From the Training:
Certified E-SAT Practitioner

Carl Jung had 5 rules for life.

They were meant to help people become stronger, wiser, and more complete human beings. 

But the same principles also apply to schools, leadership, and safety because schools are built out of people and healthier people build healthier and safer schools. 

So let’s look at these 5 rules through the lens of schools, leadership, and safety.

What Jung meant:
Every person has a “shadow.” 

It’s the part of you that you don’t like or don’t want others to see. It’s the stuff that makes you embarrassed, regretful, or feel less about yourself. 

Ignoring it doesn’t help and you can’t run from it. It’s still there and it’s always following you—like your shadow. 

As difficult as it may be, face it and acknowledge it.
Befriend it or, as the Buddhist would say, invite your fears in for tea. 

▶️ What it means to schools:
Every school has hard things—shadows. 

The student or staff member that people are uneasy about or are afraid to confront. The hallway, bathroom, or arrival point that everyone knows is a problem. Personal conflicts that are producing frustration, fear, or breakdowns in communication. 

As difficult as it may be, strong schools and strong leaders don’t ignore their shadows. They face them, talk about them openly, and deal with them directly before they turn into something bigger or become the reason why someone leaves. 

The issues you avoid are usually the ones that grow. 

So befriend your shadows today.
List them down from most important to least important. 

→ Clarify the problem
→ Bring it to the right people
→ Create an action plan
→ Follow through
→ Go to work on them one by one until it holds no power, fear, or control over you.

What Jung meant:
A fulfilling life is built on meaning, purpose, responsibility, and growth. Not only comfort or short-term satisfaction.

Pleasure feels good in the moment, but meaning gives life depth and richness.

Pleasure doesn't ask for much. Just your attention.
Meaning usually asks for sacrifice, courage, and effort.

That’s why meaningful things are harder but far more worthwhile.

▶️ What it means to schools:
It’s interesting that Jung uses the phrase “chase meaning” instead of gain, get, or create meaning. 

Chasing implies something more elusive, difficult to catch.
It implies pursuit, movement, and effort. 

And without a doubt, it can be hard to “catch” meaning, especially in schools where things are constantly changing, evolving, and new demands popping up daily. 

Over time, it’s easy for meaning to get buried beneath survival, convenience, routine, and simply trying to make it through the day. 

Maybe that’s why Jung chose the phrase “chase meaning.” 

Because regardless of how difficult it becomes, you can never stop pursuing what matters most for what feels easier in the moment. 

That means continuing to chase:
→ safer students
→ stronger engagement
→ better supervision
→ greater access control
→ clearer ownership (Territorial Reinforcement)
→ tighter connections
→ loving culture
→ supported staff
→ students and staff who feel seen, valued, and respected

What Jung meant:
Wholeness means accepting and integrating all parts of yourself—the strengths, flaws, failures, fears, talents, and experiences—into one unified person instead of chasing an unrealistic version of perfection. 

Perfection is more about appearing complete or finished.
Wholeness is about becoming. 

Whole is better than perfect because it means you are no longer divided against yourself. Or as Kierkegaard said, “Blessed are the single-hearted.”

“Single-hearted” means integrated, unified—whole.

▶️ What it means to schools:
When a person becomes the victim of violence, they are forever changed. 

You often hear victims say:
“A part of me died.”
“I was shattered.”
“My life was broken.”

What they’re really saying is—“I’m no longer whole.” 

Recovering from violence or trauma is often the long painful process of trying to put the pieces back together again. 

As a combat veteran and former police officer, I know that personally.
I will never be the exact same person I would have been had I never experienced violence, death, and trauma. And sometimes I wonder what life would have looked like otherwise. 

Who I might have become. What parts of me were lost. 

In life, we often only get two choices:
Pay on the front end or pay on the back end. 

Preventing violence, reducing trauma, protecting people, building safer schools and stronger cultures is hard work. But it is far easier than trying to rebuild shattered people after violence. 

It’s why I believe so deeply in prevention. 

Because school safety is not just about keeping people alive.
It’s also about helping them preserve the gift of being whole.

What Jung meant:
Teacher. Principal. Superintendent. Police officer. Leader. 

These are roles we present to the world.
A mask we wear as part of our duties and responsibilities. 

Jung believed those roles are necessary, but problems begin when we confuse the role with who we really are. Because no one can wear a mask all the time without eventually becoming disconnected from themselves and others.

▶️ What it means to schools:
In schools, people wear masks all the time. 

Principals, teachers, counselors, SROs, and staff often feel pressure to always appear calm, steady, and strong for everyone else—especially students. 

Carrying that emotional weight day after day can quietly wear people down. 

As a police officer, I wore a mask constantly to hide fear, pain, and sadness. Even now, decades later, I can still see traces of that mask when I look in the mirror. 

Sometimes the job requires a mask.
But if you wear the mask too long, it can slowly crush your emotional health. 

We have to remember to remove the mask sometimes too. 

→ To have a place where you can speak honestly without needing to perform.
→ Build recovery into your life before burnout forces it into your life.
→ Let trusted people remind you that your value is not only tied to your role.

This advice is deeply practical. 

Burned out leaders eventually create burned out schools.
And stronger, healthier adults create stronger, healthier schools. 

Wear the mask when necessary but never forget that it’s a mask.

What Jung meant:
He believed maturity comes from learning how to hold opposing traits together instead of forcing yourself to choose only one side. 

→ Strength and compassion.
→ Confidence and humility.
→ Logic and emotion.
→ Discipline and kindness.

Immaturity often swings wildly between extremes.
Maturity learns how to balance both.

▶️ What it means to schools:
Schools often fall into false choices. 

→ Safety or relationships.
→ Structure or compassion.
→ Strong leadership or emotional support.

But the strongest schools understand how to integrate these opposites into one approach.

→ structured and welcoming
→ watchful and caring
→ clear expectations and strong relationships
→ emotionally supportive and physically secure

Balance matters because students thrive when they feel both Safe & Loved.
And interestingly, people with harmful intentions usually prefer disconnected environments and places where people are distracted, divided, and emotionally detached. 

Schools that successfully integrate protection with connection become harder places to harm and better places to learn. 

Jung became famous for helping people better understand themselves and move toward becoming healthier, stronger, and more complete human beings. 

And maybe that’s why these ideas fit schools so well too. 

Because schools become safer and healthier when the people leading them become healthier, more connected, more balanced, and more intentional in how they treat others. 

There is a lot of hope in that. 

It means safer schools are not built on perfection. 

They are built by ordinary people who are willing to grow, care, and keep moving toward becoming more whole. 

We can all do that.