As soon as I read her new book, I just knew I had to partner with Susan again to bring this Great Group giant to you, dear reader. Not only is this book filled with incredible ideas to connect and raise strong leaders, but it also has cool Star Wars and Star Trek references woven throughout.
I'm feeling so grateful that Susan agreed to share one of my favorites,
Self-Twister, from her new leadership masterpiece.
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What the Group Game Twister Can Teach Us About Ourselves by Susan Ragsdale
Remember the game Twister? You spin an arrow and place a foot on a big green dot or a hand on a red one? Then, the next person goes, and the next one after them takes their turn. Before you know it, you and others are laughing, stretching, and trying not to fall down or knock each other over!
The game is chaos! And the game is also a great physical illustration of what happens when we encounter twists and turns in life.
Twister isn’t that far off from what happens in our thought life—minus perhaps the easy laughter aspect. Any of us can quickly get ourselves all bent out of shape and twisted up in knots. Swirling thoughts. Struggle. Conflict. Doubts. Nerves. Worry. Fret. Fears—real or imagined. The list continues.
You know what I mean. We entertain blame. We fuel anger. We call ourselves names. We beat ourselves up for not doing X. We berate ourselves for Y. We overthink or second-guess decisions about Z. The negative energy from the constant bombardment is overwhelming.
With each negative spin, we twist ourselves up even more. And we do this to ourselves!
Enter Self-Twister, one of the activities I created for Great Group Leaders: 60 Activities to Ignite Identity, Voice, Power, & Purpose. In the game are five sample scenarios with prescribed actions for each one. You ask your group to self-assesses and do the prescribed action if the statement is true for them. Here’s an example:
If anyone has ever struggled with making a decision, place your left hand on top of your head and keep it there.
After you’ve walked through the five scenarios, you have the group hold their Self-Twisted pose to really feel it and to consider their physical predicament. Then, “Look,” you say. “Look at what we’ve done to ourselves. This uncomfortable position is one of our making. It was our thoughts, our negative talk. We’re the creators of all that, no one else. That means WE can undo it. We can choose how to respond to triggers, struggles, and life around us. We have power, a loving, supportive power within us, to help us face life with grace and ease.”
The next step is to lead the group out of their self-twisted state. More statements are called out to see what practices participants have in their toolkit to negate life’s challenges and curve balls. For example:
Everyone who deliberately takes time for quiet or solitude, stop rocking.
The Self-Twister experience draws out that attitude, self-talk, and choice are ours to make. We have power. We can choose our responses. We can use the tools mentioned for SEL management. We can choose to cultivate self-compassion, kindness, grace, and a calm, balanced center.
I don’t know about you, but I face Self-Twister moments every day. Every. Single. Day. I’m human. Add in the global and community and cultural challenges brought on by 2020–21, mental health and emotional well-being are more important now than ever. We all need to practice and sharpen our skills for well-being. We all need grace and kindness.
One of my current practices that I learned from Diamond Dallas Page on his DDPY workout app is to announce aloud at the beginning of each day, “Great day! Great day! It’s going to be a great day.” I set my intention for that to happen. I choose. For some reason making that proclamation really helps me to combat icky morning emotions. I also meditate, work out, and build in time to create something (a new recipe, a blog, a game, a video for the Ragsdale and Saylor YouTube channel).
What about you? What helps you untangle from the twists and turns that can throw you for a loop? How are you taking care of yourself? What are your daily practices?
Author bio: Susan Ragsdale is the author of Great Group Leaders: 60 Activities to Ignite Identity, Voice, Power, & Purpose and co-author of eleven other titles, including best-seller Great Group Games: 175 Boredom-Busting, Zero-Prep Team Builders for All Ages. She is also a nationally recognized positive youth development specialist and the Founder/Managing Partner of Write Creations Group, LLC.
Through Write Creations Group, LLC (WCG), her team works to influence how educators, youth workers, and facilitators engage with youth and adults. They strongly believe how you craft the experience matters. Engaging others should be fun, experiential, relevant, and involve discovery. “Play, live, lead with purpose” is their mantra and guides all they do.
Facebook + Instagram: @WriteCreationsGroup * Twitter: @Write_Creations
YouTube: Ragsdale and Saylor
susan@WriteCreationsGroup.com * 615-262-9676
Love it! We just talked about negative self-talk in my Confident and Courageous group today; Self-Twister would have been a great activity to practice twisting and un-twisting!
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