Keep Yourself Motivated

Keep Yourself Motivated

Bala, Edward-Jan

So far in my journey of mastering Offstring style. I had learned that in order to make good tricks you would need to keep yourself motivated. George says keeping yourself motivated is one of the major keys to your success and goals (Lois, 40). I was not really that motivated into Offstring Style mainly because I did not like restarting as a beginner player all over again. Now that I keep myself motivated learning tricks and success was easy to obtain. One of the many ways I kept myself motivated is to imagine myself in a world where everyone is better than me at something and I am below them. Nobody likes being less than or worst than another person, so I picture myself working hard and eventually getting better than them. As George tells me to"Always go for the big idea" (Lois, 4).  Keep a visual in your head of you accomplishing your goals, and use that visual as motivation. In my visual, I can see myself winning Pacific Northwest Regionals 2017 in the Offstring Division which is in twenty-six days from now. My goal may seem impossible, but as long as there is a will, there is a way. As long as I am motivated and have that picture of me accomplishing something, then winning that contest will be a piece of cake.

George Lois tells us "A big idea can change a world culture"( Lois, 17). What I am trying to accomplish may seem impossible my big idea is that people can see me in twenty-six days winning a regional contest with only three months of experience using motivation as one of my secret weapons to winning Pacific Northwest Regionals 2017. 

How can motivation help you strengthen your passion?

Lois, George. Damn Good Advice For People With Talent. N.p.: Phaidon Inc, 2012. Print.

Mistakes Are Lessons

Mistakes are lessons

My skills have been improving in Offstring Style, but I would always run into the same mistakes over and over again. That mistake was that there was too many  of mistakes. I would keep failing on my tricks every time a new trick was attempted. But this will not drag me down on learning Offstring Style. George Lois says do not let little mistakes affect your goals and your passion (Lois 59). I will not give up on my dreams and goals just because of a couple of mistakes. When learning Offstring Style I trained my mind to learn from a mistake, for example if the yo-yo was dropped I would learn from it and adjust the trick so that mistake doesn't happen again. 

George Lois says "if you want something then you have to go out and get it. If you make mistakes then pick it up and try again and don't stop until you get there."(Lois 69). Nobody likes giving up so I will not give up on my goals and on my dreams also. Constantly I keep telling myself not to quit, and learn from your mistakes instead of crying over them. I will make my goal and not stop until my goal gets accomplished. As George Lois said "the best way to define your future is to reinvent it" (Lois 69). So what I did was starting over on a new style of yo-yo and reinvent the way on how to practice for Offstring Style. Normally I practice three hours a day, Today I wake up at 4 a.m in the morning and work hard to accomplish the goal that I had set for myself. If a Mistake was made I would take that mistake and adjust it so that same mistake doesn't happen again. 

What do you think of when you hear the word perfect?

Lois, George. Damn Good Advice For People With Talent. N.p.: Phaidon Inc, 2012. Print.

How To Be More Creative

How To Be More Creative

  Before I started this project I was a boy low self-esteem and was teased on daily basis by my family for not being creative as my cousins because they could all sing and dance and I was just living in their shadow. I wanted to stop being teased on not being creative, I wanted to improve my creative potential, the yo-yo tricks that I was doing was not enough for me, If I wanted to learn a new trick I would just go on YouTube and just copy off other people's tricks, I know I can do better. George Lois knows I can do better because. George Lois says that if you want to get better at something, start over. (Lois, 31). So that is why I decided to learn a new style of the yo-yo but this time I will not go on YouTube for tricks, I will make my own tricks without tutorials or copying off other people's tricks. This new style that I am learning has more of a risk factor. if I drop this yo-yo in a contest I will instantly lose the contest and be disqualified from the contest. This yo-yo style is also the hardest to learn in the world. People that do this style at yo-yo contest are one of the most creative people that I have ever seen in my life. I wanted to be just as creative as they were and I was not going to stop until I get there this style was called Offstring Style. George Lois says that anyone can be great at anything they put their mind to (Lois, 52). In the last week of reading this book, I am creating my own tricks for the first time in my life. Not because of going on YouTube, it was what I made them with my creativity.

 Ways I boosted my creativity was through extra practice and extra thinking which I wasn't used to because I was basically copying off other people instead of making my own tricks. George Lois helped me create new tricks by saying "What the hell, go all out and see if something comes out of it if its good keep it if it's bad f*** it and start over." (Lois 96). In my daily practice sessions, that is what I have been thinking about creativity and how I can put them into the tricks. Boosting my creative potential has definitely made me a better yo-yo player and made me more creative than I ever was before in my life.

Do you think being more creative help improve a skill/talent?

Lois, George. Damn Good Advice For People With Talent. N.p.: Phaidon Inc, 2012. Print.