NEW VIDEO

https://youtu.be/mQl805N4tQs

See more pictures and read the full post about the Baking Party that I hosted yesterday here https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/updates/baking-party-savory-fall-baking-october-8-2022

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Theodor Roosevelt

Do you know what this is? This is our guest editor's resume!

This amazing person will coach you and help work on your writing skills starting from October 14.
Our guest editor is a native speaker and has 10+ experience of writing copy, editing books, and managing a marketing team in a publishing house. I am so looking forward to writing more because now I know that she will read and help me edit my work. And she will do it for you too!!! Make sure you join the new Creative Writing Practice on Octiber 14!!!


We will write 8 texts over the course of the next 8 weeks.
Only one text per week.

One editing session per week where everyone will be learning from very personal and detailed feedback on their work!

It's what I call the next level. If you need to take your writing skills to a whole new level, learn from the best, anf give it the best you can.
At least that's what I'm going to do in the next 8 weeks because I do need to write better.

The course will take place in the community of practice. Learn more here https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/calendar/creative-writing-2-0

The best advice is cliché advice.

Phrases like

• Where there is a will, there is a way
• Everything happens for a reason
• Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody is watching
• How Do You Eat an Elephant? One Bite at a Time
• You Can’t Learn to Swim Without Getting in the Water
• Opportunity Doesn’t Knock Twice
• It’s Not Whether You Win or Lose, it’s How You Play the Game

And a lot more…are clichés.

People discard them immediately because they have heard such advice many times. In fact, they’ve heard it so many times that they don’t hear or see it any more.

And when they look at it again, they say “It doesn’t apply to me because I already know this”.
But it does apply.

Clichés contain the wisdom of many generations. The problem is not that they are cliché, but that people are not willing to listen.

If you want people to hear your message (which probably can be put in one simple piece of advice, such as one of the cliché phrases above🙂), tell them a story.
If you’re not good at storytelling, learn the skill.

People learn best when they make their own conclusions.
Practice giving good advice to yourself in writing. Practice explaining to people what you mean in writing, over the phone, in conversations, and on camera. The more ways you learn to deliver your ideas, the more confirmable you feel with different media, the more confident you become as a communicator.

You know a lot of cliché advice.
Now try to apply it in your life.

You will see that there’s no “cliché method” to apply that “cliché advice”, and that’s why it’s the best advice🙂


I choose to learn to listen so that I don’t discard important messages from life.
I choose to learn to self-regulate your own thought.
I choose to learn to take action so that my thoughts, words, and actions align.

“All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.”
— James Allen

A good episode if you’re interested in improving your writing skills

This is me doing my workout on the parking lot next to my airbnb😁
You don’t always need a gym, at least I don’t need it to do a good workout. You need understanding that physical work and physical exercise is the cheapest and the most effective recipe for healthy inner state.
A lot of students work hard and spend 2-3 hours a day studying and concentrating mentally when they sit down to do their homework… and they forget their body needs.
Learning does not happen only in your brain because you’re not only a brain. You have a physical body, you have emotions, you have a soul, you have your energy field, and you have the ability and the power to self-regulate your learning process, your health, your emotional state, your energy…

Remember that any physical work will improve your mental concentration. If you feel tired after studying, preparing for an exam or doing some intellectual work, hop on a bike 🚴 and ride far😊 Go for a run. Do some push-ups. Do a good workout. Break a sweat. You will feel better on a physical, emotional, mental, and energy level.

*
What research says: “Along with better concentration and overall improved brain functioning, Mary Carmichael reports that physical exercise has also been linked to a lower risk of neurological and cognitive disorders, including ADHD and Alzheimer’s.
The 2008 book Brain Exercises to Cure ADHD, written by Dr. Amnon Gimpel of Israel’s Brain Power Clinic, explains how physical activity can help treat or even prevent the symptoms of ADHD in children and adults. According to Gimpel, activities that combine physical and mental focus, such as yoga, dancing and martial arts, may be more effective at improving ADHD symptoms.
EuroPace recommends that if you are finding it difficult to concentrate throughout the day then you should try to incorporate 30 minutes of exercise into your day.”

See what students wrote during the 7-min Creative Writing Practice last week. Click to read the post

https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/updates/students-write

Have you heard of the Pygmalion Effect?


The Power Of Expectations: The Pygmalion Effect

The Pygmalion effect was first established in 1965, when a Harvard psychologist named Robert Rosenthal approached the headmaster of an elementary school in order to administer a special IQ test to the school’s students. He got approval, and shortly thereafter reported that approximately 20% of the students were going to ‘bloom’ academically in the following year. Unsurprisingly, these designated students excelled when tested again almost a year later.

But here comes the twist. The IQ test Rosenthal used was nothing special, instead, it was just a standard IQ test. Not only that, but that 20% percent was chosen completely at random. It turns out that it was the teacher’s expectations that resulted in this difference, which is exactly what this experiment was trying to prove.

This experiment, named the “Oak School Experiment”, and the academic paper that came out of it, have become one of the most cited and discussed psychological studies ever conducted. The discovered effect has become one of the most prominent concepts in psychology and management, and it has been named “The Pygmalion Effect” ever since.

I use EVERY piece of content in English that I like as an exercise. Here is the exercise that I did with this text, and you can do too:

1. Condense the meaning of the passage in 1-2 sentences
2. Tell your story: do you agree or disagree with this? Have you experienced it in your own life?

And remember that you should not be practicing writing skills alone. Feeback is the most precious gift if your goal is to live up to your potential. If you want to learn writing with feedback, join our Creative Writing Sessions. https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/calendar/creative-writing-2-0

We wrote beautiful texts today!!! I’ll share some more. We had our first live editing session with a native speaker today, and 7 more are coming. If you still want to join the creative writing practice, do it. Hop on the left lane, and by Dec 2 you will have achieved more clarity and you’ll have accumulated beauty in you. People and their thoughts are just so beautiful ❤️

Session #1. Welcome to the creative practice. Here is a quick example of how a native speaker was helping students express their ideas in clear and natural English.


Consider joining the practice if you need to learn to express big ideas and tell your stores to English native-speaking audiences.

We will be working on improving our writing skills for the next 8 weeks.

Here are 2 of the texts that Leila and I wrote during the practice yesterday. I will be doing every writing assignment myself too. If you have feedback for me, please leave a comment 🙂

What’s amazing is how much you can write in just 9 minutes, and how deep and profound people’s thoughts are.

You can join us! The next session is on Oct 21.

The writing assignment for week 1 was published only last night, and you can start it with everyone else.

The participants have lifetime access to the replays; you can watch the replay of session 1 and do the same exercise any time. You will receive feedback regardless of when you submit the work.

https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/calendar/creative-writing-2-0-3a9db9