Banish the word struggle from your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
Hopi Elder
Shelley doesn’t believe me, but I used to be a procrastinator par excellence. That’s before I learned how to break things down. I was taking a two-day workshop on Getting Things Done by David Allen. (I have known David for over 30 years and he has written a bestselling book by the same name). Despite David’s clear and enormously entertaining presentation my head was spinning at all the things I now had to do to get my head clear. I was getting a little spaced out on his lecturette on project management. Somehow my ears tuned to his last words of the lecture, and the workshop, “Even a project for a journey to Mars begins with, ‘Call Fred.’”
The light came on. I wasn’t a great manager or a whiz with technology but knew how to “call Fred.” It then seemed that every few weeks I would read a great article explaining how to break things down into manageable amounts and if it is still unmanageable break it down even further. Even learning Tai Chi Chuan my Internal Boxing instructor, Bob Engel, a former special education teacher, was meticulous about breaking things down for me so I could grasp the moves. Overwhelm ceased. It was all a matter of breaking things down.
That led to Life Design Principle # 5 which states:
There is a simple next step to everything, and
that simple step can always be taken in a relaxed way
Whenever I am taken by a feeling of overwhelm, resistance, a voice telling me it can’t be done, or procrastination, I go over the principle in my head, sometimes several times, sit still with what needs to be done until I get the simple next step, and then do it—in an as relaxed way as I can.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Another great post. Although...
Paul told me this key many months ago but I didn't find that it alone could move me to actually DO anything. The idea of a simple next step, broken down into small pieces, done in a relaxed, untense, way, made and makes perfect sense. But knowing that intellectually didn't ever get me going. I wonder if that's true for others too.
It wasn't until I "got" what a small task was (2 days ago from watching Mike do it), how tiny it could be, and what a relief it makes in my relationship to my project, that I could move physically on the tasks involved. I don't know why.
I did the small task again today and look forward to another tomorrow. That sure does feel celebratory.
Sage and practical advice - the best kind.
I like your blog already.
Give me Fred's number when you get a chance. :-)
Thank you for coming by, Mark.
I'm looking for Fred myself.
There was a prior step that David didn't give!
Post a Comment