Sunday, March 11, 2012

The "Wayne is Great" Folder

My friend Wayne in Canada, (not to be confused with our mutual friend Wayne of the same clan in Ireland), was asked to do a short article for a McGill University publication.  He ran it by the other Wayne and myself, did some serious editing and came out with a good piece.  He said when it gets published he was putting it in his "Wayne is Great" folder.

What a brilliant idea.  I had never heard of it before.  Every one of us needs to keep an "I am Great" folder and add things we have accomplished that we can be proud of. All of us at times fail and we can get down on ourselves.  Our friends and family reassure us we are not hopeless failures (well, my friends anyhow; my family not so much - just kidding) but if we have a "I am Great" folder, we can look back and reassure ourselves that we CAN DO!!

And ask your family and friends or co-workers to suggest stuff to put in it.  We don't always remember what we have accomplished, being focused on the tasks remaining.  If it is written, put a copy in the folder; if it is something you have built, put a picture in along with details.  Figure out some way that is meaningful to you.

I know some of the things that are going in my "Al is Great" folder.  From times long past, it is likely to be just a list of things that I will add to as I remember.  For more recent accomplishments, it will be documents and pictures.

5 comments:

  1. Good for you, big guy!

    If I had a folder, it would say, "Bear is grate." As in grate on your sensors.

    It's 9°C in Saskatoon — sunny sky, everything melting. And the Canada Geese are back. We must be getting closer to spring.

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  2. Great? For me hard to say. I think of all the nasty materials that I've removed over the years would probably amount to a small mountain but that wouldn't really make it into a folder. Anyone could have done that with a little training. So for me nothing really great unless we're talking about volumes.

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    Replies
    1. This is stuff YOU are proud of, where YOU did a good job and know it. Purpose is to remind yourself later when you need to convince yourself that you are great. You don't have to convince anyone else, though you could do that too if you wanted.

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  3. I dunno. I think I could manage a "Wayne Is Great" folder, but I don't know about me. I have odd ways of recognizing what I might have done right: I forget I did them, and happen across them. I went to my niece's house and complimented her on a quilt she had, and it turns out I'd made it for her twenty years ago.

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    Replies
    1. Even when you are serious, you are funny. You do have a good eye for a well made quilt, then. Your entire blog could go in it. If people can publish collections of essays that are funny, you can too. Pick your best 100 blogs and go.

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