Youth Workin' It

Consultancy and Resources for Youth Workers and Organizations Worldwide

Critic’s Math In Youth Work

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Starfish youth work
You didn’t make a difference to that one

As Stephen mentioned last week, we recently attended Jon Acuff’s Quitter Conference.

And.

It.

Was.

Awesome.

We left feeling energized and excited about our ideas for Youth Workin’ It and our youth-work related dreams. And while there were a few things for me that stood out when reading Jon’s book and at the conference, one thing I wanted to share with you this week is about ‘Critic’s Math’.

Critic’s math is 1 Insult + 1,000 Compliments = 1 Insult.

Jon was discussing it in the context of pursuing your dreams and particularly about reviews of his books on Amazon. He focuses on the one 1-star review rather than all the 5-star reviews.

It’s very easy to do this in your youth work too…

You dwell on the one youth that doesn’t have a significant change in your program. You forget about the countless youth whose lives you are changing by being loving, kind, present, funny and patient.

The one colleague that said they didn’t like this game or that activity. You forget the colleagues that replicate and share your games with their groups.

The one volunteer that doesn’t like your leadership style. You forget the volunteers that turn up week in and week out because they believe in you and your mission.

The one parent that doesn’t like your T-shirt and shorts combo. You forget the parents that trust you with their most precious treasures for hours, days or weeks at a time.

The one teen that stopped going to church after they graduated. You forget about the impact that one teen you did help lead to faith is having now in other parts of the world.

Don’t let critic’s math keep you from doing the amazing work that you’re already attempting, starting or doing. Be willing to reflect and make changes to your programs, practice and leadership style when it’s appropriate and necessary, but don’t get hung up on just the one.

Unless of course you’re telling that Starfish Story, then it’s pretty much all you’ve got to work with.

Question: Do you sometimes have a hard time with critic’s math? Let us know in the comments below.

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Live In Nashville Or Atlanta? Get Youth Workin’ It’s Services For Free

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Free youth worker training
Get free youth work services for your organization

On 1 September, Youth Workin’ It will officially be one year old. On the one hand the year’s gone quickly, on the other it feels like so much has happened in that time. To celebrate our anniversary, we’re going to be running some competitions and here’s the first.

Are you in Nashville, TN or Atlanta, GA?

On the weekend of Friday September 21 – Sunday September 23, we’re going to be in Nashville, TN for Jon Acuff’s Quitter Conference. The conference finishes on the Saturday night, but we’ll still be about on the Sunday morning.

On the weekend of Friday November 9 – Sunday November 11, we’re going to be in Atlanta, GA for the Youth Cartel Summit. This conference finishes on the Saturday night as well, but we’ll be about on the Sunday morning here as well.

What we’re offering for free

While we’re in both of these places, we’d like to offer two hours of our services for free. What kind of services can we offer?

Shae has trained youth workers in many different countries, so could run a training session with your organization’s volunteers. It doesn’t matter if you’re a faith-based organization or a non-profit working with young people – the training can be tailored to meet your organization’s needs.

Alternatively, perhaps you’d be interested in having a guest speaker come in to talk to your young people. Or maybe you need some help setting up program monitoring and evaluation. Whatever your needs, we’d like to be able to help.

How do I sign up?

Please drop us an email at info at youthworkinit dot com, or use our contact page. We’re only going to be able to offer our services to one organization in each of these locations on the respective weekends, so please get in contact ASAP if you’d like to be considered.

We’d love to hear about what your organization does and how you’d like us to help serve you and your young people. We’d especially love to help organizations that wouldn’t normally be able to afford consultancy services/guest speakers, but we’re happy to consider any requests.

As we’re going to be driving back to Virginia after these conferences, we regret that we won’t be able to travel too far outside of the Nashville / Atlanta areas. However, if you’re located fairly close to the route back through to VA, we might be able to sort something out.

If you don’t live in either of these places, please pass this on to anyone else you know that lives in these areas! And don’t forget that you can still take advantage of our services any time, especially things like virtual consultations.