Motivational Monday: Greatness.

Posted on January 25, 2015January 25, 2015 by Aaron Garth

Greatness in something small.

In youth work we are going through our own adolescent storm and stress. We are pushing to have the prestige that comes with the title ‘profession‘. We are storming against other professions, within our own industry and with our colleagues. We are all aware of how great the step towards professionalising is, and what it will mean for individuals and our sector. For many though it is like building a new skyscraper or cruise ship… A great feat, that will take a long time. In Australia there has been active initiatives towards building a professional association of youth workers since the 1970’s.

[Tweet “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. Napolean Hill”]

The sad fact of humanity is that we are not all destined for greatness. We will not all become a Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr or Gandhi or Mother Theresa. We more often than not are destined to plod through life doing the boring, unsexy stuff of the daily slog. It is this boring slog that many of our colleagues struggle with. It is one of the reasons people leave our industry. It is not all mountain top experiences. It is most often time in the valley doing small things.

Do great things

Our character, when we are faced with the small things, is what most people will judge our profession and our people on. If we react with disdain and neglect to those small things our funding bodies and the public will continue to crucify youth workers in the media. Auditors will continue to give us poor reviews. Students will stop choosing youth work courses and eventually youth work will fade away. If however we choose to do the small things in great ways then our profession and our individual practice will be marked with greatness.

The average community worker is spending around 60% of their time doing paperwork. Imagine how much more effective we could be if we did our paperwork in half the time with twice the professionalism. Greatness. Imagine if we spent less time dealing with bureaucracy and more time dealing with people. Greatness. Imagine if we dealt with a persons needs not just what we could do in their episode of care. Greatness! Imagine if we cleaned the office toilet with gusto instead of hoping the cleaner would do it. Greatness.

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. Napolean Hill

Aaron Garth

Aaron Garth is the Executive Director of Ultimate Youth Worker. Aaron has worked as a youth worker in a number of settings including local church, street drug and alcohol outreach, family services, residential care, local government and youth homelessness since 2003. Aaron is a regular speaker at camps, retreats, & youth work training events and is a dedicated to seeing a more professional youth sector in Australia. Aaron is a graduate of RMIT University and an alumnus of their youth work program. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Jennifer & their daughters Hope, Zoe, Esther, Niamh and son Ezra.

Motivational Monday: Walk away!

Posted on January 19, 2015January 19, 2015 by Aaron Garth

Walk away from anything or anyone who takes away from your joy. Life is too short to put up with fools- Unknown

My career as a youth worker has always pushed the boundaries. Whether it was pushing social workers in family services work to listen to the voice of the young people in the clientele or getting local government youth services to use more social media I have always pushed for the next evolution in working with young people. I have also pushed the boundaries with other youth workers. Asking them to be more and do more than they ever thought they were able to do. I have asked them to be more professional, more qualified and advocate more for their profession. In all of this I have never asked anyone to do more than I would ask of myself. I take immense joy from developing myself, others and the youth sector!

[Tweet “When you get people pushing you to do the status quo, walk away.”]

However, whenever change is sought people like to try to drag you back to the status quo. Walk away! They like to take your joy and squash it. Walk away! Whether it is people telling you that you can’t do something because it hasn’t been done before or perhaps they say that you wanting to be better is some sort of patriarchal step towards the abyss. I remember speaking at a conference and being told that no one could be an Ultimate Youth Worker in the current political climate so why even try? At a meeting of those who want to see a professional association of youth workers I was told that we could only become a functioning group by having a monopoly from one university with one focus on youth provision. It is times like these that really take away from my joy.

In youth work there are times when we have our joy attacked. Unfortunately it is usually by the people who should be our biggest supporters. When you get people pushing you to do the status quo, people who harsh your buzz, people who want to steal your joy… walk away. Life is too short!

Aaron Garth

Welcome to 2015 and a few of our goals

Posted on January 5, 2015January 5, 2015 by Aaron Garth

Welcome to 2015! Woo Hoo. Well 2014 throughout Australia and indeed the world saw youth work under the pump. In Australia we saw funding and service provision cuts to deplorable standards making many youth workers question if they are in the right industry. In the UK we saw the Early Day Motion 488 and the debate on statutory youth services funding come to the fore. In the US the debate of where youth work fits in informal education versus standard education is still bubbling away with not much in the way of resolution in sight. These are just a few of the issues which are happening the world over. 2014 was hard.

2015 brings with it some hope. In Victoria where we are based a new state government has come to power which historically has supported youth work and young people. At Ultimate Youth Worker we are seeing a real collegiate push from academia to cement youth work as a profession coming not just in the form of a few journal articles but clear steps of sustainable development. We are also seeing more qualified and passionate youth workers coming into the sector who are willing and able to challenge the status quo than we have seen in years. These are truly exciting times to be a youth worker.

2015 is going to be an interesting year for Ultimate Youth Worker as well. We will continue to provide our supervision service and our Employee Assistance Program as we have for the last two years. We will continue our blog posts however it looks like we might be doing it a little less frequently. Our podcast which has been an on again off again project will relaunch in March. We are also composing some training videos which we hope to have on the website and on youtube for you all to use as you want. We are also looking at opportunities to provide more online training opportunities including webinars for you to access affordable training. We are currently looking to provide direct service to young people in 2015 through some tender opportunities which have come up. Finally, we will be providing a course in basic drug and alcohol for anyone who wants to productively help young people work through their struggles.

If there is any way we can support you personally or perhaps your organisation contact us to discuss what we can do for you. We wish you a bumper 2015 and a year of care and continuing success.