Story Club: thinking positive thoughts
Posted by
Alysa Stewart
Hi! So, remember how I said I was working on Story Club five days a week? Well, I fell off the wagon. But that's ok. Remember how I said I might need help to stay excited once the initial rush of the project wore off? Well friends, that day has come.
With life being what it is, and with some new responsibilities at church, my tidy work schedule got derailed. But then this afternoon I got a lovely message from Marie. She said that she had never thought of telling stories with her preschooler until I mentioned it here on Everead. She started telling stories with him at lunch, and now they're hooked! They love it! That just thrills me. It warms my heart.
I turned to my co-author here on Everead for some encouragement this morning, before I got Marie's message. I had let Ashley look at some Story Club stuff a couple weeks ago. I said this morning, (looking for motivation to carry on) "was it fun for you to read those story ideas? Do you think having story ideas like those might be valuable to a person?"
I loved her answer: "Yes, I enjoyed reading the ideas. Yes, I think they could definintely be valuable. I would love more of them myself."
Yippee! Ok. I can do this. I was kind of (quite) worried, since it was all crickets over on the post about the story that started it all. But I totally trust Ashley's judgement. If she wants more of something, it is something worth having.
Can you relate to the feeling of having the excitement wear off of a project? Tell me your best tips for keeping yourself motivated, please. :)
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I don't normal post comments but I just wanted to keep you motivated as well. I have enjoyed the story club idea. I realize that this is a skill I don't have and I would like to learn more. I've been following the idea and I have tried to implement it with the girls. Unfortunately Lucy always tells me she doesn't want to hear a story but there was two times that I tried some of the principles from your post and she likes the stories. So keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lauri! I'm glad you've had at least some measure of success. "Two times" -- see that is so specific that I can't help but believe you and love the encouragement! Can't wait to see you guys this summer. :D
DeleteHey Alysa, Claire here. Losing steam on big projects is probably the thing I do best as a grad student, so I really don't have any great advice on avoiding it. What I have had to learn is how to respect my natural cycles of motivation, and stop beating myself up if I lose focus occasionally. And also, beware of arbitrary goals (like I WILL do this thing 5 days a week…)! You are obviously brilliant, and not working on Story Club as often as you like wouldn't diminish the value of the times you DO do it. And can we discuss how stunning you look in that photo? Call me anytime you need some positive affirmations ;)
ReplyDeleteClaire!!! Haha-- very true about grad school. Jacob just keeps such an even keel that I forget about natural motivation cycles. This was a perfect reminder.
DeleteAnd yes, we can talk about my stunning photo. :D Would you believe it I took it of myself in an airport?
p.s. YOU are also obviously brilliant.
My only tip, which may not really apply in this case, is to have one major goal each week. I can commit to work on something for one week; committing to work on something permanently just means other things will surpass it on the priority list and the original goal will get lost. You can always bring the goal back for another week's goal, but keeping my commitment length to one week at a time makes it more manageable. Plus at the end of the week I can assess if the goal needs tweaking to be realistic or helpful.
ReplyDeleteAnnaliese that is a great tip. Maybe I'll start next week... ;) But seriously I think that would help me a lot. Because I almost don't know what to do beyond a week or two out, and not clearly seeing the big picture is kinda throwing me. (I took a personality test this week. I'm an ENFJ and apparently there's a whole category of people like me, who love the big picture.)
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