Using Training Wheels to Boost Success – Daily Quote

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 13 Comments
as-long-as-you-keep-going-youll-keep-getting-better.-and-as-you-get-better-you-gain-more-confidence.-that-alone-is-success.-tamara-taylor-

Learning can be both an exciting and terrifying experience. There are skills to master, a different lingo to speak, and huge expectations placed on progress. It’s like a kid with a two-wheeler who fears falls, scraped knees, and broken bones. Half the battle with riding a bike is gaining confidence and realizing that forward movement aids your ability to defy gravity.

There are tricks to help you win. The first trick is creating early wins to boost your morale. Setting attainable goals builds a track record of success that encourages the student to attempt tough challenges. Giving yourself training wheels and practicing every day makes you want to get on your bike.

With the uncertainty this year has thrown at us, I determined I would snatch victory from the jaws of complete devastation. Sixty days ago, I traded my mind-numbing matching game app for a language app. Becoming fluent beyond my native tongue has been a lifelong dream. The app expects only ten to fifteen minutes per day. As with anything else, once I start, I often invest double the minimum time. I am close to completing a milestone. Once I reach the goal, I will test myself to determine my fluency. I wonder if my library has any foreign language children’s books.

What tiny steps are you taking today?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The 2020 Daily Writing Challenge – July 28

/ JoHawkTheWriter

2020 Daily Writing Challenge

Writing is like driving at night in the fog.
You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
– E. L. Doctorow

Today is Day 210 of the 2020 Daily Writing Challenge.

Did you write yesterday? Half of the year is in our rear-view mirror, and I am drawing a line in the sand. The targets I missed, the stories I didn’t compose, they no longer matter. These last six months are history. Done. I won’t lie, 2020 kicked me in the head, leaving me stunned, unsteady, and incapable of completing anything beyond basic tasks. I bet I am not alone, but don’t count me out yet. They say what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? I am confident I will discover I am more capable than I have ever been. I dug deep, reevaluated my annual goals, and I decided to double down. Can I get a year’s worth of work accomplished by Christmas? We will find out.

My turning point happened when I remembered reading somewhere that anxiety and excitement create similar emotional responses in the body. Anxiety raises your heart rate, your cortisol level increases, and your nerves prepare you for action. Most often, we respond by stress-eating a late-night pint of chocolate ice cream. The only difference between the two emotions is anxiety has a negative connotation, while we view excitement as positive. The answer seemed clear. I needed to reframe the context of my emotions and proceed as if my success lies on the horizon.

All that remains is for me to divide my workload into bite-size pieces, and do the next right thing. I am aligning my creative endeavors to focus on writing, editing, and creating a brighter future.

Try it, and let us know how you did in the comments below.

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

A Losing Battle – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 16 Comments
watercolor pallett
PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Title: A Losing Battle

Source:  Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Word count: 100 words

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Be wary, my dear creative friend, when you say you wish to explore the seductive call of the arts. If your conviction is not solid, if your resolve is not resolute, if your ethics are not steadfast, clear, and true, then my advice to you is to run. Run, before it is too late.

Once you dip your brush, your pen, your sword, your soul is forever colored, consumed, altered.

Oblivion lurks at the bottom of a paint can, time becomes malleable, and insignificant thoughts recede.

Art has left me desperate and my car keys have been missing for weeks.

________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Accepting Honest Mistakes to Inspire Meaningful Learning – Daily Quote

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 9 Comments
a-person-who-never-made-a-mistake-never-tried-anything-new.-albert-einstein.

I have a vivid memory of an incident in my kindergarten class. It changed my life, and not for the better. It was innocuous, something that happens every day. The teacher asked a question, and the pupils raised their hands, accompanied by enthusiastic cries of “I know,” and “Pick me.” She selected an eager boy who blurted out the wrong answer. The backlash was immediate. The students laughed, they pointed fingers, and someone called him stupid. I will never forget his expression. I almost cried. It mortified our teacher, and she valiantly attempted to correct the misbehavior. The damage was done. He never volunteered to answer another question. Neither did I.

School became a minefield requiring strategic planning to evade embarrassment, shame, and the ridicule of my peers. I was luckier than some. I had taught myself to read before I started kindergarten, and it was a pattern I continued. My game plan was working ahead in each subject area. While my second-grade classmates studied second-grade material, I was devising ways to access third-grade coursework, and master the concepts, alone. Failure was shameful, and I worked to avoid it at all costs, while I attained mastery in private, far from judgmental eyes. The public library had copies of my school’s textbooks, and I used them in my self-imposed summer prep program.

Errors were evil mental monsters, and to survive, I eliminated the possibility of committing a public faux pas. The result was that I fell into a cycle of perceived perfection. Say hello to a boring existence. Spontaneity, fun, shared discovery, and camaraderie were absent from my learning experience.

Circumstances change, nothing stays the same, and valuable lessons arise not only in school but in adult life. No one is perfect. We all make mistakes — they are an integral component of the way we learn. A study found that mistake-friendly classrooms increased student effort. Students learned more and experienced more success. Imagine what would transpire if we created safe environments where mistakes were considered a natural part of growth? What if we fostered compassion, respect, and valued the ability to understand and be understood? That is a world where I want to live.

How do you handle mistakes?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The 2020 Daily Writing Challenge – July 27

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 3 Comments

2020 Daily Writing Challenge

Writing is like driving at night in the fog.
You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
– E. L. Doctorow

Today is Day 209 of the 2020 Daily Writing Challenge.

Did you write yesterday? Half of the year is in our rear-view mirror, and I am drawing a line in the sand. The targets I missed, the stories I didn’t compose, they no longer matter. These last six months are history. Done. I won’t lie, 2020 kicked me in the head, leaving me stunned, unsteady, and incapable of completing anything beyond basic tasks. I bet I am not alone, but don’t count me out yet. They say what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? I am confident I will discover I am more capable than I have ever been. I dug deep, reevaluated my annual goals, and I decided to double down. Can I get a year’s worth of work accomplished by Christmas? We will find out.

My turning point happened when I remembered reading somewhere that anxiety and excitement create similar emotional responses in the body. Anxiety raises your heart rate, your cortisol level increases, and your nerves prepare you for action. Most often, we respond by stress-eating a late-night pint of chocolate ice cream. The only difference between the two emotions is anxiety has a negative connotation, while we view excitement as positive. The answer seemed clear. I needed to reframe the context of my emotions and proceed as if my success lies on the horizon.

All that remains is for me to divide my workload into bite-size pieces, and do the next right thing. I am aligning my creative endeavors to focus on writing, editing, and creating a brighter future.

Try it, and let us know how you did in the comments below.

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Undercurrents – Weekend Writing Prompt

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 9 Comments

Title:  Undercurrents
Source:  Weekend Writing Prompt # 167 – Nuance
Objective: Write a poem or piece of prose in exactly 52 words.

landscape photo of water wood fence

Photo by Tom van Hoogstraten on Unsplash

Our boat perched upon the quiet, mist-shrouded lake.

“Don’t expect to feel the colors, to see nuance,” the ancient fisherman’s surreal voice matched the monochrome scene.

“Sunrise fractures innocence. Only then will you appreciate the beauty we’ve lost.”

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The Vital Task of Fueling Your Inspiration Tank – Daily Quote

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 7 Comments
i-admit-my-reading-time-is-limited-because-i-can-write-in-the-situations-and-places-where-people-usually-read.-but-reading-is-the-fuel-its-inspiring-so-i-try-to-keep-the-tank-full.-what-

It seems I am always writing. I have written in doctor offices, hospital rooms, coffee shops, during quiet time as babies napped, while standing in countless lines, waiting for a mechanic to fix my car, sitting with the family watching tv, cooking and eating dinner, and while I listen to blaring music. None of those situations impede my ability to concentrate on constructing sentences, forming paragraphs, and searching for unique word combinations. In fact, the more distractions, the more I write. My mind focuses to block the cacophony.

Reading, however, requires solitude and silence, and binge reading is my secret indulgence. Others might consider a spa day as self-care, but there is nothing I enjoy more than the luxury of reading a book from cover to cover. My idea of a glorious Saturday night is curling into my chair with a book. If I have selected wisely, I turn the pages, blissfully unaware of time passing. Time stretches as the pages turn. Thoughts surge, forming deep whirlpools of unconnected facts, and the well of inspiration fills. The only interruption is the sound of my pen scratching notes in the margins. Tired, inspired, I feel my neurons rewire themselves. In the early Sunday morning quietude, with a steaming cup of coffee, I fill my notebook with ideas.

Does reading fill your creativity tank?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The 2020 Daily Writing Challenge – July 26

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 3 Comments

2020 Daily Writing Challenge

Writing is like driving at night in the fog.
You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
– E. L. Doctorow

Today is Day 208 of the 2020 Daily Writing Challenge.

Did you write yesterday? Half of the year is in our rear-view mirror, and I am drawing a line in the sand. The targets I missed, the stories I didn’t compose, they no longer matter. These last six months are history. Done. I won’t lie, 2020 kicked me in the head, leaving me stunned, unsteady, and incapable of completing anything beyond basic tasks. I bet I am not alone, but don’t count me out yet. They say what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? I am confident I will discover I am more capable than I have ever been. I dug deep, reevaluated my annual goals, and I decided to double down. Can I get a year’s worth of work accomplished by Christmas? We will find out.

My turning point happened when I remembered reading somewhere that anxiety and excitement create similar emotional responses in the body. Anxiety raises your heart rate, your cortisol level increases, and your nerves prepare you for action. Most often, we respond by stress-eating a late-night pint of chocolate ice cream. The only difference between the two emotions is anxiety has a negative connotation, while we view excitement as positive. The answer seemed clear. I needed to reframe the context of my emotions and proceed as if my success lies on the horizon.

All that remains is for me to divide my workload into bite-size pieces, and do the next right thing. I am aligning my creative endeavors to focus on writing, editing, and creating a brighter future.

Try it, and let us know how you did in the comments below.

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Lifting the Big Rocks to Maximize Your Schedule – Daily Quote

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 3 Comments
if-you-done28099t-put-the-big-rocks-in-first-youe28099ll-never-get-them-in-at-all.-stephen-covey

I love the visual impact of Covey’s gallon-sized jar demonstration. He first adds large rocks, then layers in pebbles between them, before adding gravel, sand, and filling any remaining space with water. He used the presentation to illustrate the importance of beginning with the biggest and most important pieces. If he filled the container with sand, there wouldn’t be room for the stuff that creates a life meaningful.

I use this principle when I am planning out my weekly and daily agendas. The important jobs, the non-negotiables I need to advance my goals, I schedule first. Often these big rocks may require several days or weeks to complete, but they are my focus. Once I organize my rocks, I insert tinier components from my list. I fill the spaces in between with gravel and smaller items. These are nice to finish, but there is no penalty if they remain undone.

By approaching my organizer in this manner, I ensure I accomplish essential tasks. Should I find myself at an impasse, or with a project finished sooner than expected, I’m not left wondering what do I work on next? Instead, I move to the less significant stones, addressing each one until they are completed. If a critical task requires more time, I bump everything down the line.

How do you schedule your day?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The 2020 Daily Writing Challenge – July 25

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 3 Comments

2020 Daily Writing Challenge

Writing is like driving at night in the fog.
You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
– E. L. Doctorow

Today is Day 207 of the 2020 Daily Writing Challenge.

Did you write yesterday? Half of the year is in our rear-view mirror, and I am drawing a line in the sand. The targets I missed, the stories I didn’t compose, they no longer matter. These last six months are history. Done. I won’t lie, 2020 kicked me in the head, leaving me stunned, unsteady, and incapable of completing anything beyond basic tasks. I bet I am not alone, but don’t count me out yet. They say what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? I am confident I will discover I am more capable than I have ever been. I dug deep, reevaluated my annual goals, and I decided to double down. Can I get a year’s worth of work accomplished by Christmas? We will find out.

My turning point happened when I remembered reading somewhere that anxiety and excitement create similar emotional responses in the body. Anxiety raises your heart rate, your cortisol level increases, and your nerves prepare you for action. Most often, we respond by stress-eating a late-night pint of chocolate ice cream. The only difference between the two emotions is anxiety has a negative connotation, while we view excitement as positive. The answer seemed clear. I needed to reframe the context of my emotions and proceed as if my success lies on the horizon.

All that remains is for me to divide my workload into bite-size pieces, and do the next right thing. I am aligning my creative endeavors to focus on writing, editing, and creating a brighter future.

Try it, and let us know how you did in the comments below.

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer