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| Motivation Information |
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Teaching kids -- UGH!! (...and what I learned from it)
I have a confession to make: I don't like working with little kids. Don't get me wrong. I love children. I have nieces and nephews and I have friends with kids, and I love them all. The thing is, when it comes to teaching, I am not a fan of teaching the young ones. Under age 12 or so is no fun for me. You see, there are things I love about teaching. With children that young, I can't do any of the things that draw me to speaking and teaching in the first place. I have trained and taught the martial arts for years. A few years ago, I started teaching a class of 7 to 12 year-olds. While I liked all the kids in the class, I hated the act of actually teaching them. End result: I stopped teaching, felt burnt out, and left the martial arts for over a year (this was before I've learned some of the things I teach and write about though :-) ) Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I have been doing shows where I work with a group to teach kids valuable lessons such as how to make better decisions and why it's bad to smoke. Most of the audiences for these shows consisted of children in the 5 to 12 year-old range. Just like five years ago, I found myself not enjoying the shows at all and feeling very unhappy. This time though, I had a much greater understanding of what to do. I knew I had two choices. I either had to stop doing the shows, or find a way to enjoy them. I decided to put my own theories to the test and force myself to find a way to enjoy these shows. I started by using my creativity to brainstorm out all the reasons I wasn't enjoying myself. I let my mind flow and created a big list. I then went through the list and picked out the key reasons I wasn't having fun. They were: 1) I kept running out of things to do because each activity kept the kids attention for much briefer periods of time then with older audiences. 2) I like to teach 'theories,' because I believe that that level of understanding is key for real learning. Unfortunately, heavy theory doesn't work well with the youngsters. 3) I felt it was a constant struggle to keep the kids' attention. 4) I was stressing over whether the kids were actually 'getting it.' Well, this was a great start! Having identified these four key factors, all I needed to do was address them. Once again, I turned on the creative muscles and brainstormed out what I could do for each one. After I had that list, I picked out the techniques and ideas that would address the problems. They were: 1) For each show, I created a list of activities that was about twice as long as I thought I needed, so I would never run out of things to do. 2) I created a list of ways to teach the ideas without getting 'theoretical,' and committed to trying the new approach (i.e. I let go of my traditional teaching style). 3) Rather than trying to keep entertaining the kids, I decided to add in some hands-on interactive activities throughout the show to get them involved and give them a break. 4) I stopped stressing. I committed to the mentality (which I am paraphrasing from Alan Weiss), 'show up, do the best I can, and go home.' I had my plan, I would do the best I could and work that plan, and that's all I could ask of myself. Lo and behold! The next three shows I did were actually fun! And they were all with kids between 5 and 12 years of age!! Here are some key lessons from my experience: 1) Address your feelings before it's too late. Years ago I waited too long and got burnt out. Recently, I addressed it earlier and am much happier. 2) Use your creativity to gain an understanding of what's bugging you, and then pick the key factors. 3) Use your creativity to create ways of addressing what's bugging you. 4) Create a plan of what you will do, and commit to working that plan. 5) Make sure you are having fun!! This article is not specifically about how to teach young ones. Rather, it should serve as a guide for how to use some creativity to add more fun and happiness into your life. Life's too short to stay unhappy! Avish Parashar has a refreshingly unique approach to speaking and training: identify the fundamentals of success and then give people the tools to implement those fundamentals. Avish's approach can be deceptive; it's fun, funny, interactive, engaging, entertaining, and ridiculously simple. Success isn't complicated, it's simple. So visit the web site to learn more about the "Ridiculously Simple Ideas That Everybody Needs and Nobody Uses." Learn More: http://www.avishparashar.com Free Creativity Mini-Course: http://www.avishparashar.com/creativity-free-minicourse.html
Motivation - Google News |
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Coaching Dont Wait For All of Lifes Traffic Lights to Turn Green Can you imagine getting into your motor vehicle, reversing out of your driveway, selecting a forward gear then just sitting there waiting for every traffic light between your home and your destination to turn green?" Motivation - The 4 Most Potent Ways To Awaken Your Enthusiasm ...it is in this whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure. Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom; indeed, they create our courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually...It is through the pain of confronting and resolving problems that we learn. M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled Motivation: The Power of Action, Part 2 The Three D's of Action are Decide, Do and Distinguish. Let's look at each of these in detail. 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Making the Invisible Visible: The WOW Behind the HOW! "We must be the change we wish to see in the world." -Gandhi Change Your Life, Release Fear, and Create What you Really Want Do you have a dream? Or do you just have a nagging feeling that life could better? What Is Failing Forward? What an absurd statement! Absurd or not, progress is not possible without failure. It is part of being an evolving and growing human being. Change 101: How to Handle the Changes that Come Your Way One of the few things that are constant in this world is change. At the same time, many people just don't like change. As a matter of fact, the only person I know that always likes change is a wet baby! Are You a Right-Fighter? Are You a "Right-Fighter"? Do It Now! "At the end of our lives we never regret at the things we failed at but at the things we hope for but never attempted." Richie Dayo Johnson The Simple Life When we talk about a Simple Life, we are not talking about Paris and Nicole. We are talking about a life that is in harmony with our values. We are talking about a life that is joyful to live. What is Success? Everyone wants success. People talk about setting goals and positive thinking and getting to the top. However, most of these same people never really define what success means to them. The Rate of Change There have been many discussions and grumblings in the Western world about the ever increasing pace of change and the ability of the brain to accept it. The Internet (something uninteresting that the American Military was developing) suddenly became a required household feature. Digital Mobile Phones suddenly give new meaning to taking photographs and all those gimmicks from James Bond Movies have long since been incorporated, accepted and forgotten about in daily life. Have You Said Thank You Today? 'When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.' --G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936) English essayist, novelist, journalist, poet Achieving Your Dreams Have you achieved your dreams? Dreams are an important part of our lives and should not be ignored. Our dreams inspire us to achieve unbelievable deeds, create stunning works of art, bring to life the impossible and give us hope and strength to look toward tomorrow with optimism and determination. But what if no one believed in their dreams and never took a chance to make them come true? Think about that for a moment and contemplate what our world would look like. Seeing Through the Pain We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment. ~ Jim Rohn
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