Doing Things We Dread

As I sit here in front of the computer I am breaking through on something that I have been tolerating for weeks now? actually sitting down to write this newsletter. I wasn't blocked for ideas - I had a list of them. I simply couldn't (yea right? wouldn't) sit down and put my thoughts on paper. The irony, of course is that I coach people through these very same issues and my clients have great success. Ohhhh coach heal thyself! Well the breakthrough came the other night when I was using a wonderful miracle of modern technology? The George Forman Grill! Let me explain.



I love to cook. It is an amazing creative experience for me? and let me give you some advice? remember presentation is everything. A meal can go from fair to fantastic simply by arranging the food on the plate? you sort of fool people into thinking it is actually better than it is? the French have known this for years. But I digress?



So I was in the mood to make a nice meal but didn't want to go to a lot of trouble. Enter the GF Grill. Its very fast and the food turns out great. BUT I HATE TO CLEAN IT. Trust me, it is NOT hard to clean, but it is one of those things that I dread. After previous uses I have let it sit there unclean for a full day simply because I "didn't wanna!" This time it was different, however. After the meal, I simply got up, did the dishes quickly and then took the 4 ½ minutes it actually takes to clean the grill so it can be put away. As I was doing this I realized that I wasn't dreading it. What was that about? I usually piss and moan about it and work myself up into a frenzy. Then I realized what was different. I didn't think about it I just did it. I knew I didn't want to wake up to a filthy kitchen, I knew it would take all of 5 minutes to do? and I did it. I was actually grateful that I had used such a simple machine and was so happy when it was all done. Perspective. I had wasted so much energy with the dread of the action that the cost of not doing it was 10 times more expensive than the 5 minutes of the unpleasantness - which, by the way was nowhere near as unpleasant as I was making it in my head.



From this lesson I today now sit down and write my newsletter. I was dreading the time it would take; would it be good; all the what if's; all the mind games; the I CAN'Ts; all that crap. Instead? it is simple? I will or I won't. My choice. (By the way? this newsletter took about 25 minutes to write? hmmm? much less than I imagined!)



A Call to Action and a How to.



1) Realize how much energy avoiding things we "don't wanna" do is costing us energetically.



2) Realize that these things almost always seem bigger in our headsw than they actually are.



3) Switch from victim mode: go from "I Can't" to "I Choose Not to." As Yoda from Star Wars says? "Do or do not. There is no try!"



4) Eat That Frog. There is a book on over coming procrastination called "Eat That Frog." A premise of this book comes from the old saying, if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that it is the worst thing you'll probably do all day. Identify the important tasks that you are dreading and just do them? right off? first thing in the morning and look forward to the freedom you will experience the rest of the day.



5) Make your 'To Do' list specific. Vague goals engender anxiety and feel big and overwhelming. Make them specific and measurable. For example "Organize my life" vs. "Spend 20 minutes every morning sorting and filing the papers on my desk." See the difference.



6) Categorize your to-do's by the resistence factor. Separate them into one of 4 categories; a) have to do / Want to do; b) Have to do / Don't want to do; c) Don't have to do / Want to do; and d) Don't have to do / Don't want to do. Do your tasks in this order: b,a,c.



7) To change your attitude, change your perception. Make a game of it. Create a chart and put up gold stars for every item you complete. Feel good. Play. Is it all REALLY THAT important?



8) Get support. A friend, a coach, a group. Don't face things you dread alone.



9) Be kind to yourself. One step and one thing at a time. It doesn't all have to get done at once.



10) Celebrate. For each accomplishment - no matter how small - celebrate. Plan it beforehand and make it great!!



So what things have you been dreading that you will now choose to take care of? Go ahead. Eat that frog. I dare you to do one thing? just one. Right now. It will feel great.


Go get 'em, Tiger!


by Roger DeWitt & Life Artistry

Time Mastery vs. Time Management - Knowing the Difference

How much time do you spend on Mastering Your Time? I don't mean managing time. There is quite a difference between managing and mastering your use of time. The goal of managing your time is to be more efficient, to squeeze more productivity out of your day. There are a lot of benefits to being a good time manager, especially in a rushed and frenetically paced culture. 

The goal of mastering your time, however, is to live better, to savor your time?. which is just another word for your Life. 

If you accept that your time is non-renewable, precious, then it makes sense to take this most valuable personal resource seriously, and devote to it the attention it deserves. Look at Time Mastery as a way of actually lightening your load - even if it paradoxically takes a little bit of time to lighten up.

Here's one approach to Mastery: Each morning, use some time to plan your time. That is, picture your day - what you want to accomplish, what things are urgent and what things can wait, what preparations it would be useful to make, and a high priority is to focus on what pleasures you are anticipating. Those events and activities that emerge from this review which are most important go into your scheduler first, and everything else must fit around them. That way, as you move through your day, you'll know what can be relegated to low priority; you'll know what requests to honor and which to refuse. 

By spending a very few minutes in focused concentration each morning, you can prevent the tendency we all have to allow our time to be appropriated by others. Once you know what is necessary and desirable for now, it is easier to recognize the un-necessary and un-desirable, then eliminate the drip drip drip that adds up to an erosion of your non-renewable day. 

In short, using those few minutes in the morning to get clear is a small investment that helps you throughout the day to avoid the lost moments here and there that add up to a great chunk of time - your life. Even better, a little planning helps you focus on making sure every day includes something to savor.



By Judith Schwader

Living Life In A Time Starved World

Recently I saw an advertisement for a time management booklet: "Shorter deadlines, competing priorities, endless meetings, interruptions and even higher quality expectations are just some of today's time challenges. And yet the number of hours in the day remains the same."

As entrepreneurs we all struggle sometimes with managing our time effectively. I once heard an entrepreneur say that of the people he knows, his entrepreneur friends are the worst people when it comes to managing their time and priorities. Too often we fall prey to the misguided notion that being busy is the same as making progress.

There are many areas involved in effective time management:

? your attitude

? goal setting

? setting priorities

? planning

? scheduling

? analyzing your progress

? dealing with interruptions

? meetings

? paperwork

? delegation of tasks

? taming procrastination

? time teamwork

KEY PRINCIPLES

Here are some key principles I have found to help me manage my time more effectively:

1. Good habits are the key to good time management.

The essence of good time management is creating good habits. A good habit to develop is to focus on results. Setting goals and striving to reach them must become a habit. Before your next meeting, think to yourself-what is my goal in doing this or meeting with this person? What specific results would I like to see come from my time? You must learn to place a high value on your time. There are a million things, advertisements, books, media events and people vying for it. You must distinguish between what and who is important and what or who is not. This might sound a little harsh at first, but focusing on results in developing your habits will help you focus yourself and your time.

2. Good habits start with setting goals.

There are several points to remember when setting good goals.

First is to write your goals down. Studies have shown that you are much more likely to accomplish your goals if they are committed to paper. As someone once said, "A short pencil is better than a long memory."

A second point is to break down your goals into three categories: short, intermediate and long term. I would advocate that you should have a separate list for your personal, professional and life goals. The personal goal list would cover areas like: personal relationships, use of free time, personal growth activities, reading up on a particular topic, taking continuing education classes or seminars, etc. Your professional goal list should be clearly focused on building your business, increasing revenues, cutting costs, strategic planning, marketing, employee management, creating partnerships and meeting beneficial business contacts. Your life goals would cover the broader picture of what you want to accomplish in life and what who you want to be remembered for.

3. Pursuing specific goals is the key to reaching success.

Setting good goals requires some planning and concentrated effort. Far too many entrepreneur have good intentions for their business, but lack goals that are specific enough to help them achieve success. Most entrepreneurs who fail to reach their goals do so because they fail to make specific, or S.M.A.R.T. goals.

S.M.A.R.T. goals are:

Specific. Your goal should be as detailed as possible. For example, "I will call all new prospective clients I met at the last networking event by this Wednesday at noon." "I will take a vacation at least three weeks this next year."

Measurable. Good goals allow you to quantify your efforts. "My company will increase top line sales to repeat customers by 2% this quarter by determining what their current needs are and developing a service to meet their needs before anyone else does. We will do this by surveying each of them and following up with a personalized phone call to clarify their answers."

Achievable. It is good to set your goals high, but not impossibly high. "I will meet three new venture capitalists this month and begin building a relationship with them with the purpose of seeking funding from them in the next six months." "I will re-write the three primary sections of my website by this next month to better reflect who my new targeted customer is and to help them find the solutions they are looking for more quickly on my site."

Result-oriented. In order for your goals to be SMART, they must focus on what you DO want, not what you do NOT want. For example, a goal of "I do not want to fail in my business" focuses on what you do NOT want. An example of a SMART goal is, "I will increase my passive income by 15% this year by writing a "How To" manual on "10 Steps to Small Business Forward Financial Planning" and sell it on a website for $89.99."

Time-limited. Put a specific time limit on your goals and have someone hold you accountable for reaching that goal. "I will finish researching my marketing strategy within the next six weeks and then spend two hours a day for three weeks until I finish developing my customized marketing plan."

QUESTIONS TO ASK

Every one of us has 168 hours in a week. How we spend our time and prioritize our life says a lot about how successful we will be personally and professionally. There are many things that compete for our time: finances, future plans, family, fun, friends, present goals, pressing projects and pushy people. I heard someone once say, if you don't control your time someone else will.

When thinking about how to successfully manage your time, here are a couple questions to ask yourself:

? Do I have specific things I want to accomplish each day?

? What percent of the time do I meet my daily goals?

? What specific things do I do to manage my time successfully?

? What are the priorities in my life?

? Does my schedule reflect those priorities?

? How successful do you feel in managing your time effectively?

By Stephen Fairley, M.A., RCC

The Ultimate Time Management Tips: 5 Steps To Reaching Your Goals With Minimum Work

Would you like to know how to get 10 times more done in a day than most people do in a week, with less work?

Then listen closely. You're about to discover the ONE time management and productivity secret that really works.

This little technique is the ONLY thing you need to master if you want to reach all your goals with minimum work and free up your valuable time.

Have you ever had a hundred things on your to-do list, tried to do them all, only to get so tied up in your work that you couldn't seem to finish any of them? Do you remember how frustrating it was?

Then you know the feeling I'm talking about. And you're not alone - millions of people suffer from it every day.

I'm talking about a monster called information overload. It's responsible for more failed projects than all other factors combined, and if you want maximum results from your efforts you need to get rid of it - especially if you're in a home based business.

Here's a simple 5 step formula for eliminating the problem forever. When mastered, it will help you reach any goal you may have. It's quite easy, really:

1. List your MOST important tasks

First, make a short list of the most important things you can do now to get the results you're after. Doing this first lets you see the big picture, and it helps you focus on the things that really matter. Don't worry about the small stuff for now.

2. Pick the ONE thing from your list that is MOST important right now

Next, you decide which task is most important. Which item on your list is most critical? Which one step, if you could finish only one of them, would give you the greatest results? Pick one, and write it down.

3. Finish this task NOW, and forget everything else

Now focus 100% of your efforts on this ONE task. Clear your mind, relax, and put everything else aside. Forget all distractions. Then start working on your most important task with laser focus, as if your life depended on it, and FINISH it. You're not allowed to do ANYTHING else until this task is completed.

4. Take a break, and congratulate yourself!

When you're done, it's time to celebrate. Take a break, and reward yourself. Scratch the task from your list, do something you like, and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. Congratulations - you've just come a long way towards reaching your goal!

5. Repeat the process

Now, you simply move on to your second most important task. Repeat the process, and focus completely on this step until you're ready to strike it from your list. Take a break between each task, but let nothing distract you while you're at it. Simply repeat this process for each step, until your job is done!

That's it. That's all there is to it.

By following this simple 5 step time management system, you'll be able to get more things done in less time, no matter what you do. And you'll be able to free up your valuable time to enjoy yourself. This is how you get maximum results from your work.

My friend, USE this strategy today. Simply pick an important project you've been working on, and apply these time management skills. It may sound simple, but it makes all the difference in the world. Try it - I guarantee you'll be surprised!

By Martin Franzen

Balancing Your Work, Family and Social Life

Balancing Your Work, Family and Social Life

By Gene Griessman, PhD



Many of us have an image of personal balance as a set of scales in perfect balance every day. But that's an unrealistic goal. You are in for a lot of frustration if you try to allocate within every day a predetermined portion of time for work, family and your social life. An illness may upset all your plans. A business project may demand peaks of intense work, followed by valleys of slow time.

Balance requires continual adjustments, like an acrobat on a high wire who constantly shifts his weight to the right and to the left. By focusing on four main areas of your life - emotional/spiritual needs, relationships, intellectual needs and physical needs - at work and away from work, you can begin to walk the high wire safely.

Here, drawn from my conversations with many high successful Americans, are ten ideas for balancing all aspects of your life:

1. Make an appointment with yourself. Banish from your mind the idea that everyone takes precedence over you. Don't use your organizer or calendar just for appointments with others. Give yourself some prime time. Regularly do something you enjoy. It will recharge your batteries. Once you've put yourself on your calendar, guard those appointments. Kay Koplovitz founder of the USA cable television network, which is on the air 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. Koplovitz ran the daily operations of the network for 21 years. For more than two decades, there was always some potential claim on her time. Therefore she vigilantly protected a scheduled tennis match just as she would a business appointment.

2. Care for your body. Having a high energy level is a trait held by many highly successful people. No matter what your present level of energy, you can increase it by following these steps:

Eat. Don't skip meals. Your physical and mental energy depend upon nourishment. Irregular eating patterns can cause a frayed temper, depression, lack of creativity and a nervous stomach.

Exercise. Over and over again, highly successful people mention the benefit of exercise routines. Johnetta Cole, president of Bennett College for Women and former president of Spelman College, does a four-mile walk each morning. She calls it her mobile meditation. The benefits of exercise are mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. If you are healthier and have more stamina, you can work better and longer.

Rest. A psychologist who has studied creative people reports that they rest often and sleep a lot.

3. Cut some slack. You do not have to do everything. Just the right things. Publisher Steve Forbes taught me a lesson: "Don't be a slave to your in-box. Just because there's something there doesn't mean you have to do it." As a result, every evening, I extract from my long list to-do list just a few "musts" for the following day. If, but three o'clock the next day, I've crossed off all the "musts," I know that everything else I do that day will be icing on the cake. It is a great psychological plus for me.

There is nothing wrong with pushing yourself hard, disciplining yourself to

do what needs to be done when you hold yourself to the highest standards. That builds up stamina and turns you into a pro. At time, though, you must forgive yourself. You will never become 100 percent efficient, nor should you expect to be. After something does not work, ask yourself, "Did I do my best? If you did, accept the outcome. All you can do is all you can do.

4. Blur the boundaries. Some very successful people achieve balance by setting aside times or days for family, recreation, hobbies or the like. They create boundaries around certain activities and protect them. Other individuals who are just as successful do just the opposite. They blur the boundaries. Says consultant Alan Weiss, "I work out of my home. In the afternoon, I might be watching my kids play at the pool or be out with my wife. On Saturday, or at ten o'clock on a weeknight, I might be working. I do things when the spirit moves me, and when they're appropriate."

Some jobs don't lend themselves to this strategy. But blurring the boundaries is possible more often than you may think. One way is to involve people you care about in what you do. For example, many companies encourage employees to bring their spouses to conferences and annual meetings. It's a good idea. If people who mean a great deal to you understand what you do, they can share more fully in your successes and failures. They also are more likely to be a good sounding board for your ideas.

5. Take a break. Many therapists believe that taking a break from a work routine can have major benefits for mental and physical health. Professional speaker and executive coach Barbara Pagano practices a kind of quick charge, by scheduling a day every few months with no agenda. For her, that means staying in her pajamas, unplugging the phone, watching old movie or reading a novel in bed. For that one day, nothing happens, except what she decides from hour to hour. Adds singer and composer Billy Joel, "There are times when you need to let the field lie fallow." Joel is describing what farmers often do: let a plot rest so the soil can replenish itself.

6. Take the road less traveled. Occasionally, get off the expressway and take a side road, literally and figuratively. That road may take you to the library or to the golf course. Do something out of the ordinary to avoid the well-worn grooves of your life. Try a new route to work, a different radio station or a different cereal. Break out of your old mold occasionally, with a new way to dress or a different hobby. The road less traveled can be a reward after a demanding event, a carrot that you reward your self with or it can be a good way to loosen up before a big event. Bobby Dodd, the legendary football coach at Georgia Tech, knew the power of this concept. While other coaches were putting their teams through brutal twice-a-day practices, Dodd's team did their drills and practices, but then took time to relax, play touch football and enjoy the bowl sites. Did the idea work? In six straight championships games!

7. Be still. Susan Taylor, editorial director of Essence, sees to it that she has quiet time every morning. She regards it as a time for centering - for being still and listening. She keeps a paper and pen with her to jot down ideas that come to her. The way you use solitary time should match your values, beliefs and temperament. Some individuals devote a regular time each day to visualize themselves attaining their goals and dreams. Others read, pray, meditate, do yoga or just contemplate a sunrise or sunset. Whatever form it takes, time spent alone can have an enormous payoff. Achievers talk about an inner strength they find and how it helps them put competing demands into perspective. They feel more confident about their choices and more self-reliant. They discover a sense of balance, a centeredness.

8. Be a peacetime patriot. Joe Posner has achieved wealth and recognition selling life insurance. Several years ago, Posner helped form an organization in his hometown of Rochester, NY to prepare underprivileged children for school and life and, he hopes, break the poverty cycle. You may find some equally worthy way to give something back through your church, hospital, civic club, alumni association or by doing some pro bono work. Or you may help individuals privately, even anonymously. There are powerful rewards for balancing personal interests with the needs of the common good. One of the most wonderful is the sheer joy that can come from giving. Another reward is the better world that you help create.

9. Do what you love to do. As a boy, Aaron Copeland spent hours listening to his sister practice the piano because he loved music. By following that love, he became America's most famous composer of classical must. When I asked him years later if he had even been disappointed by that choice Copeland replied, "My life has been enchanting." What a word to sum up a life. By itself, loving what you do does not ensure success. You need to be good at what you love. But if you love what you do, the time you spend becoming competent is less likely to be drudgery.

10. Focus on strategy. As important as it is, how to save time for balancing your life is not the ultimate question. That question is, "What am I saving time for?" Strategy has to do with being successful - but successful at what? If others pay your salary, being strategic generally means convincing them that you are spending your time in a way that benefits them. If there is a dispute over how you should use your time, either convince the people who can reward or punish you that your idea about using time is appropriate, or look for another job. The "what for?" question should also be asked about the life you live. It is truly a comprehensive question and gets at the question of wholeness.



So what makes for a successful balance life? I can think of no better definition than the one given by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because I have lived. This is to have succeeded.





By Gene Griessman, PhD

31 Ways to Get An Extra Hour Out of Each Day

How can you get an extra hour out of each day? For many small business owners this is a daily challenge.

I myself have often wished that there were 27 hours in the day. I'll even settle for 25.

Here are some tips to help you squeeze those extra minutes out of your day. Of course, you can adapt these so that they will fit in with your situation. I hope these are helpful to you.

1. Get up earlier

2. Watch less TV(I mean how many Law & Order spinoffs does one need to watch?)

3. Avoid allowing others to waste your time

4. If you don't have to drive to work, use that time to study or planIf you do drive to work listen to a motivational tape on the way to work instead of that mindless dj talk.

5. Organize your work; do it systematically.

6. Make creative use of lunchtime.

7. Delegate authority if possible.

8. Spend less time on unimportant phone calls.

9. Think first, then do the task.

10. Do what you dream about doing, instead of just dreaming about it.

11. Work hardest when you're the most mentally alert

12. Eliminate activities which make the smallest contributions to your life.

13. Always do the toughest jobs first.

14. Before each major act, ask "Is this really necessary?"

15. Choose interesting and constructive literature for spare time reading.

16. Learn how to sleep. Sleep soundly, then work refreshed.

17. Skip desserts.

18. Stop smoking.

19. Write notes or letters while waiting for others.

20. Always carry an envelope with paper in it and a few stamps.

21. Combine tasks which are done in the same area.

22. Be prompt for all appointments.

23. Lay out your clothes the night before.(I need to remember this myself)

24. Call on specialists to do work that you cannot do efficiently

25. Learn to read more rapidly.

26. Take a nap after dinner. Then take a shower. Begin the evening hours relaxed and refreshed.

27. Avoid interruptions.

28. Avoid making a big production out of tiny tasks.

29. Search out job shortcuts.

30. Know your limitations.

31. Work to your full capacity. I know it's tough to break bad habits. However, it is necessary to make sacrifices so that your business can be successful. Don't try to implement all of these ideas at once. Implement them one at a time and repeat them until they become a part of your daily routine.


This article may be distributed freely as long as the resource box remains intact and the content of the article isn't changed.

To show my appreciation for using my article, I am giving the person that uses this article a FREE solo ad to my ezine list.

Please forward a copy of the ezine or the url this article is posted on to pnewsletter2004@yahoo.com.

The only rule that I have is that I don't promote sites that aren't family friendly

By DeAnna Spencer

Is the Goal to Reach the Goal?

In this fast and crazy world, we want to multi-task at every given moment. After all, how else can we accomplish all that needs to be done in only 24 hours? We've been taught that if we reach all of our goals in a day, week, month, or year, we are successful. What we haven't been taught when achieving goals is that quality counts and so does the amount of effort exerted.

Our tendency is to set many goals especially at work for any given day or week, and then we feel discouraged or disappointed when we don't achieve all of them. In fact, we usually have to carry them over to the next day or the next week. The first step in feeling a sense of accomplishment and completion is to set only 3 goals for a day, for a week, for a month that HAVE to be accomplished. Why only 3? In an average day, we can't anticipate all of the other things that will snag our attention. We get called into a meeting, we get a time-consuming phone call, we get a request that requires some searching, we notice an article of interest that we want to read, etc. If we don't allow for these other time-consuming things, then we're not being realistic about what we can accomplish in a day. Same goes for a month - unexpected family situations, travel, illness, new projects, etc.

So, how do we accomplish 3 goals in a day and accomplish them well with little effort? It's better known as focus and undivided attention. The keyword is undivided - our attention remains TOTALLY on the task at hand. The distractions, the pulls, the unimportant but more interesting, don't take us away from what needs to be done at that moment. If you attend to the task in front of you and don't allow the distractions to interfere, you will notice how effortlessly the task is accomplished. Even if it's something you have been putting off and dreading - just simply setting aside the time and concentrating on it, will result in one less thing on your plate. Ironically, the more attention you give it and the more focused you are on the task at hand, the less you will feel any effort in its completion. If you allow any of the distractions to interfere and you believe you are multi-tasking, what you are really doing is flitting between many different things and not giving any one thing your undivided attention. The result: a little of this and a little of that gets done with mediocre quality and it feels as though a lot of effort is needed.

Invitation to Experiment: Set 3 or more goals for any given day, for a week, for a month of which 3 HAVE to be accomplished. That may mean letting the answering machine pick up, turning off the cell phone and Instant Messaging, going to another desk or conference room. Totally focus your attention on one thing at a time and notice how they are accomplished - and see if it feels any different than it usually does.

By Marion Franklin