You're Not Done Pulverizing Yet. Here's More.

Part II

I love the way Andrew Grant compares killing procrastination with elephant eating. After all, procrastination is the category 5 of “dragging your feet until they fall off” don’t wanna’s. According to Andrew, and I agree, it does not have to be difficult to beat this cloud that follows us around. (Ok, it follows me around too but I just didn’t want to be the only one out there.) Andrew continues with Part II:

Tip #4. Chunk it down. As someone once said, you can’t eat an elephant in one bite, but you can eat it, one bite at a time. So step 4 is to define those bites. In our example, Bite 1 is “go to the store”. Bite 2 is “buy the crates”. Bite 3 might be “clear the contents of the small area directly under the stairs, sorting it into the appropriate crates and throwing out what I no longer want” . Note down all the little bites on your goal map, but take care not to fall back into ‘pencil sharpening mode’ again and spend all night on your ‘Bite chart”.

Tip #5. Take the first bite. This is the toughest one of the lot. Get in the car, get down to store and buy those crates. It’s called taking action and is the stage where most people fall right down in their carefully mapped-out tracks.
Tell yourself that you’re only going to do this one thing, focus entirely on that and get it done.

Tip #6. Review and reward. Once you’ve done it, take a tiny break and review progress. When you get back from the store with your new crates, go back to your goal map, cross off Bite 1 and give yourself a little pat on the back.
You have taken action and you deserve recognition. Don’t get carried away, though; you’re not a Nobel prize winner yet.

Tip #7. Eat the rest. After your brief review and reward break, transfer your focus to Bite 2 and take some more action. Do it; review and reward again; then take Bite 3 and so on. Don’t worry, you won’t be constantly stopping and starting.

I guarantee that you’ll feel so good about yourself after two or three bites that you won’t want to stop and you’ll be so thrilled with progress that the whole job will be finished before you know it.
Try this seven step technique next time you are stuck in reverse and you’ll soon see that procrastination is a pathetically weak enemy, that you can beat with your eyes closed.

Hi, my name is Andrew Grant. I hope you enjoyed this article. If you would like to read more great articles on self improvement and making money online, I'd like to invite you to subscribe to my free newsletter, which you'll find at : http://www.money-and-mind.com/
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Write it down,

Carma

Paradoxical Commandment #10

I do want to apologize to you all if I caused you any unnecessary clicking by my absence. The important issue is I am going to post the final Paradoxical Commandment. Number Ten.

Give the world the best you have and you will get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.

This commandment sounds crazy. Who in their right mind would want to get kicked in the teeth more often than they do already? Are you a glutton for punishment?

Come to think about it, what kind of person does not give their best? Certainly not you, the writer, designer, parent, or business person. We all give our best and if we get kicked in the teeth are we willing to continue giving our best?

Why would anyone want to give their all just to be knocked down? Because the bottom line is, if you are not giving your best in this world what world are you saving it for? This is it guys, when you leave this world there are no more chances to “get it right”.

Recognition. I recently wrote this word down as something that I desire from my peers, family and community. But I am discovering that recognition and applause do not provide as much meaning as loving and helping others.

Yes appreciation is desired by all of us but a person who craves applause will focus on the applause instead of meeting the needs of others. Not everyone remembers to applaud so if you are depending on the whims of others, you will not be satisfied.

Anyway is a neat little book that delivers a big punch. Author Kent M. Keith is a prime example of how the paradoxical principles work. These principles were first written when Keith was a student at Harvard in the 1960’s. Since then, unbeknownst to him, they have been quoted, circulated and appropriated by countless people. When Keith learned that his Paradoxical Commandments had traveled the globe and had even been taped upon the walls of Mother Teresa’s children’s home in Calcutta, he was moved to put them in this modern credo for living well, being happy…and doing good anyway.

Write it down,
Carma

Paradoxical Commandment #8

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build Anyway.

I find this commandment difficult to take in because it is so harsh. Nothing lasts forever. However, I believe that this commandment speaks to the act of building for that is what brings joy and satisfaction. Consider the sand castle. What is more temporary than that? In one day your castle complete with moat and tower is melted away with a miniature tidal wave. You knew this would happen but you built it anyway. Why?

Perhaps you were building for the joy of creating something with your family or friends. Perhaps you were building memories.

Are you building your business to last forever? Have you thought about that? What kind of legacy are you building or will your business die when you do?

When you develop something of substance or value, whether it be an organization of people or a building made of stone and glass, it is the intangible things that will be remembered long after.

I think Kent Keith explains this commandment perfectly when he says:

“Of course, it is gratifying when what you have built last far into the future. But don’t forgo building just because it may not last. The joy and meaning that come with building will last. They will be yours forever.”

Write it down,

Carma

Plumbers Versus Writers

When I became a plumbing contractor I had no skills but I had knowledge. When I became a writer, I had skills but no knowledge. (Carma Dutra)

I have been a plumbing contractor for 25 years and I have been a writer for 6 months...professionally speaking that is. Following are some similarities between plumbing and writing.

Plumbers are specialists. Plumbers apprentice for numerous years before being recognized as a journeyman plumber. Plumbers are the health of the nation.

Writers are specialists and apprentice their craft by attending workshops and submitting oodles of proposals for a lot of years before being recognized and published.

Scores of plumbing contractors own their own business and service customers.

Countless writers own their business and work for clients.

What about image? Not all writers are as well known as Stephen King and the fickle public tends to discount you as a professional if you’re not on the top 10 sellers list.

You have heard about the infamous “Plumber’s crack” which is the image the world envisions when thinking of plumbers (thanks to the media)

The price that a writer or a plumber charges for their work is exorbitant if you believe the non-professional. There are numerous people who think a writer or a plumber can work for minimal wage?

In order to have work approved and accepted, plumbers submit their work to an inspector while a writer submits book proposals to editors in anticipation of approval and acceptance.

There are obvious differences. Plumbers have to crawl under houses; fight their way through cob webs, wrestle with black widows and bypass rats. They also clean roots and other paraphernalia from sewers and toilets. Their tools turn black and become crusted with gunk.

A writer does not need to undergo this type of “hands-on” experience. A stroke of the key board will suffice and replicate these experiences from the comfort of their home or office.

What’s it all about Alfie? Commitment, desire, pride, and work ethics. What other analogies can you come up with? Are you committed to yourself?

Over at http://www.bloggrrl.com/ Michelle Cepeda has a great analogy. She had me laughing.

Write it down,

Carma