Is it STILL January? Is it time for a nap yet?

This month we talk about how to integrate modifications, rest, and grace into your advocacy work, so you can be a strong, effective advocate, even when you're exhausted or discouraged.

Hello Gifted Guides!

We’re so glad you’re here!

How are you doing?

Are you feeling energized by the promise of a new year? Or are you feeling as if January has lasted at least 100 years so far?

However, you’re feeling about the start of the year, know you’re in the right spot. As a Gifted Guide, your advocacy work does not begin and end at the start of the new year. In fact, the start of a new year—whether a calendar year or an academic year—is often the most stressful time for Gifted Guides.

Maybe you’re feeling like your advocacy efforts have stagnated. Maybe you’re frustrated with how the first semester has been going for your student, and you’re feeling discouraged or alone in your efforts to improve the situation. And, if you’re one of the many people across the U.S. dealing with brutal winter weather, that’s probably not doing much to boost your outlook or energy levels.

So, what do you do when you are overwhelmed, and morale is low?

When you’re overwhelmed, sometimes, doing less can be the answer.

Often at the start of a new year—or really any new period or season of life—we can feel incredibly pressured to fully revamp ourselves and our lives. The promise of a fresh start can make it seem like we need to instantly become the best, most efficient, most composed versions of ourselves.

In these moments, advice like “take it one step at a time” seems to vanish entirely.

However, these types of sudden, large-scale changes are rarely sustainable. Often, attempts to make these kinds of overhauls can create more stress. If you are unable to maintain this change, then you’re left feeling defeated and exhausted, and it can be harder to start over.

When you’re overwhelmed or attempting to make a big change—whether in your advocacy or in your life more broadly—making small changes is often key.

If you’re already stressed to the max, instead of adding to your plate, it may be more useful to downshift and get back to basics. Making small changes does not always mean adding more things to your life, schedule, to-do list, etc.

Winter is a natural time for rest and restoration. During this season, pushing yourself to your limit is not what your body and mind are meant to be doing.

No, don’t worry – we're not delusional. (We promise!)

We know life needs to go on. We know meetings and emails and accommodations and executive functioning challenges and advocacy efforts can’t come to a screeching halt simply because it is winter. That said, there are probably still opportunities for you to do less, in service of accomplishing more.

What do we mean?

Take a look at everything on your plate—not just your advocacy and Gifted Guide work. Look at everything you’re doing during a typical day. What do you ideally want to accomplish in the next week? In the next month?

Also, take a look at the last few days or last few weeks. When did you have the most energy and feel your best? When did your feel your energy start to wane?

Once you start to tune in to how your mind and body feel as you move through your days and weeks, you can use the patterns you notice to your advantage.

Is the highlight of your week book club? Are there more moments you can spend reading? Reading is often a huge part of a Gifted Guide’s advocacy efforts. Is now maybe a moment to pause and do some of the reading/research you’ve bookmarked or set aside for “when you have more time”?

Cold, cozy days can be a great time to catch up on reading and research. This way, you are still moving forward with your goals, but you’re also taking care of yourself and your own energy levels and rhythms.

Are you noticing that Thursday afternoons have been especially grumpy or exhausting lately?

Maybe you pack yourself an extra snack on Thursdays, or maybe you start making sure not to schedule meetings or workout classes or chores on Thursday afternoons. Maybe Thursday is your take-out night for a little while.

Any of these modifications on their own could help you feel a little less pressured and grumpy on Thursdays, which in turn may set you up for a nicer start to the weekend. And if you’re going into the weekend with a little more energy, you might be able to enjoy your weekends more, setting you up to have more energy for the next week.

In each of these examples, the idea is not to simply shirk all responsibility and wrap up in a cozy blanket (though that does sound appealing!). Instead, the idea is to take your to-do list and build in some accommodations for yourself—just as you do for your gifted learners.

But how do you modify a to-do list. The list is things you need to get done. There isn’t really a modification for obligations and advocacy work is there?

You bet there is!

What is modification? Are you already doing it? Can you do it more? Do you need to do more?

Modification is something most of us do all day long, whether we realize it or not.

Are you cooking broccoli with dinner tonight, but one of your kids can’t stand steamed broccoli? Did you put some cheese on their broccoli? Did you set a serving aside for them to eat raw with some ranch? Did you pull a leftover veggie out of the fridge and microwave it for them?

Any of those responses are modifications to your child’s anti-steamed broccoli stance.

In the examples we discussed above, adjusting how you spend your Thursday afternoons is a modification. A decision to return to your research/reading list instead of trying to schedule more meetings, especially when you’re feeling discouraged and frustrated, is another example of a modification.

In these examples, we’re not saying to never give your child vegetables or to abandon all your advocacy efforts or to simply skip work every Thursday. We’re simply suggesting that you look at the stress points in your life and see if there is a way to lighten your load a bit.

Sometimes, there won’t be a release valve. The modification won’t be clear or accessible. But that is something you, as a Gifted Guide, are familiar with. So, it becomes all the more important to attune ourselves to our bodies, minds, and to-do lists, so we can modify and support ourselves when and where we can.

This practice will also demonstrate to your gifted learners, that modifications are normal and not something to feel shame or insecurity about.

As adults, we generally have the power to say we simply can’t stand the thought of going to the grocery store after a long, busy, stressful day. We can decide that we’ll just stretch the leftovers at home another night. We can decide to order pizza for dinner. (Or we can decide that a monstrous bowl of cereal or popcorn is the only acceptable dinner.)

We can make modifications when we need to. However, we often don’t realize we are doing this. We might even go so far as to beat ourselves up or guilt ourselves for not doing more. But we wouldn’t shame our gifted learners for needing accommodations or modifications. In fact, one of the most persistent goals of many Gifted Guides is making sure that their students have the modifications, accommodations, and supports they need in place.

Why can we not extend the same effort, grace, and care to ourselves?

Instead of focusing on what you’re not doing when you’re making time and space to support yourself, we challenge you to employ your growth mindset to see how modifications are helping you redefine your relationship to your to-do list, while shifting your relationship with your own energy and motivation.

Conclusion

When you are focused on long-term or ongoing advocacy work, it can be easy to slip into a scarcity mindset. There aren’t enough hours in the day. There aren’t enough resources. There aren’t enough people who understand and support your goals. At times, all of those statements are true.

However, more often than not, there are more options than we may recognize in the moment. Sometimes, practicing the things we teach our learners—recognizing the needs of our bodies and minds, taking steps to regulate our nervous systems, adjusting our plans or schedules to better fit our energy needs—actually makes us stronger, more effective advocates.

It is easy to kick ourselves for ordering out more than we had planned to in a week or for not folding the laundry when it came out of the dryer or for not responding to that one email for the last week, but in the words of Dr. Devon Price, Laziness Does Not Exist.

You are not making modifications and accommodations for yourself because you’re lazy or don’t care. You’re making these changes so you can keep caring and keep doing the good Gifted Guide work that is important to you—and crucial to your gifted learners.

The advocacy work of a Gifted Guide is slow, good, important work. This is not a marathon. Take time to rest and hydrate and nourish yourself along your Gifted Guide journey. We see how hard you’re working, and it’s an honor to be in community with you as we all work to support the gifted and twice-exceptional (2e) learners in our lives. Remember, through the ups and downs of your advocacy work, you’re never alone. The Guiding Gifted and Davidson community are here to support you.

Advocacy work is not work done in isolation. We are a community. We are excited to see where 2025 will take us together!

What’s New at the Davidson Institute?

Apply to Young Scholars! 2025 Application Open Now!

If you’re interested in joining the Young Scholars program, you can learn more and start your application today! Get started by visiting our How to Apply page!

Testing Opportunities – SPRING TEST SESSIONS ARE OPEN TO REGISTRATION!

Through our partnership with Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development, throughout the year, we are able to offer low cost, remote testing for students in grades 3-10.

This testing can be used to apply to the Davidson Institute’s Young Scholars program, along with the Davidson Academy, Reno and Davidson Academy Online.

To learn more and register for Spring 2025 testing (or to join the Fall 2025 waitlist), check out our Eligibility Assessment page today!

Summer Opportunities for 11–13-year-olds!

Davidson Summer Programs (DSP) is now accepting applications from those applying to the Young Scholars program by February 14, 2025!*

Please note: You must submit BOTH your Young Scholar application AND your DSP application by February 14 to be considered for DSP. While it doesn’t matter which application you submit first, BOTH need to be submitted by February 14 to officially accepted for DSP.

Will your child be ages 11-13 during the 2025 program dates?

Davidson Summer Programs applications are first-come, first-served. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until February 14th. Apply today!*

• June 23-27, 2025: Session Two – Discoverers of the Deep: Mysteries of the Ocean

• July 14-18, 2025: Session Four – Digital Discoverers: The Ups and Downs of Tech

For additional information please visit our DSP website! For questions regarding summer programs, please contact our summer team directly at Summer@davidsongifted.org.

*All Davidson Summer Program acceptances will be considered conditional pending acceptance into the Young Scholars program. A deposit deadline of 24 hours will still apply to hold your student’s conditional-spot in the program. Should your student not receive acceptance into the Young Scholar program, your Davidson Summer Programs deposit will be refunded.

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We’ll see you next month. Stay well, Gifted Guides!