Hello again! In this post we're going to be talking about how that you can (and should!) win trophies... at practice! I don't mean that you should have physical awards at all of your team get-togethers (because that would probably get old :P), but rather, I'm sharing the concept of... Winning your trophies at practice, and just picking them up at tournaments. So without further ado, here are the four ways that quizzers can apply, and end up benefitting, from having this mindset!
Now, this doesn't mean that you should go full throttle with your challenges/rebuttals/appeals, because your coach may get frustrated :P (unless you are specifically practicing those). Instead, I'm talking about jumping at your top speed, and trying to not wait around for more syllables just because you can. I don't do this all the time, as some of you will know, because there's just something about the tournament atmosphere that helps me push myself harder. If you want to apply this mindset, then while you're on the seats at practice, pretend to yourself that you're at a tournament - an important one, or better yet, the regional quiz off. This will probably cause you to jump faster, causing more errors (because that's just what happens), but if you've studied, there's a good chance you'll blow your teammates away! And that leads me to the next one, which (disclaimer), I am still working on!
Some weeks it can get hard to study, especially when you may not have a tournament coming up soon. However, the idea of quizzing as hard at practice as you would at a quiz event will push you to prepare harder, and therefore enable you to perform better at practices, AND future tournaments. In addition, the knowledge we get from more consistent studying stays with us for longer, and more accurately, than the knowledge we get from cramming. I've crammed for pretty much all of my quizzing career, so I've experienced this a good amount (unfortunately). Because of that, I can tell you that whenever I have a good streak of consistency, the stuff that I put in my head during that period of time stays with me for far beyond that season. That's when things we call "flashbacks" happen... they're kind of annoying in a quiz, but so rewarding otherwise :P.
There's two ways that you can have confidence here: in knowing how great you really are, and in knowing that you deserve to do well, because of how hard you've worked. Not to be confused with cockiness, which is thinking you're someone you're not and/or pushing your accomplishments onto other people, just growing this confidence can literally improve your performance. Why? Because any kind of sport is at least partially affected by your mental attitude (usually a lot). The same thing with tests, interviews, speeches, productivity, etc.. A lot of quizzers, newer ones mainly, don't do as well at quiz events and even practices, for the simple reason that they don't have any confidence. Like I mentioned in my post about "What to Know About Nationals", taking chances is one of the top necessities in quizzing, because without it, you can glue yourself to the seat. When this happens, you have to watch other people take your rightful place on the scoreboard. So to avoid this, simply work on growing your confidence, so that you can take these kinds of chances in your stride, and without thinking twice.
I feel like this quote kinda wraps up the last three points. People will see your accomplishments, being your placings, trophy shelves, or teams that you've made, but that's only the top tip of the iceberg! It's a little cliché, I suppose, but that analogy really fits here, so I'm gonna use it :P. The whole concept of "earning your trophies at practice", is all about putting your focus on the bottom 90% of the iceberg, so that you can grow it - and therefore grow your successes (the 10% that other people see). And that 10% that they do see, ROCK IT! Totally blow people away, because you've earned it. Don't be afraid of showing your hard work, and reaping some of it's benefits! We've spent a fair amount of this post talking about trophies, and at the end of the day, they're just tangible, dust-collecting things, right?
But there's another, more important, side to quizzing awards... Every quiz award that you get, represents not only the fun time you got to spend with your friends (and maybe family), or the hard work that you put in. It represents all of the knowledge that you gained of God's Word! I don't know about you, but that's pretty cool to me! But anyways, it's time to wrap this post up for today. I sincerely hope that you all have PHENOMENAL weeks, and that you know that you are blessed, that you are specifically anointed, and that the Father has an incredible love just for you. Love you guys - keep quizzing and living victoriously! Keep calm and quiz on (and out)! Your fellow quizzer, Mallory
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Hello there, Quiz-Journeyers! How are ya doing today? How has your week been? I missed you guys! :P In this post, we're going to be doing something a little different, but super cool... A "roundup" of my favorite four things (studying styles, planning techniques, tools, etc.) from my fourth year in Bible quizzing. So lets jump into it! Number One: The "reference" tool on Quiz Master (you can purchase this software here: QuizMaster). Since I focused more on According To's last year than I had in previous seasons, I was kind of at a loss on how to study for them effectively. I tried writing out my own flashcards for the verses in Luke, because I know some people who do that and it works really well for them (shoutout to you guys)! But it just wasn't for me. I didn't like having to actually handle them, and having to shuffle them, and not being able to study specific chapters without spending a lot of time re-organizing the cards. Maybe I'm just impatient, I don't know :P. But in the reference tool, you can easily choose which verses, sections or chapters you'd like to study, and you can even use it to study in different ways (I'll probably write a post just on what I learned about According To's later on ;)). I really benefitted from this tool! Number Two: Printed daily schedules/to-do lists VS. Written out. I found that on the days when I went to all of the trouble to type and print out my quizzing tasks (especially when I did it the night before), instead of just scribbling it down in the morning with everything else, I'm more compelled to do it. It like, since I put in all the effort, and I don't want to waste any paper or ink, I might as well just do what I had planned, and make it worth while. Does that make sense? Number Three: On busy days, make it a kind of one-person-party, late-night study session. I had a lot of busy days this past school year, and I wasn't always able to get to my quizzing preparation during the day (because near the end of the season I had a bunch to catch up on), so I had to do it pretty late at night after I had finished everything else. I would get my PJs on (after everyone else had gone to bed), with slippers, pour myself a glass of chocolate milk or hot cocoa, and figure out what I needed to accomplish before I went to bed. Then I would write it down, to keep track of it, get out my portion, and pace back and forth across the kitchen and dining room... for a long time :P. BUT I ended up getting a LOT done in those late-night study sessions! I was behind in memorizing basically all of Luke, so a little while after I had started the crazy memorizing schedule (25 verses/day, 6 days/week), I had to start this nightly routine to make sure I got it done, at least fairly consistently. And it worked! Number Four: Month-before-tournament quizzing review/evaluation & planning. I've found that about a month before an important tournament (or just a regular quiz) is a good time to take a step back from your work, and evaluate what you've done, what you want, and what you still need to do in order to achieve it - they're typically called "reviews". A lot of people do weekly/monthly/annual reviews over life in general. It's a specific time you set aside to revisit your goals and resolutions, gauge how you've done, and make necessary adjustments to your life system - whether that be physically, financially, relationally, or even spiritually. When I started to do these reviews, I was better able to outline what I needed and wanted to do in the following month, so that I could perform how I wanted (or close to how I wanted) at the tournament. That being said, I obviously did not always meet all of the points on that outline that I drew out, but it did set me up for better success than I would otherwise - I definitely recommend this system to any quizzer! So there are my top four favorites from my fourth quiz season - I can't wait to see what new things this season brings!
I would really encourage you today, to be on the watch for what your favorites are throughout this season! Find out what you like, what works best for you, and what might have even saved you from crashing and burning ;). I want to mention too, that my "favorites" have not been alike through my different years in quizzing, and yours don't have to look exactly like mine. Growth is a good thing, and sometimes that comes with difficult change and maybe even letting go of some old stuff. But as long as you're moving towards a better place, no change or "loss" is necessarily a bad thing. You might feel like you're taking a step backwards, but you're taking ten steps forwards! I hope you guys have an awesome week, and always remember that our Father loves you and so do I! Quiz-Journeyers, keep on quizzing and living VICTORIOUSLY! Keep calm and quiz on (and out)! Your fellow quizzer, Mallory Hello again! Today is the last post in the "Takeoff" series (for now), and we're going to be talking about the part of the takeoff where most of the real power is packed - implementation. Clear vision + detailed goals + hard work (implementation) = SUCCESS! So lets get right into this today! What do I mean by, "tool belt"? A quiz tool belt, to me, is a collection of the following things, that all work together to help you get to where you want to be...
The tool belt is often a key factor in how a quizzer performs - for example, a quizzer who has an established memorizing strategy (not only for how many verses to memorize per day, but when to memorize them, and in what way), will probably end up learning more and learning it better than someone who doesn't. So here are three things you can arm your tool belt with this year... 1. Keeping your vision statement and goals (checkpoints) in an easy-to-see place, and reviewing them daily/weekly I know, it sounds super cliché, but keeping your "eye on the prize" helps you to work towards what you want most, instead of what you may want in the moment. For instance, whenever I need to get some serious studying done (usually in preparation for a quiz event), one of the most effective ways to get results is by remembering why I am working - I may want to quiz out in a round at this tournament, or I may want to beat a certain person, or place high individually (you get the picture) - whatever it may be, it's why I'm now going to work my tail off to achieve it. Does that make sense? So throughout the entire season, after you've hung up your vision statement and/or checkpoints to get you there, take the time to really review them every once in a while, in order to keep your motivation levels high. 2. Focus on just one thing - don't become overwhelmed by the dream (no matter how big) Use the KISS principle: Keep It Stupid Simple. And the reason? It can be really easy, no matter what time of the year it is, to look at all of your high aspirations and think "I'm never going to get there from here. There's no way." However, keeping everything in quizzing (and in life) crazy simple, brings it into a proper perspective, and thereby helps us to get the best results from our time (and not waste any by stressing over it :P). Hear me when I say (type) this... Think of the best thing that you could possibly achieve in quizzing (first place, top team in the region, etc.), and then keep dreaming that! Nothing you want from quizzing, and nothing you want from this life is out of reach for you. You know why? Jesus! Philippians 4:13, a popular but powerful scripture, says that you can do all things through Him - ALL THINGS. I'm saying this to myself as much as (or even more than) I'm saying it to you. Recently, I've been focusing on seeking the Lord about my future (career stuff), and I've been talking to some of the spiritual leaders in my life about it too. And the small pieces that I'm seeing, of what I believe my life is going to be like, have the potential to overwhelm me - but in Jesus' name, they won't. But you know, this brings up a larger problem. Whenever we get intimidated by a dream or aspiration or whatever it may be, it opens the door wide open for a very common (but very damaging) lie of the devil to creep in and make a home in our hearts: "I'm not good enough." I wrote another post entirely about contradicting these lies (and who they come from) so I won't say much about it here. But for now, until you go read that (:P), remember that it's simply not true, and that you have the ability to refute it and reject it and throw it out of your mind and heart (with the help of our Father). 3. Take small and steady steps if you want to be effective Consistency is something that I think probably everyone has trouble with, but I think that the biggest way to help with it, is to remind yourself that you don't have to get everything done in one day - it's okay to take small steps. Every day, no matter how far you go, as long as you're moving forward, is a productive day in my mind. Setting awesomely high goals is important, and really healthy for that matter, but you don't have to achieve those goals within 24 hours. As long as you're taking a step in the right direction, no matter if it's the tiniest movement in history, you can be proud, because you're not one of the people who took steps backwards today. So there you go! Having a fully stocked (and functional) tool belt that you can use to help you along your quizzing journey is, again, often a key factor in the results that quizzers end up with - I would encourage you to keep building it this season, and to not neglect it ;).
I was hoping to have a full set of awesome printables ready for this finale today, and I do have some of them completed and ready to go (they are pretty much FIRE! :P) but some things came up this weekend and today and I wasn't able to get them perfect for you guys today :(. But just know, that we have some pretty awesome new stuff (I know, more new stuff, it's crazy right?!) coming out very soon, and it does have to do with printables to go along with the posts that I make for you guys. Anyways, I hope that you all have absolutely phenomenal weeks, and that your quizzing hits a success peak higher than ever before, this year! Keep calm and quiz on (and out)! Your fellow quizzer, Mallory Hey guys! We have something super cool planned for today! Since I've moved up here, I've found some newer quizzers who would like to specialize/grow their skills in Memory and According To questions. The problem was, though, that I'd never really focused on those question types (:P). So, while I was at the national tournament back in June, I talked to some of my friends from the South Texas district (woop-woop), and I asked them if they could help me with this problem. Being the awesome friends they are, they readily agreed! As the result, we've compiled some Q&As about Memory and According To's! Both of these quizzers have quizzed for a good long while, have been on several regional teams, and have competed at the highest level with these question types - they know what they're talking about! :P So here we go! Lets start with the Memory questions! (Answers by Olivia) Q: What's the best way to get all of the memory verses memorized? A: "The best way that I've found to memorize all the memory verses is to start on the first one and memorize it over the course of one day. Then the next day, making sure that you can still quote the first verse, move on to the second verse. On the third day, review the first and second verses and then start on the third. Continue this process until you know all the memory verses really well." Q: What's the best way to learn all of the verses' pre-jumps? A: "I like to put my memory verse flash cards in alphabetical order and quote the verses that way for a couple days. After a while you'll start to remember the order of the flash cards; once that starts to happen, mix them up and try to quote the verses from the pre-jumps. I usually repeat the process 4-5 times a month." Q: How do you practice lipreading? (an essential Memory verse quizzing skill) A: "This is going to sound a little strange, but watch yourself in the mirror as you say your memory verses. It'll help you to notice what sounds make certain shapes and to remember which verses start with those shapes. I've even tried watching TV without the sound to see how much I understand, and to get used to seeing words without hearing the sounds they make." Q: What is the right time to jump, and how can you practice jumping at that point? A: "It's hard to say exactly when to jump on a memory verse just because every quiz master is different in how they read the questions. But if the QM bleeds a lot, I usually jump on the last word of the question right before the QM starts to say the first word of the verse (like 'finish this verse and give the reference--jump). If the QM doesn't bleed a lot, I usually just stick to jumping as soon as I see them form the first word of the memory verse with their mouth." And now for the According To's! (Answers by Megan Marotz) Q: What's the best way to light-study for according to's? A: "On days when I'm in a time crunch or simply lack motivation to put in a big amount of work, I usually just memorize a couple of new verses. That way, you're at least continuing to move forward and make progress instead of missing your study time completely. Or, if I don't have the time to sit down and memorize, I try to listen to a couple of chapters on YouVersion while I'm doing chores or getting ready in the morning." Q: What's the best way to heavy-study for according to's? A: "On days with heavy study, besides memorizing some new verses, I also try to recite the chapters forwards or backwards. This makes it so you can recall the verses more quickly without having to go through the whole chapter, or sections, in your head to be able to find it. "Another way you could do this is to make flash cards for each verse, with the reference on one side and the first 5 words on the other. This further scrambles the verses, and most of the time 5 words is all you need for you to recall the verse, so it saves a lot of time in the creating process." Q: How do you best prepare for doing according to's at a tournament? A: "With your flashcards, pick out a random verse, set a timer for 30 seconds, and try to be able to both recall the verse and say all of the possible questions and answers within the time frame. Most of the time you will go over at first, but with practice it gets easier and you'll be able to do it in the time limit - even though jumping after you hear the reference isn't typically necessary at the beginning of the season. But already practicing this from the get go will make you prepared for the end of the year competitions. "Although, you don't need to go through every verse like this. By doing a small amount of them each day, your mind will get used to the process and will be able to do it even with verses you haven't practiced as long as you have them memorized." Q: What is an easy (beginner) answering strategy, and what is one general tip that's helped you with according to's? A: "A tip that really helped me with according to's was to think of each verse in phrases. This helps you to better keep track of what questions you already asked, and allows you to do it in a faster manner. Also, if you keep track on your fingers of how many questions you've asked, and group them together according to the number of phrases, it keeps your answering process more organized and cuts down on the amount of time needed." And there you go! Thank you so much, Olivia and Megan! And we hope that these help you to improve your memory and according to skills this quiz season.
Speaking of which, it is really sneaking up on us, and it's almost time to start figuring out our strategies for how we're gonna kill it this year! But until then, have an awesome week, guys, and I'll see you next Monday! Keep calm and quiz on (and out)! Your fellow quizzer, Mallory Hey guys! I'm super excited to share this with y'all today! I think it'll help you, if you're thinking about trying to make a regional team this season - which you totally should :P. So to follow up the last post I did, about What To Know About Nationals, I decided to compile a list of what I took away from making the SNU and NNU regional teams, and from failing to make a team the year in between :P. So lets get right into it! But first, if you're not yet convinced about why to aim to make a regional team this year, let me tell you how having it as an annual quizzing (and life, in a way) goal has benefited me so much... My second year of quizzing, I really wanted to make a team in order to quiz with one of my quizzing role-models, who was graduating that year. That caused me to work super hard (especially the last half of the season) in order to achieve my goal. This work made me involuntarily discover some important facts about myself and about quizzing; for example, how I study quizzing the best, how to do generals in the best way I know, etc., and it really gave me a boost in quizzing, especially in the area of realizing what I'm capable of, and that I can do anything that I set my mind to. All of us can! But until you get that lens of "I don't know if I can do that" removed, it forces mental limitations on your abilities, and you will be held back solely by yourself. Removing this lens in entirety is, in my mind, one of the most important steppingstones in continually becoming a better quizzer - even after you make a regional team. Also, getting to be on a team with my biggest quizzing role-model (a lot of you will probably know who I'm talking about :P) was a huge motivator, not only to keep quizzing well after that season, but to try and be that kind of role-model for other quizzers - so, if you're reading this (and you know who you are) thank you so much for that! And with no further ado, here are my regional-qualifying takeaways...
This is one of the reasons that I made a team that first time. I had virtually no idea what it took to be on a team, and I didn't know how (or that I even should) measure myself up against the available competition to see how I was doing, and to get an idea for how hard I needed to continue working to prepare. Even days before the qualifying tournament, I was still studying like a crazy person because I was stressed out, and that's because I was severely under-estimating myself. I honestly didn't think that I would make a team, and I ended up getting second in the preliminary rounds, and first in the quiz off (surpassing the number of points I needed to get on the team with that role-model I mentioned previously). But long story short, do above and beyond what you think you need to do, in order to achieve your goals. This gives you some wiggle room in the event that some of your competition has really stepped up their game, and it also gives you more confidence in an intense round (therefore also causing you to perform better). So in conclusion of this point, don't set your goal for the B team this year - make your goal to get FIRST PLACE in the preliminary rounds, and in the quiz off! And work towards those goals, not towards what you believe the minimum to be, to get on a team.
Just to clarify real quick, this comparing (for lack of a better word) does not in any sense imply that we should be looking at other people in order to know whether we should feel good or bad about our own performances. It does mean, however, that we should observe where the rest of the quizzing community is (competition-wise, and in knowledge of the material), in order to know how hard we will have to work to be the best and/or achieve our goals for this season and quizzing in general. If, after making these observations, you realize that you're lagging behind where you would like to be, then adjust your schedule/goals as you are able, and put in the work that your dreams require. If you're doing well, almost at or already achieving what you set out to do, then you have two options: 1) keep up the pace you're at, or 2) create new, higher goals that will keep you straining for that next level, and working your darn hardest. Here's a quick differentiating tool, to make sure that this "comparing" stays on the right side of the line we just discussed: Performance comparing must be conducted within an intellectual and professional state of mind, rather than in an emotional or personal one.
To be fair, this may slightly differ from person to person, but I've found that whenever I really PLAN on reaching my goal, it happens a lot faster than it would if I wasn't completely sure of what I wanted, and committed to getting it. Especially at this level, of getting on a regional team, it's important to know exactly what you need to do in order to get to where you'd like to be - overall and throughout the entire season, each month, each week, and each day. There are three steps to all kinds of success: 1) creating your vision, 2) planning how you are going to tangibly make your way towards that vision, and 3) putting in the hard work that you planned. Creating and writing out your vision for this season, and then planning how you're going to get there (setting tangible goals that you can check off along the way), inspire an incredible amount of motivation and commitment for your end goal (if your vision is something that you actually want). And that newly-created motivation and commitment are what propel you to put in the hard work (step #3 of success) that your vision will require. But if you never sit down and figure out what your vision is, what you really want from this season, and if you don't plan out how you are going to go about achieving that goal, you'll just be running blind - and that never ends well ;P.
But of course, we will all inevitably have those days when we literally don't want to do anything but lay in bed and watch Netflix or read a novel. And those days are hard. Those are the times when even thinking about your vision, and remembering the next steps that you've outlined, don't seem to stir up any energy to get done what needs to get done. What happens then? In order to become (more so) consistent, I've learned that I need to have several places that I can go to, to become motivated to give quizzing (or anything else) my very best efforts - fill up your motivational tool belt and get it done! (For more on motivation, check out my post on "3 Keys to Unlocking Motivation") Now, I honestly can't say very much about the discipline part of this point, because I (admittedly) have not been the most consistent person regarding studying for quizzing (obviously... *cough* GEPCP season *cough*... :P). But I'm working on it, and that's the best any of us can do, right? Nevertheless, here's my one nugget regarding discipline: Recognize the incredible potential, and power that comes with being a disciplined person - being someone who works towards their goals not only on the days that they jump out of bed with excitement for it, but on the bad days, when they literally have sit down (or stand up) with clenched teeth to get to the work, until they remember why they love doing it so much. And there we are!
I hope that these tips help you guys if you're going to try and make a regional team this year - and even if you're not, or if you've already achieved this goal in a previous season, I hope that you were able to take away something that inspires you this week! Whether or not you've already started studying for this season, I hope that the rest of your summer is an absolute BLAST! I love you guys, have an awesome week, and I'll see you next Monday! Keep calm and quiz on (and out)! 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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