Hey there all you wonderful people! I hope you're all having an awesome break from school, and are enjoying the company of your family and friends! It's close to New Years, and a lot of people are making resolutions. Although it's turning into kind of a joke that no one ever reaches these goals, I think it's a great thing to sit down and think about how you'd specifically like to improve yourself. I did a post on quizzing resolutions last year (or maybe the year before...) I think, and I made printable templates for them too. But that's not what I'm doing in this post :P Today I wanted to help you guys get excited about your study lives (for quizzing) in January, so you can start the year out strong! Whatever way that you usually go about motivating yourself, doing something new or in a different way is a good place to start, and also a great way to explore the unknown. But how can we study in a "new or different way"? I've come up with some pretty strange, but fun, ideas the past three and a half years, and I've put them in categories so it's easier to read. So here we go!
We've got a few more months before the really important tournaments begin for the end-game of this season. District finals, Regional qualifiers, and then finally the national tournament in Indianapolis await! A lot of people can't help but get nervous when they think about this, but there's no reason to be, at the end of the day. How are you doing this season? Is it everything you wanted it to be? If so, woo-hoo! Good for you! Keep it up, and don't worry about your performance, because you're gonna do great! If you haven't done as you hoped this season so far, you shouldn't worry about it either, because, it's just quizzing. But, if you're still willing to work, do your absolute best and leave no effort unused, go for it!! There's no limit to what you can do, especially since we have a good amount of time before the important tournaments. You can still achieve what you wanted to at the beginning of this season, and if you dare to work towards that and forget what's behind you, I'm convinced you won't be disappointed. So go for it - be the quizzer you want to be! Use these study ideas, and the refreshed inspiration from the New Year to propel you forward towards your goals! You're gonna do great. That's all for now, my friends. I wish you all the happiest New Year, and an awesome January! Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Bethany Invitational later next month (it's supposed to be over Luke 1-20, heads up)! Thanks for reading! Keep calm and quiz on (and out)! Your fellow quizzer, Mallory
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Hey guys! How are you guys? I'm super sorry about the post delay! But congratulations to everybody on how the St. Louis Tournament went! I was disappointed I didn't get to go this year, but I had a good weekend anyway; got to invest in some younger people, and I had a few brownies, so you know... it was good :P I know from experience it can be really easy to get discouraged, if your performance wasn't what you would have hoped. But if you want to dodge a wave of sadness, just remember that we all have off days, even the best of us. One quiz or tournament doesn't define the rest of the season; make it your business to make the best comeback ever! Bounce back from that set back, and kill it like only you can. You are more than capable, and you are going to acheive your goal! We're coming into the Christmas season now, and everyone's watching all those old movies, putting up decorations, and getting some shopping done whilst making travel plans. It is, admittedly, probably one of the busiest times of the year. And it is about this time, that new and old quizzers have less motivation than any other time of the season. That doesn't mean that we can feel good about ourselves slacking off during these few weeks (:P); it means that we have to make it a priority to keep ourselves on fire throughout all of the festivities whilst still enjoying the holiday. There's lots of different ways to do this of course, and I'm sure that as quizzers, you've begun to really discover what works best for you in that area. But one thing, I'm becoming more and more won over to, is that when we choose to rest in God's presence, and keep our focus on His love and goodness, everything we need simply comes as a byproduct - you know? I mean, last year in Galatians, we quizzed over the fuits of the Spirit. And as we all know, fruit is the byproduct of a tree, that is growing in health, maturing, and thriving in what it was origionally created to do - its same thing with us. How many of us know, that real and long-lasting inspiration has to come from joy, peace, and patience having a permanant place in our hearts? Now, I want you to know that I'm a long way from where I want to be. I've had a rough week or two battling to keep myself working at these things, and I've had lots of failures. But I can say, that I've learned a really hard lesson about trying to find a reason to do my best, and looking no farther than myself. And even though I haven't arrived, I think I've finally realized what God's been trying to tell me - where I need to be heading; and that's just towards Him. This time of year is all about family, Christmas carols, hot chocolate, celebrating Jesus' birth, and loving eachother - its reaslly easy to get inspired! I look forward to this all year round! But, there's only so much that this can do for us in life as a whole. Getting into our Father's word, and being washed, renewed each morning, and transformed by it, is the single greatest thing that we can do, to be continually inspired and motivated, and to prepare for our futures - and it lasts all year, not just in December. Oh hey, that kinda sounds like what we're doing each year! Quizzers commit to really digging into a different part of the Bible each season, and that's amazing when you think about it, considering the world today. So you see, getting inspired or motivated, or whatever you call it, to get into quizzing and do some preparing for the competitions, can come from what we're quizzing over - the Word. It makes me laugh; only God could design something so simple. A lot of people, including myself, have missed this vital aspect of being a quizzer. These are some of the things I've learned so far, about being inspired by the Bible - inside and outside of quizzing.
I guess it all just comes back to purpose. Why are we working so hard? Why do we go through all of the trouble to practice, travel, and spend free time studying rather than playing video games, or reading novels? It's because we teens, are choosing to set our focus, no matter what amount, on God and His word; His kingdom rather than on this world. He says to seek Him, and no better way to do that, than reading His love letter to us. If we're seeking our Father, and trying to keep our minds on Him and His words, inspiration can and will come as a byproduct - that's not me, saying that this is what I've done and what you should do, that would make me the world's biggest hypocrite ever. This is me repeating and applying what God's promised us, and I encourage you to study out this subject for yourselves, it'll bring you a lot of joy. So, to wrap up, as quizzers and teens we should feel proud of this "hobby" that we've taken on, no matter how frustrating, or discouraging it might feel sometimes. As friends, I wish you all a very happy holiday season, and I hope that you all have an awesome time, surrounded by your friends and family. And finaly, as siblings in God's household, keep running your race! Thanks for reading, y'all! Keep calm, and quiz on (and out)! Your fellow quizzer, Mallory P.S. The picture for this post, if you can't tell, is at Garden of The Gods, here in Colorado Springs! It was my second time going hiking there, when this was taken, and man, it is breathtaking! Super, super cool stuff up here, that are just a little different from Texas scenery :P Hey y'all! How ya doing? How's your break going? Today I'm going to be talking about some of the keys to having the best season ever. And to begin, I'm going to lead you through a couple things about the first key, which is creating a killer jump-start to the Luke season. - Take a break Breaking is essential to avoiding a burn out. How long the break is depends on how serious you are about quizzing, and how experienced. For example, if you're super intense with quizzing, but not well seasoned and used to studying a lot of the time, you'll want to take a longer break. The more experienced you are, the less likely a burn out will be, usually. If you take at least a short break, then it'll give you time to recharge your enthusiasm and be able to charge into Luke stronger and faster than you would otherwise. Work hard, rest hard. But it wherever you are, try to discern how you think you'll do with that, take into account your other priorities, and go with that. - Make sure your investment in quizzing (time, thought and effort) matches your priorities if you're spending too much of those things for what number it is on your priority list, then it might be a good thing to consider revising the situation. The same goes if you find yourself in an opposite situation. If you want to be balanced, it's important to pay attention to each leg of the table. If one part of your life isn't balanced in itself, then it would make sense if your life as a whole isn't either. The next key element is to make a strategy - make a battle plan for attacking the new season. First of all, assess where you are and where you would like to go this season. Remember; the only limits are the ones we ourselves create. Don't skip this part - no matter if your goal is to be the top quizzer individually at nationals, or to make the district team, everyone can benefit from taking an afternoon to draw out their plan. If your certain about where you want to go and you're already settled how to get there, you'll probably find that running with it is a lot easier. Be optimistic when making your strategy - don't get yourself discouraged before the season even has a chance to begin and show you how great it will be. Yeah, you might be needing to focus more on school, or sports, or you might even be having some significant change in your life coming up here this next year, but after three years of quizzing I'm convinced that you can't do any harm by being realistically optimistic about things. When you sit down to make the formula for next season, here's a few things to consider- time, conviction/passion, and experience. Time: Speaking from experience of doing this to a point where it was unhealthy for me (academically, personally, socially, and even physically) don't let quizzing become so important to you that you neglect everything else in your life. Your identity doesn't come from how you quiz. Love quizzing, be passionate about quizzing, do your best in quizzing, but never become so absorbed with it that it comes before God, people, your health, and your future. Quizzing's awesome right? So let's be careful not to abuse our use of it. Conviction/passion: Don't force yourself to love quizzing - look for things that inspire you about it, and talk to people about it. Coming at it from this angle usually results in stronger and more long-term excitement for quizzing. If if quizzing's something that inhabits your dreams at times, if it's something you really look forward to working on after your work is complete, if it's something you enjoy regardless of the scoreboard, if it's something that helps inspire you to work your hardest at other things in your life, and encourages you in your spiritual walk, I'd say its a healthy and beneficial hobby. Experience: Experience isn't something that has as much importance in how you form your strategies, because it might hold you back a little if you don't have much of it. But that's kind of the fun part about it too; you still get to completely discover how awesome of a quizzer you can be! That's pretty exciting. On on the other hand, if you do have a good amount of experience, then that's cool too! I've probably got it pretty much figured out; you know what's going on, and you know how to work your tail off in order to achieve your goals. The next thing you need to do when making your plan, is to figure out what your goals are. What do you want your study sessions to look like? How would you like to do at smaller tournaments, invitationals and the end of season qualifying tournaments? What do you want to get better at, more specifically? Once you have your goals, it's time to figure out what you want the format of your plan to look like. Pick one that inspires you, makes you happy, focuses you; and one that will help you reach the goals you've established to work towards. Write out steps to these goals, and it you don't know what those steps would be, cha-cha back and dissect your goal. Don't be afraid to ask your coach about it too. Now that you've got be rough draft of your battle plan, go revise it. When it says exactly what you want it to say, get creative! Get some markers, stickers, whatever you want, and make it something that excites you. Finally, hang it up somewhere you'll see it often, and study it so you know it by heart, if you don't already. The third and final key I will discuss today, is knowing how to keep on following through with what you've set out to do. You've planned you attack, so now it's time to attack your plan. Finding the right motivation is important - learn how to motivate yourself in a way that builds you up, rather than tears you down. Do do it in a way that you work out of excitement for how you've done, how you know you'll do, and not in a way that you work out of fear or guilt or not doing as well as you could. Always find a positive, and focus on that. Staying motivated is usually a little harder to do. Just remember to keep your goals in front of you, believing that you can achieve then, and then tell yourself you can, and get to work - even if you don't feel like it in that moment. Make being inspired a priority. To recap, here are the key elements we've been talking about today; - Having a killer jump-start - Making a strategy - Following through with it I hope this helps you this season. And that you have a great time! Good luck, and thanks for reading. Keep calm and quiz on (and out)! Your fellow quizzer, Mallory Hey everyone!
I don't know about you guys, but one of the most exciting parts of beginning a new quizzing season (or re-focusing in the middle of one...) is setting goals, and planning, and getting pumped for everything that we are going to either improve on, start, or stop. However, eventually the initial goose bumps wear off, and we are left with the vague list that we had written, that we are supposed to follow. And I don't really want to go through that confusion, discouragement, and waste of time again this year, so how about we do something different, sound good? Well one of the first, simple things we can do, is get organized. Setting up a plan for your quizzing season is a big deal, especially if you already know what you want to accomplish, based on your (and everyone else's) performance last season. Make a To-Do list of everything that you need to do, to make sure that you're ready to go when the quizzing season starts back up in a few weeks. Here's kind of what mine looks like, to give you an idea of what I'm talking about: TO-DO, QUIZZING PLAN 2015-2016:
See? Its not that long, and it's straight to the point, checklist of everything that needs to be done. So as a starting point, write out your own To-Do list, and we'll see what needs to be done from there, in order to complete our quizzing plan for the 2015-2016 season. As always, thank you for reading. Your fellow quizzer, Mallory |
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Trending Posts:Author:Mallory is a graduated Teen Bible Quizzer originally from the Southern region, moved to the Northwest, coaching quizzing over the book of Matthew. Check out our
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