Before you get started implementing a behavior plan, designing a token economy, or training your staff – there is one important thing you need to work on first. The first step is you. The first step is making sure you have the mindset for success. The first step is identifying the role YOU may play in the problem. You cannot successfully decrease negative, aggressive, or dangerous behaviors until you address this first item on your checklist. The whole process of teaching positive, prosocial, communicative skills stems from your mindset and approach.

What do your thoughts look like before, during, and after challenging behaviors occur? We need to address this because when extreme behaviors happen our attitude, perspective, and thoughts can dictate our actions. So if our brain is filled with negative thoughts – these behaviors will never improve, my strategies will never work, this is too hard for me to handle – then these negative thoughts lead to negative outcomes. They lead to feeling burnt out, overwhelmed, inadequate. These are the thoughts of someone with a fixed mindset.

Real behavior change comes from great behavior plans. Great behavior plans come from a problem solving attitude. If your mindset isn’t in the right place, you will never get to the problem solving place.

Behavior change starts with you. Not an intervention, not with a visual, or token board. Before all that good stuff, you need to take a good hard look at YOUR role in this situation. I hate to tell you – but you are part of the problem. You are part of your student’s environment and environment shapes behavior. But don’t be discouraged because this is where it gets exciting. You can change how you act. The only behavior you can completely control is your own. And when you change how you respond, react, set up expectations, provide feedback, etc. there will in turn be behavior change.

Want to learn more?

Sign up for my FREE Behavior Change Masterclass. The first video in this free four part training series went out today!  In the Behavior Change Masterclass, I want to set the stage for positive behavior change and give you some tools you can utilize right away to make those changes happened.