GENRE
Barry liked playing board games, but he hated losing. He hated losing so much that he would do whatever it took to win, even bending or breaking the rules. He'd steal money from the bank and hide it under the couch cushions. He'd skip spaces while he was moving around the board. He'd shortchange others money that they were owed and argue with them about it. Barry's techniques were effective. He did win most of the games that he played, but the people whom he played with were his friends and family, and it didn't take too long until they caught on to Barry's tricks. They tried to tell Barry to stop cheating. They said that the game wasn't any fun when he cheated, but he didn't listen. He continued with his treacherous style of gameplay, until nobody would play with him anymore. Barry may have won a lot of games, but at what cost?
Winning isn't everything; don't cheat.
Genevieve was obsessed with details. She felt that everything that she submitted to her teacher had to be perfect. For the final project in reading class, students were given one week to use their art skills to bring a scene from a novel to life. Genevieve decided that she would build a shoebox diorama. She spent the first two nights creating an intricately detailed scene far superior to anything that her classmates would produce, but she ended up throwing it away because she didn't like how tape was visible at the bottom of the diorama. The next two nights she worked on a similar diorama, but this time she used glue. Again, Genevieve produced a beautiful product, but she was troubled by how the glue looked when it dried, so she discarded her work again. Over the weekend and into the next week, Genevieve recreated the project a third time. This time she used a special adhesive putty to construct the diorama and was completely satisfied with the appearance. Unfortunately, her project was now several days late and her grade on the assignment was lowered to a C.
Don't let the details distract you from the bigger picture.
Done is better than perfect.
Don't sweat the small stuff.
Keith was stressed about his research paper. He had to write five pages about something that interested him, but he couldn't think of anything interesting. He decided that he would play basketball instead. The next night Keith sat down to work again, but he still couldn't think of anything interesting. So he listened to music and played video games instead. The next few days went much the same. He told himself that he wasn't interested in anything, and then he read comic books. He watched movies. He read about classic cars. Still, he couldn't think of any interesting topics for his paper. Keith was worried now because it was due very soon, and he didn't even have a topic. He tried to think of something that he found interesting, but again he couldn't. He played his guitar and cooked a meal for his family instead. He loved to cook. At last the due date was here and Keith still didn't even have a topic. By now he had accepted that he would fail. "If only I could have found a topic that interested me," he told himself.
The solution to your problem is right in front of you sometimes.
You don't need to be interested in your work to complete it.
Spongebob Squarepants A. Sponges can wear pants. B. Be happy with the simple things in life. C. Life under the sea is interesting. D. Cartoons don't have to make sense.
What is be happy with the simple things in life?
Frank and Joseph were super excited that the teacher assigned them to the same group. Unfortunately, she also assigned George to their group. George never did any work, so Frank and Joseph knew that they were going to have to pull his weight. Over the next week the two boys worked extensively to create and rehearse their presentation while George annoyed the girls who sat near him and played with his phone under his desk. Frank asked Joseph whether they should tell the teacher about George's failure to contribute to the project, but Joseph advised him against it because he didn't want them to be known as snitches. So George continued to play as the other boys worked. On the last workday, Frank and Joseph debated whether or not they should even write George's name on the project, but they decided to do it just to avoid conflict. Soon it was time to deliver the presentation. Frank and Joseph bounced back and forth in a lively conversational way, delivering facts to the audience and demonstrating their knowledge of the subject. Unfortunately, when it was George's turn to present, he just turned his back to the audience and read from the visual aid in a dry monotone voice. He mispronounced several words and didn't seem to understand what he was reading. Shortly after the presentation, the boys received a score sheet from their teacher. They had each received a B and the comment, "Frank and Joseph: nice presentation but I would like to see George get more involved next time. Please try and include him."
Address your problems before they get too big.
Don't let yourself take responsibility for other people's problems.