Category: motivation

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When You Just Can’t Work Remotely

Cartoon of a man observing a woman with s smartphone. She says, "Frank texted me. He's supposed to be in the K-1 class, but he's out of town. He offered to watch the class if we Skype him in."
Originally published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine."

As the novel coronavirus concerns ramped up, there was a big emphasis on working from home. But we soon heard, “What happens when you just can’t work remotely?”

For many office jobs, we found it was a possibility. As a graphic designer, that can be a preferred mode of working. After all, you just need a laptop and a speedy Internet connection, and you are in business. However, after two years, we’ve found there are aspects of remote work that just don’t work.

Also, there are many jobs where that just isn’t possible. Manufacturing requires workers to be at the machines and be productive. As a Graphics Manager at such a facility, I soon found I was needed at the plant. While we had some office workers off-site as a precaution, we still needed office workers there to keep the jobs moving.

While some schoolwork can be done remotely, someone has to be there to guide a child and keep him out of trouble. Someone has to be home to feed her. Sure, The parent can do that… while they are working remotely… and having their web conference with that important client… and keeping the dog quiet. What could go wrong?

We soon found out! Remote learning has been very hard for students. I feel for them. While remote employment has worked, remote learning has been very hard for kids.

Continue reading “When You Just Can’t Work Remotely”
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Exercise motivation

Strength Under Pressure

Cartoon of a girl watching a boy stir with effort. The girl says, "That does it. You need to exercise more."

Physical exercise makes us stronger. When we run a distance, or lift weights, the resistance causes our muscles to strengthen. It prepares us for when we face a physical challenge and gives us strength under pressure.

Cartoon of a girl watching a boy stir with effort. The girl says, "That does it. You need to exercise more."

“If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.”

Proverbs 24:10 NLT

Mental and spiritual exercises do something similar. When we feed our mind and spirit, when we make ourselves do the hard work, it will help us when we face bigger challenges.

Does that mean we love exercise? Hardly! Self discipline can be difficult, especially when we have weak areas that we know needs to be strengthened. When we haven’t been exercising for a while, and we discover how weak we’ve become in such a short time, it’s humiliating and discouraging.

And when conditions aren’t optimal, it can be even harder. We may try to job, but the weather is nasty. Then there are the times we are exercising our minds, but we are tempted to turn on the TV and watch some mindless program. Maybe the kids are loud and demand our attention. Self discipline isn’t easy, is it?

But the long-term benefits far outweigh the short-term challenges. When we set a long-term goal, it helps us get over the short-term reluctance.

Few of us are in optimal shape physically, mentally and spiritually. We may be overwhelmed in one or multiple areas. It’s okay! Choose one aspect to focus on today. Start with small steps and know that we will improve in the long-term. Here are some suggestions to tory today.

  • Read something challenging
  • Pray
  • Meditate
  • Journal or do some other form of writing to clarify your thoughts
  • Memorize something
  • Try a puzzle
  • Do some physical exercise

Any of these could be useful when we face pressure. And who doesn’t eventually need strength under pressure?

Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.

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Attitude cartoon motivation

Why change is so hard

There are very few of us that embrace change. We know that it makes people nervous and frustrated. Article after article affirms that. Yet if we’re honest, we will admit it is inevitable. Just why is change so hard?

Spear 3974

When I sketched this idea, I observed people about twenty years older than me resisting texting. Nine years later, many of that generation has accepted texting as just another form of communication. Time marches on!

Change is a deceptively difficult thing. We have no problem finding reasons that it is so. Even when everyone agrees changes need to be made, reform is hard. People may disagree on why and how the alterations need to be made. They may even disagree how much and how sweeping a change needs to be. It just isn’t an easy thing!

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K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine motivation Parenting Cartoons teaching

The Best-Laid Plans Never Go as Planned

Cartoon of two people waist deep in water. A woman says, "I've learned there is a fine line between potty training and preschooler vandalism."
Published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine"

If the last two years have taught us anything, we have learned that the best-laid plans never go as planned. There are circumstances and surprises that come out of nowhere. In fact, we may be tempted to utter along with Curly, “I’m a victim of circumstance!“

Children and the Best-laid Plans

I thought I had life all figured out until I had children. Planning was easy when my wife and I started our lives together. For the most part, we were on the same page and had similar goals. But when we had kids, I discovered they didn’t always share the same goals like when was the proper bedtime, how to behave at restaurants, and when was the optimal time to begin potty training.

Cartoon of two people waist deep in water. A woman says, "I've learned there is a fine line between potty training and preschooler vandalism."
Published in Kidzmatter Magazine
Continue reading “The Best-Laid Plans Never Go as Planned”
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creativity motivation

Creativity Takes Courage

spray paint cans
Photo by Davide Baraldi on Pexels.com

It might not work. Some will like your style while others don’t. There are those who will get what you are conveying while others have no clue. Let’s face it. Matisse knew what he was talking about!

“Creativity takes courage.”

Henri Matisse

Whenever we do something new, we are going to welcome critics. Let’s face it, we don’t get what others are creatively doing either. We have our tastes and preferences. An artist could spend years working on a technique that appears effortless. And that appearance of effortlessness will make others dislike it.

Creativity is messy. It is also noisy. After all, one person’s musical symphony is another person’s rude noises!

Cartoon of two girls and two boys
Copyright ©2017 Kevin Spear & Kidzmatter Magazine

Perfection and Creativity

Not every creative endeavor is meant to make money or be popular. Who can really predict what is popular next week anyway? If we make those our goals, we may be in for a disappointment.

The pursuit of perfection can kill creativity. If we are searching for the perfect pitch, technique, or approach that will knock everyone’s socks off, good luck! That pressure will squelch creativity.

Besides, my view of what is perfect can be very different from yours. How can perfection be defined in artistic endeavors? Is it the reaction of the public? Or the guarantee of an award-winning project? Perhaps it’s the approval of a client. What if they had a bad day and you didn’t know they hate that shade of purple?

Business and Creativity

If we are working with businesses, creativity takes courage. Very few business leaders have that chutzpah. Editors will turn down books that become bestsellers. Movie producers will reject movie concepts until they become popular and demands sequels. That song that a producer was convinced was a flop is suddenly his favorite when it becomes viral on TikTok.

Creativity takes courage. It isn’t easy to put our ideas out there. But it is worth it. It is far better to try something and see whether it works than to stay safe and churn out the same old concept.