Lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the concept of “working hard”. What exactly is “working hard”? Having a long working day? Getting a lot of things done? Being busy? Keeping busy?
This chain of thought was triggered by the sentence “work hard, play hard”. What exactly does that mean.. if you’re a broker? Does it mean doing 90 hour weeks and then spending your big bonus like if there was no tomorrow?
Does a nurse ever not work hard? Will a janitor not work hard? What play are you supposed to be doing when you finish a 14 hour shift in an intensive care unit, are sleep deprived and still have a family to look after?
I put it to this house that the phrase “work hard, play hard” is.. just an empty sentence used to make people feel good about not being organised. It’s a Band-Aid for a huge lack of balance. See if this sounds familiar:
“I haven’t read a book since … because I’ve been very busy with this deadline”.
“I wish I had time to work out/learn French/go to yoga but it’s just impossible, I MUST put in the hours for this project”
… you get the idea.
Yes, you do the “work hard” bit. Yes, there are certain occasions where one has to stay late, make an effort, work on a weekend.. but if you’re staying late pretty much every day of the week, if you find yourself doing all the work and no play… listen, you’re lying to yourself. You’re not being productive, you’re just disorganized.
Here, just for your benefit and mine.
YOU ARE LYING TO YOURSELF. YOU ARE NOT BEING PRODUCTIVE: YOU ARE DISORGANIZED.
But listen! There’s still time to work better. Not harder (you already do that, I’m sure!)
Do a little soul-searching. Think about the big goals. Think about the little steps… and just look for balance, whatever that may be for you.
Good luck!
Make it a habit.
So, I’m surrounded by bloggers. They post, comment, engage, create relative content, and so on and so forth… And they are really good at it.
I’ve met people just from approaching them because I follow their blog. I have friends who run blogs with thousands of followers, bloggers in English, in Spanish… All of them ever so accomplished!
I love writing, but I’ve never been good at consistency. For a while, I really got into it..alas, short lived.
I know I should do more, I know it can be a fantastic experience… but I don’t know if I have it in me. I have plenty of excuses for not finding the time to blog (who hasn’t) and I won’t complain of a busy schedule (although I’m getting worried about the old panda eyes)… I’m just going to try and post once a week. That’s all.
So let this little post be a declaration of intent. Much like a new year’s resolution, but in the middle of February. Just because.
I’ve heard that you need to do something for around 30 days to make it a habit… so if I achieve 30 weeks worth of blogging, I’ll be more than proud of myself. My very own personal challenge! 🙂
Alex.
I have a friend who gave me a nickname we don’t even know where it came from.. but I love it, it’s something Sarah and I share just randomly.
Sarah’s funny, witty, beautiful inside and out and she found the love of her life, Alex. Equally funny, a man who had kept the boy in him alive and took all the world had to offer. His energy was devoted to Sarah, his friends, his job and those he met. He lived to cycle, swim, run, laugh, love, travel, photograph, explore…
Because they knew they’d hit home, they were going to get married July 7th, in Sarah’s family farm. After 6 years together, it made perfect sense. Both Sarah and Alex were involved planning the wedding invites, organising the big party, thinking of how their friends would surprise them for their hen and stag dos…
Alex went for a biking competition on the 28th of April and then fell asleep, not to wake up. Sarah and his family believe he suffered from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), a heart muscle disease that makes the heart vulnerable to some dangerous and potentially fatal heart rhythms.
His loss is tremendous and will not be forgotten.
Sarah and Team Pegasus, friends and people who have been touched by this story, are going to cycle 200 miles from Derbyshire (where Alex was born) to outside Bristol, where he moved to study and work and they were going to get married, to raise money for charities that help to raise awareness of this incurable, silent and killer disease.
Please read more at The Kaiser Challenge and donate if you can spare a few pennies: His life has inspired Sarah and so many people to do something out of the ordinary for the good of others..
Thank you Kaiser, this one’s for you!
Happy Campers
Well! Who knew it was going to be so busy?
In the past two months I’ve had to organise so many things.. and we still have two weeks to go!
Things I’ve done and have been happening:
- create www.englishmusiccamp.com to inform parents of all the activities we will be carrying out in the camp.
- had flyers, posters, clothing.. designed, printed and prepared.
- Created a Competitition to give away a place in the camp with the help of Cafe AB
- interviewed propective camp counsellors
- prepared activity timetables, routes, “big games”, routines
- had quite a few meetings, with the Music Co-Director Juan de la Oliva
- have been published! Check out the interview from our friends at Conexión Educación
- have been featured in Tapas Fiend Shawn Hennessy’s Sevilla Blog
- Connected in a spur of the moment thing with Emily from Diga Mama
- Have been featured in El Giraldillo
- have become a Member of Costa Women and have been featured there too (thanks Ali!)
And there’s still lots to do!
So watch this space! There’s still time to enrol your favourite 6 – 14 year olds, it’s going to be GREAT!
Updates here.
Catching up.
Oh dear! What a mess I’ve been! Started the blog then left it at New Year’s day… how very dare I!
To be honest, it’s been crazy busy at 360º’s world. So far this year, have translated a thesis, met different people, picked up new English students (coffee brewer’s extraordinaire Cafe AB and Spanish singer and Eurovision Song Contest representative Pastora Soler), have branched out into Spanish language teaching (with the lovely Australian Gina and the American expat Kathy and I’m now in the middle of planning three brand new and exciting activities.. busy busy busy!
And the best part of it all… I am loving what I’m doing and meeting the most interesting people along the way. It’s a blessing to have a job in this day and age, but to do something you love… I’m sure I read somewhere that you shouldn’t find a job, but your passion, then it’ll never feel like you’re working. Any of you clever people out there know who it was from?
New things coming up… English & Music Summer camp for boys and girls from 6 to 14 years old in July, Spanish inmersion weekend in the lovely Nature Centre at Constantina (Seville) and another English inmersion weekend… so many things to do!
For some reason, we can’t yet show you the amazing artwork our designer SuperNode has created for us, when we do, you’ll be the first to see it! I’m looking for help, and this is the British way of doing so..
Thanks for being here!
PS: Great to be back! 😀
Are you a sponge?
I admit it, I like people watching. I think it’s something we all do, sometimes because we want to, sometimes because we’re stuck in an airport or a doctor’s office and there’s nothing else to do.
With people I know, lately I’ve been seeing something that is making all the difference, an intagible property we’re going to need more and more of each day.
What is this that we can all use a load of? What I’m talking about is RESILIENCE. The concept originally refers to “the physical ability of a material to absorb energy when it is deformed elastically and then, upon unloading to have this energy recovered“. I’m happy to stand corrected on this, but I imagine a sponge. It gets crushed when you hold it in your hand, but then goes back to its original shape.
Moving to plain non-technical English, in organisation studies it refers to making keeping positive adjustments under difficult conditions. And that, dear Reader, is what I’m referring to.
Resilience when we’re dealing with situations speaks of preparedness, much like the Scouts. Of being ready. It’s dealing with protection, response and recovery. Being ready for what might happen, being responsive to changes and recovering from the stress new situations bring all by themselves. This is especially true in these difficult times we’re all going through.
Complicated situations are a part of life. Right now, (and it feels like forever) the economy is in a bad place and we’re all learning to manage our business better. We’re careful with how we spend, we’re thriftier, wiser and more demanding with where we put our money. Jobs are hard to come by, recession takes on the name of our family members and friends and economic migration is everywhere.
Yet, in spite of this situation, we can and will bounce back. We have this resilience in us; the capacity to get back to our original shape. Stronger, wiser and with new and better resources. The brave new world we live in is interconnected and full of richess to share. I don’t believe “a positive attitude” will solve all our problems. No, that is just naive. What I’m saying dear Reader is that I’m sure you’ve overcome difficulties in the past. This means you can overcome them now.
So, in the spirit of the first day of 2012, and seeing as how the world hasn’t yet finished, may you be full of resilience for the next 366 days. Happy New Year. 🙂
BIRTHDAY PARTY
It’s Jesus’ birthday… and we have important information!
Enjoy it wherever you are. Merry Christmas!
Remember, you read it here first!
So, we have a list of the multiple intelligences from the previous post, but really, what does it mean?
What’s so important about interpersonal intelligence? Well, it’s one of the non-cognitive intelligences: not relating to a learning ability as such. Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to “put yourself in someone else’s shoes”.
That’s easier said than done, but think back if you can to when you were in school. Yes, there was that alpha male that was generally loud and good at sports and there was the pretty alpha female who always wore the cutest clothes… and then there was that other person. A person who didn’t need to shout, prove their strength or wear the latest fashion, but who knew how to work the group so that everybody would do what they wanted. Watch, I didn’t say manipulate, I said “work”.
What does Obama have to do with the multiple intelligences?
And Hillary Clinton?
Is there a difference? Indeed. There’s this saying about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. It’s a while back now, but do you remember how Hillary Clinton was up against Barack Obama in the Democratic Party? Then Obama got elected. And what did he do? He took what was a political opponent (within his own party) and made her Secretary of State. Impressive! Clinton is talented in her own right but Obama was smarter: he talked to her, saw what she wanted and managed to get her on his side. Obama is a good example of someone showing clear interpersonal intelligence: not only is he good at public speaking and getting his view across, he’s good at “seeing” what the other person needs and getting them on his side.
Look around you. We all negotiate, but then there are some who seem to always get what they want, yet we still like them.. how come?
If you can, give me an example of interpersonal intelligence in your own life..
The multiple intelligences
What are the multiple intelligences?
That’s the first question I have to answer when speaking to parents and students. You see, I believe in having a method to my madness and I follow Howard Gardner’s theory.
What’s so great about it? Well, I don’t believe to be an expert in anything but I like the way Prof. Gardner categorises intelligences. He describes intelligence as “not a content, but geared to specific contents”. Meaning, for example, that you’re not just clever at maths but rather your intelligence is geared towards being good at maths. Gardner doesn’t say you’re intelligent if you’re good at something, (cue classic “nerdy” image of clever person with crazy hair) but rather that we all have these natural intelligences within us, which make it easier for us to learn when we are dealing with these fields:
- Logical-mathematical
- Spatial
- Linguistic
- Bodily-kinesthetic
- Musical
- Interpersonal
- Intrapersonal
- Naturalistic
and not that long ago he added
- Existential or Moral
Aha! But isn’t that just a way of describing talent? I don’t think so.
Multiple intelligences work for me as a teacher because I analyse each student before I prepare a class, I test their knowledge of English informally and through a variety of tasks. I am not there to solely teach Grammar or better pronunciation, my goal is to teach in the most effective way for that student: the more accurate I am in my analysis, the better I’ll be at providing content that my student will learn. Applied in the multiple intelligences way, if for example I’m teaching a 6 year old who loves to bounce around, it doesn’t mean I have to run around the classroom space with them. I will use their natural kinesthetic intelligence to teach with games, songs with actions and activities that require fine spatial coordination. I won’t try to keep a student still for an hour, but I’ll be the one controlling all that energy… easier said than done!
Want to know more? Check Gardner’s own FAQ’s and see if it makes sense to you.
PS: Apologies for lack of images, computer is not my friend today.
Testing Social Media
Does this show up on my Twitter and Facebook feeds?
360º English 