Tara Martin’s Cannonball In Mindset

We can all remember a time we let fear overpower our thoughts and actions. Sometimes all it takes to overcome this fear is some encouragement from those who believe in you. 

Author Tara Martin (@TaraMartinEDU) wrote her book, Cannonball In, based on a true story she experienced as a child. Her purpose behind this book was to inspire others to overcome their fears and insecurities by following a “cannonball in mindset.” Tara Martin recently joined us on the Tackling Tech Podcast to share the inspiration for the Cannonball In mindset.

The Inspiration Behind the Cannonball In Mindset

This inspiration for the Cannonball In book and framework came from Tara Martin’s early childhood. When Tara Martin was first learning to swim, she began in the shallow end. However, when she saw the older kids doing cannonballs into the deep end she wanted to join them. At first, she was afraid of the deep end, but after getting over a few failed attempts, she successfully did a cannonball. Tara initially felt pride for overcoming her fear, but she was quickly discouraged to find 3 girls making fun of the kids doing cannonballs. Soon, with the help of her Dad’s encouragement, Tara realized she should feel proud of her accomplishment and the other girls were only making fun of her because they were jealous.  

Tara took inspiration from this childhood experience to create a new mindset while navigating her professional life. As an educator, she refers to the risk-takers and innovators as having a “cannonball in mindset.” Tara has created this “cannonball in mindset” to encourage others in the professional world to take risks while following their passion.

Applying the Cannonball in Mindset to Engage in your PLN

Using a cannonball in mindset when engaging within your professional learning network is a great tactic for an effective learning experience. It is important to engage with the “cannonballers” when you are looking to expand your PLN family, as they will be the ones to encourage you to overcome your fears and push your boundaries. By following along with the “cannonballers” in your PLN, there are opportunities to learn from their successes and then be able to replicate them in your own classroom.

Although it may come as a surprise, it is also important to pay attention to the dabblers, or the people that try to take you down. With the dabblers, it can be beneficial to listen and take constructive feedback, while not allowing them to stifle your progress. As Tara would reference it, never let the dabblers take you back to the shallow end. 

It is important to have confidence in your abilities as an educator while navigating your professional life. Next time you lose faith in yourself, try following Tara Martin’s cannonball in mindset and remind yourself, “you were not born to sit on the sidelines. You were born to jump.”

Listen to our full conversation with Tara Martin

This week Brett talks to Tara Martin, an educator, admin, coach, speaker, author, and founder of BookSnaps. Tara explains what being “R.E.A.L.” means and how to be REAL while using technology during remote learning. She wrote a book called “Cannonball In,” about her philosophy in life.