Whether you are a teacher working with children and trying to set the right example to them, or whether you are simply trying to ensure that you have a generally positive impact on the people you interact with in day-to-day life, it’s important to consider how the way you conduct yourself can influence the people you come into contact with.
Kids of all ages – and adults too – famously tend not to respect or listen to people who tell them what to do, but fail to behave that way themselves. The old line of “do as I say, not as I do” always rings hollow.
So, here are a few tips for setting a good example to students and others.
Take pride in your appearance and personal presentation
While your personal appearance and presentation is, of course, nowhere near as important as your character and moral qualities, it nonetheless makes a big impression on the people around you how you present yourself.
Someone who presents themselves in a stylish and thoughtful manner and who honestly cares about their appearance, projects a sense of confidence, self-respect, and purpose to others. This can then encourage the people you’re interacting with to take themselves more seriously as well, and to take pride in themselves, their presentation, and even their schoolwork.
Enhancing your personal presentation may begin with something as simple as picking up some new great quality frames for your glasses, or getting a new haircut that you really like and that causes you to feel more confident and on top of things.
Have integrity, be truthful, and always stand by your word
Perhaps the most essential moral lessons that anyone can learn in life have to do with having integrity, being truthful, and always standing by your word. These are the basis of trustworthiness, solid social and interpersonal connections, and are a major component in self-respect and resilience and in treating other people with dignity, as well.
Everyone faces temptations on a regular basis to fib, blur the lines, or fail to live up to obligations that they have committed to. But falling into these traps not only deeply undermines the individual themselves, but also has a very negative effect on the people they come into contact with – oftentimes hurting them directly, and very frequently giving them licence to act in the same way.
To set a good example, always have integrity, be truthful, and stand by your word.
Accept accountability, rather than passing the buck
Any teacher, or a person in a position of authority, has to be willing to accept responsibility and accountability for what goes on in the area that they have influence over – and especially with regards to their own actions.
If something isn’t going the way you want it to in your classroom, place of work, or even your friendship group, one of the best ways that you can set a positive example is to accept responsibility for addressing the situation yourself – rather than passing blame or accountability to someone else.
As with many other social behaviours, this is “contagious.” When people see you willingly accepting accountability, they’ll be more likely to do the same as well.
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