Freedom from Personal Tyranny

Posted under Motivational

 

Boy, this is probably one of the boringest 4ths I’ve ever had. My daughter is gone this week. I had to work 9 hours today. I was too tired to go out to watch fireworks, plus it’s kinda cool and the mosquitoes are bad.

 

There’s a big tree that blocks the view of many of the fireworks going on across the lake, but I can see some. The dog is barking incessantly. A couple of people are out on their boats. I would go down to the water but, it’s kinda cool and the mosquitoes are bad. Plus, you can’t walk on my lawn in the dark because the geese have trashed it again. Endangered species my foot. Yeah, they’re going to be endangered because I’m going to go ballistic with 32 of them pooping in my yard! I’m sorry, I just wasn’t up to cleaning it up tonight.

 

Plus, at work we did over half the day’s business in the last 2 hours. At least I’ve secured my spot as top salesperson again – no one can touch me. And I’m not working Saturday – the biggest sales day.

 

Yep, it’s been one of those kind of days. My goose is cooked. Burned.

 

But I can go to bed and say that I’ve done the best I could today. And that’s the most that anyone can expect from themselves.

 

If you’ve given the day your all, and you haven’t accomplished all you set out to do – quit beating yourself up! Sometimes we’re our own worst enemies.

 

There’s a legal principle called Robert’s Rule of Reason. The principle is basically establishing a reasonable expectation. I relied on Robert’s Rule of Reason a lot when I worked in legal and regulatory. I think it’s sorely lacking in many fields these days, but that’s a whole different subject.

 

The whole premise is what a reasonably intelligent person can reasonably expect. I don’t remember the exact terminology anymore, but you get the idea.

 

You’re obviously reasonably intelligent or you wouldn’t be reading this blog. So, if you were to apply Robert’s Rule of Reason to your life, what could you reasonably expect to finish in a day?

 

Even if you spent the day at an amusement park. You come home all dirty and tired. Do you expect yourself to clean the house that night?

 

Sometimes we just need freedom from our own tyranny.

 

Forgive yourself and get some sleep. That’s what I’m going to do. Tomorrow is another great day.

Carole

a.k.a. – ‘Mother’

 

Claiming Your Personal Freedom

Posted under Misc. Thoughts, Motivational

 

We talk a lot about freedom We fight for freedom. We wish for freedom – Yet most people choose to be slaves.

 

What do I mean?

 

People are slaves to commercial foods that taste bad and make you fat and sick.

 

People are slaves to dieting

 

They are slaves to the prescription drugs that maintain your life in one way or another

 

They are slaves to daily overload

 

Slaves to TV

 

Slaves to what other people think

 

Slaves to always wanting more – never enough

 

Slaves to the cell phone

 

Since this is Independence Day weekend – isn’t it a good time to break free?

 

Let’s take a couple baby steps.

 

1. If you’re talking to someone – whether it be a friend or a sales clerk, if the cell phone rings – let it go to voice mail. Do you really need to be connected 24/7? Besides, it’s incredibly rude. I don’t even give my cell phone number out. I’m home enough. You can call me there. If I’m not there, I’m busy. I’ll call you later. Try it. It’s very freeing.

 

2. It’s summer. Get your butt outside! Turn off that TV and go live life. There’s a bajillion things to do. Spoken like a real mother, ey?

 

That’s enough for now. Don’t want to send you into shock.

 

Watch for Part 2…

Doing all you can

Posted under Misc. Thoughts, Motivational

 

I was going through the old posts and stumbled across this one >>>

6 months later, it’s more relevant than ever.

A little food for thought…

Carole

a.k.a. – ‘Mother’

 

 

 

How to Accomplish Anything

Posted under Motivational

 

What’s your form of self-sabotage?

 

Everyone’s got one.

 

For most people, it’s just getting started. Pretty hard to finish anything if you can’t even get started, isn’t it?

 

There’s a million things that keeps people from getting started on a project.

 

The biggest claim is ‘no time’.

 

If you have a couple hours to spend in front of the TV, or your computer screen surfing – you’ve got time.

 

If you spend time at the bar – you’ve got time.

 

The real culprit in these cases is either – You don’t really want to do it, or you’re afraid of failure – so if you don’t start, you can’t fail.

 

But my form is much harder to break.

 

I’ll not only get started, but I’ll work like gangbusters… until…

 

I get so burned out that I can’t finish.

 

Whatever the cause of your self-sabotage is – there is a way to beat it.

 

First, break the project down into a series of small, easy to accomplish tasks.

 

Say I wanted to plant flowers in my out door pots.

 

I would need to remove the old dead stuff.

 

I would need to buy fresh dirt, and the flowers.

 

I would need to plant them.

 

If I wait until I have a day when I have time to squeeze in all 3 of those tasks – it might never happen. But, if I do one little task a day – it will be done without breaking a sweat.

 

See how that works?

 

Put a couple of easy to accomplish tasks on your daily ‘to-do’ list. You are using a daily ‘to-do’ list to keep yourself on track, aren’t you?

 

If you’ve made your tasks reasonably easy ones, don’t allow yourself to watch TV or go to bed until they’re done. If you’ve made the tasks too hard, this approach won’t work. They key to success here is to make them so simple that you have no excuse.

 

Oh, I hear you saying – “If I do just 5 or 10 minutes a day, I’ll never get it done!”

 

Yeah? Tell me how much you’re getting done on it now. If you spend 10 minutes a day over the next week, you’ll have put in 70 minutes. Probably more because once you actually get started, you tend to keep going. Or you can still be sitting here with your project not started at all.

 

Use your minutes wisely!

 

Carole

.a.k.a. – ‘Mother’

Could you use a Whole Life Overhaul?

How to Accomplish Anything

Posted under Motivational

 

I’m in the final stages of a major project. But it’s the final stages that are the most overwhelming. I know what I need to do – but there’s so many things I need to do. How on earth will I ever get this all done?

 

Are you like me? Do you have a dream that you’ve been puttering with for years, but you’ve never really seemed to put much of a dent in it?

 

Are you frustrated and feeling like it will never happen?

 

Don’t give up. The work that you’ve been doing has been quietly laying the foundation. You’re farther along than you think.

 

You see, many of us are striving for a dream, but we don’t really know what the outcome looks like. We’ve never seen or experienced it. We know in vague terms what we want to accomplish, but we don’t really know what the final outcome should look like. How could you?

 

As you study and try different things, you learn what works for you, and what doesn’t. You start putting pieces together, and you make mistakes. Lord knows I’ve made thousands.

 

And then suddenly - one day you can see the big picture…

 

And how much work it’s going to be.

 

It’s at this point that most people run.

 

It’s overwhelming. It’s scary. What if you can’t do it? What if it all falls apart? Fears circle like vultures.

 

OK, Get A Grip!

 

Figure out what you need to do.

 

Break it down into small chunks that you can do daily.

 

Now figure out how long it should reasonable take you to finish this, and double it. If you think you should be able to finish this work, working a little bit everyday, in 30 days, make it 60 days. That will give you a little comfort zone and reduce your stress a little.

 

Mark that date on your calendar. Mine is August 1.

 

Write that date down on a piece of paper or post it note and put it on your desk where you can see it every day.

 

Have a to-do list every day with at least one task, preferably 3. Some life coaches will tell you to have 5 or 6 tasks on your list. But the key is to make sure that it’s work that you can reasonably expect to be able to get done.  I really mean to make those tasks small enough that you can’t make excuses for not getting them done. I think 3 is perfect, and then if you can accomplish more on any give day – go for it. Some days you will. I think you’ll find a commitment of 3 is plenty to try to fit in to your already busy life. It’s got to be a plan you can stick with and see it through.

 

If you don’t happen to get a task done, make sure it’s top of the list for tomorrow.

 

Do this religiously every day.

 

If you are truly committed – you can do it. Don’t keep making excuses – make your plan and stick to it – no matter how afraid you feel.

 

How do you eat an elephant?

 

One bite at a time.