Valary with a WHY

Gameful Experiences | Deliberate Creativity | Engaging Experiences

[valarywithawhy]

"A failure is not always a mistake. It may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying." ~ B.F. Skinner

[valarywithawhy]

At the end of each year I give away some free resources from the work I do around creative thinking, gameful experiences, learner engagement, etc. I know that this year has brought a great number of challenges to many of us, and while I can't address them all, I do have a workshop called Pack up 2025 and Unbox 2026 that I think you might enjoy. A related program, also based on The BOX Experience, was called "a spa treatment for your brain" by a previous attendee. If this type of reflective journey sounds like something that would benefit you, please use the link below to sign up for one of the sessions. It is a free session. No strings attached. Just a chance for us and others to connect.

These sessions will take you through a proven process of unpacking your current thinking and help you make some decisions and commitments to set you up for less stress and more success in 2026. These sessions will not be recorded, they are intended to let you spend some time with others in a low stress environment where you can hear yourself think, reflect, and unwrap a gift to your future self.

I have some openings left if anyone is interested in joining the session. The remaining times are

December 18, 9:00am – 10:30am ET December 29, 3:30pm – 5:00pm ET December 30, 11:00am – 12:30pm ET

Message me with the date/time you want and your preferred email and I will send you a link to join.

[valarywithawhy]

History remembers the bold.Alexander the Great, Marie Curie and Neil Armstrong are all remembered for their audacity, discoveries and explor

Happy birthday Miss Claudette and thank you. I'm glad that some people are learning your name. Nine months before Rosa Parks there was Claudette Colvin.

If you happen to be in NOLA, you can ride the bus for free today.

[cealtrachs]

tagged by the wonderful @medievalanchoress for four non-selfie photos 🩷

tagging @platoapproved @friarfag @lesbianbreadwhore @trailerparkvampire @deltaslims @capvenusruled @wetcarcass @sharbat-porteghal @cola-fiend @leaf-lady @hemicynes @futchfuck @oakpinejuniper (and whoever would like to take part!)

[sharbat-porteghal]

Thrilled to be tagged by @cealtrachs for four non-selfie photos :)

Tagging @vulcanette @west150 @climbhighsleeplow @sleepyselkiesiren @reeeseyb @welldigger62 @argylegrows @onlyforplants @cocao-and-a-girl @1800free @muslimahsstuff @ivorywirepearls

And everyone who would like to join in.

[argylegrows-deactivated20260419]

How lovely, thanks for the tag @sharbat-porteghal! A set from my recent roll…

Lowkey tags for @misadventured-piteous-overthrows @apatosaurus @tomorrowsgardennc and anyone who wants to play 📷

[apatosaurus]

Four non-selfie photos from our recent vacation.

Tagging @cattyfantastic @shortladyleggers @painedbrain @brostateexam @heyhope

[cattyfantastic]

Four non-selfie pics:

Thanks, @apatosaurus! Tagging @ohhelloholly , @remindingpersephone, @valarywithawhy, @causticgrip and @cloudyasometimes.

[valarywithawhy]

Four non-selfies ... with background music courtesy of 4 Non Blondes lol

[civanticism]

The world fills up with what we put into it

[valarywithawhy]

Most snow NOLA has seen since 1895. No, that is not a typo. NOLA once again rocking the 100 year weather event.

[valarywithawhy]

Just reflecting on a weird anniversary. Time, how does it work. How has it been 25 years since mom's accident.

[valarywithawhy]

Coffee chat and wisdom NOLA style. Love yo self

[valarywithawhy]

It's ok to not be ok. Sometimes you have to break a little so you don't break a lot. That is not expert advice, just my experience.

[valarywithawhy]

"Failing is an active verb; it's progress. Failing is the process of growing, learning, improving, and embracing possibilities!" ~ Alex Weber, Fail Proof: Become the Unstoppable You

[valarywithawhy]

15 minute meetings for the win. Actually it was only 13 or 14. The point is that we get so stuck in punch-clock-factory-style scheduling of business and training things.

The "seat hours" is so out of date and out of touch but I know most institutions aren't ready for that conversation. When we focus on outcomes and actually getting things done, there will be more time to actually get things done.

As the writer, Claire Keegan, said of prose: "I think something needs to be as long as it needs to be."

[valarywithawhy]

"Failure is success in progress." Albert Einstein

[valarywithawhy]

Lots of people making goals here at the start of the year. Sadly, many will abandon their goals in short order, in part because they didn't set themselves up to stay motivated and engaged. Yes, those are different, but we'll talk about that another time.

First, aside from the old, make SMART goals suggestion, one thing people miss is how they will move toward the goal and track their progress. Things in the future are amorphous and abstract and hard for the brain to focus on. But shorter, milestones are more achievable and tracking your progress can lead to greater results. One of my oft-used phrases in discussions about gamification is "Make Progress Visible." It's each to get distracted, or off course, or discouraged. But when you have a path that you can see you have traveled, and clear markers ahead, it is much easier to find your way.

Getting to a goal is a journey. Give your goals a GPS to follow and a memory album to look back on.

Photo by Ronnie Overgoor on Unsplash

[valarywithawhy]

Going through some notes today for an upcoming conference session called Failure: It's a Feature, Not a Bug. Years ago I was at another conference as several of us were talking about gamification and included content about normalizing and reframing failure and such. One Dutch attendee I spoke with later laughed at how Americans had an issue with failure. He said something to the effect of "we just expect it."

Another friend in Spain frequently uses the acronym FAIL as First Attempt In Learning. In my notes I had been exploring other ways to use the letters to build positive views of failure, such as Forward Isn't Always Linear. I had, of course, come up with some negative ones too: F#@K, I'm a Loser.

I'll stick with the positive ones. And yes, the shortest distance isn't always a straight line. Especially when learning new things or making changes. Sometimes you have to step back or take a detour or try a different approach. These may not look like progress, but often are.

Photo by Ian Kim on Unsplash

[valarywithawhy]

"I was index worthy!" I don't know why this meant so much. I mean, I was shocked that something I said ended up in the book at all, but for enough words to have made it in for me to be mentioned on multiple pages. Gobsmacked!

Failure may tell us that something went wrong and that we need to try something else, but Rob Hatch, a long-time business coach, explores using our past successes to help us with the how to move forward part. We often already have the answer to what will work, because we have done it before and just don't realize it.

If you want to check it out, here's a linky thing to take you there.

[valarywithawhy]

Portrait of an artist as a not so young man, New Orleans

[valarywithawhy]

Homage to Miro, New Orleans