“Like success, failure is many things to many people. With positive mental attitude, failure is a learning experience, a rung on the ladder, and a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order to prepare to try again.”
W. Clement Stone

We have an English saying that goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again”.

This reminds me that we can fail, but we are not failures! And that each failure brings us one step closer to success.

We just need perseverance, persistence and patience!

“In the word question, there is a beautiful word – quest. I love that word.”
Elie Weisel, Romanian-born American writer, professor and political activist

A quest is “a long search for something that is difficult to find or an attempt to achieve something difficult”, according to the Cambridge Dictionary. Or it’s “a journey made in search of something”, according to Merriam-Webster.

Some of the questions I ask in my “Colourful Conversations” group send participants on a quest or inner journey to find the answers. And discussing with others does not only increase conversational skills, it can also help us get a clearer perspective on what it is that we truly care about.

Questions like:
When was the last time you thought, “I really did that well?”
What new habits do I want to form and reinforce?
If you were to try something new and daring, what would it be?
Where do you feel most at home?

It’s amazing to see where the answers take us!

Why do I send out my Sparks to you from Monday to Friday?

It’s because I believe, if you want to improve, you need to do something on a regular basis. You need to be consistent.

And my Sparks are there to remind you to do something in English every single day. That’s if you really want to grow your language skills.

What else can help us to stick to a routine? Especially if we’re finding it difficult to be consistent.

We can print out one of these free printable calendars. And every time we do something (write a few lines in our diary, for example), or we don’t do something (not had any sugar all day, for example), we place a big cross over the day we achieved what we wanted to achieve.

The idea is not to break the chain. Because we know that doing something consistently is more important than going all-out once a week or so.

As the saying goes, “Slowly but surely wins the race”.

RhymeZone is a rhyming dictionary and thesaurus that can help us look for rhymes, synonyms, antonyms and so much more.

Let me start with an example.

I wrote the word “conversation” in the little box provided, clicked on “Find rhymes” and then on the “Search” button—and a long list of rhyming words appeared on my screen.

Words like: nation, station, carnation, creation, frustration, celebration, abbreviation, acclimatisation, antidiscrimination, institutionalisation, philosophy of education, international organisation, original video animation, american medical association, and so on.

I then activated the “Find lyrics and poems” button, and this time a long list of lyrics and poems appeared.

One example I liked was from “Day of the Locusts” by Bob Dylan:

“Oh, the benches were stained with tears and perspiration,
The birdies were flying from tree to tree.
There was little to say, there was no conversation
As I stepped to the stage to pick up my degree.”

I have no idea if this tool can help you in any way. If you write your own poems or lyrics, it might.

But you might just like to add a word yourself and see what you come up with. There’s a lot to explore.

I had a lot of fun. I think you might, too!

I love this definition of marketing from Derek Sivers:

“Don’t confuse the word “marketing” with advertising, announcing, spamming, or giving away branded crap.

Really, “marketing” just means being considerate.

Marketing means making it easy for people to notice you, relate to you, remember you, and tell their friends about you.

Marketing means listening for what people need, and creating something surprisingly tailored for them.

Marketing means getting to know people, making a deeper connection, and keeping in touch.”

Something to ponder on!

I’ve tried before, but it’s never really worked for me.

But I have this thing about notebooks. I have several. Somehow those blank, unscribbled-on pages make me want to write on them. Do you know the feeling?

In the photo you can see my latest book. It was given to me as a Christmas present. And it’s already in use!

I’ve started collecting quotations and snippets of text. But only when I find something worth saving.

Dan Pink uses a book to write a night line. While Austin Kleon uses one as a commonplace book for quotations he reads or lines he hears.

What about you? Do you love notebooks, too? And if so, what do you use them for?