Skip to content

Showing up and sticking with it

Lean in.

David Gane
David Gane
— 1 min read

I've taught for over ten years, and the one indicator of whether a student will succeed in the class is whether they keep showing up.

If they get a low mark, they reach out to me and ask questions. If I have office hours, they attend regularly—and then apply the advice I offer to their following script.

It may seem obvious, but when we screw up in a class or miss a deadline, we sometimes make the worst choice: retreat and avoid the teacher.

Maybe it's fear, frustration, or something more complex—but it rarely helps.

Instead, lean into the trouble. Ask for help. Ask more questions. Figure out what is going on and try to fix it. Try it again and again. But most importantly, never run away.

Showing up and sticking with it is the quickest way to improve.

Blog
David Gane

David Gane Twitter

Co-writer of the Shepherd and Wolfe young adult mysteries, the internationally award-winning series, and teacher of storytelling and screenwriting.

Comments

Related Posts

Happiness and pain

When asked what they want, people often say they want happiness or pleasure. However, in Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman argues that people are loss-averse, meaning they are more likely to act to avert a loss than to achieve a gain. This finding means we are more likely to

Fast Fiction

Before writing the daily blog, I had been experimenting with fast fiction—fiction that was written and shared quickly. The first time was during the summer of 2021 when I wrote a new story every day for 31 days. I then tried to do it once a week for a

Mistakes happen

Yesterday's newsletter didn't go to the right group, so I had to resend it tonight. It may even come out after I'm finished with this blog post. I finished it early yesterday, did several edits, then had my wife read it before I sent it. Yet, it still failed—but