life is about experiencing, and through each experience you'll be asked to learn something and teach something. Trusting yourself is a crucial piece that enables you to be open and honest in your learning. Allowing your student to appear more easily will also allow your inner teacher to effectively teach. A bonus is your becoming aware of the depth and breadth of your inner wisdom that is to be shared and passed along.

To your success!

Coach Karen K

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Life Coach and Business Coach Karen Kleinwort is the founder Therapy in Transition and is a Certified Professional Coach specializing in the integration of her clients' mind, body and spirit into her Personal Empowerment Coaching practice. For more information, visit www.coachkarenk.com, www.therapyintransition.org, www.empowermentforme.com or contact her at success@coachkarenk.com.