“I really must…. I really should but first I need to…” I recently got over using these pathetic excuses. They just don’t have as much conviction as they used to when I was younger. We all know that excuses are just our own way of sabotaging personal joy.
Like hooded thieves they rob us blind of our ability to take control of our lives’ directions. How? By always giving us the false sense of hope that we really will accomplish all those tasks, our yet un-manifest desires… someday. It’s time to stop with the excuses! Light a firecracker under your butt, gentlemen, and get let’s living, shall we?
1. Clear it Up
The spaces we spend our time the most in reflect our mindsets. How does your work space look? Imagine that your desk (car, bedroom, sock drawer, wallet) represents various compartments of your mind – financial, personal, professional. What would yours say about you if you were an outsider looking in? Time to clear it up.
Toss those old slips, and file what you need. Put your stationary in one place so you can easily find it (if you’re running low on essential items, stock up before you need them). Remove clutter. Put things in such a way so as to reflect the type of mind, and the sort of life, you would prefer to live – Clean. Organized. In control.
2. Change Your Environment
Now that you’ve taken more control, and you’ve cleaned up your act, it’s time to make some shifts. Does your environment inspire you? What are your goals? The office of an artist should be different to that of a sales manager. Your environment needs to reflect the goals you are working toward, and even more, the type of person you are working toward becoming! Add a nice piece of art, an image of something inspirational, or decide on the colours that will get your engine revved-up for success. Keep a clock visible nearby to help you manage your time. Make sure you have access to the things you need first, and the rest is optional.
3.Get Up Early… BUT…
“Early to bed, early to rise…” I couldn’t agree more. As a Life Coach, and also an avid practitioner of Yoga, I am realizing more and more the wisdom behind this age old saying. It is said that South Africans are one of the earliest rising nations in the world, and I like that thought. Getting up early not only gives us more time to the day, but prevents us from feeling a metabolic drop due to the lethargy of over sleeping. However: it’s not just enough to get up early, guys. Check out my article The Early Bird Gets the Worm to see just what you should (and should not) be doing in the morning to maximize your day, and get the boost you need. Set your alarm clock a bit earlier. Heck. Set two if you need to (I do!) You’ll thank yourself for it, and soon you’ll be healthier, wealthier, and wiser for sure.
4. Hang Out with People Who Inspire You
“You are who you associate with.” This can be a tough pill to swallow for some of us. I remember looking at my (very well meaning, but very lazy) friends at one stage and thinking, ‘If I spend time with these guys much longer, I’ll never live the life I want to live.’ So I began making a shift. This isn’t always easy, and doesn’t mean you have to throw people to the wayside. However, it’s a fact: If you spend time with people who match where you want to be, rather than were you are, you will always be inspired to climb higher, push harder, and live a bit better each day. Decide on where you are aiming your sights in life. Find people who are already there (or at least are well on their way to realizing their own goals) and spend time with those people. Laziness is contagious… but so is motivation.
5.Take the Plunge and JUST DO IT!
Do you recall the first swim of summer? You’re just about to jump in. You know the water’s cold. There’s that delicious mixture of excitement, terror, and adrenaline. You know that if you spend too much time thinking about it, even feeling the water’s temperature, you might back out. So you just hold your breath, take a leap, take the plunge, and DO IT…
It’s all good and well to prepare and plan. In fact, good planning is essential to the success of any project. However, very often, that’s where the bus stops for a lot of people. Steve Backley said, “There are three types of people in this world: Firstly, there are people who make things happen. Then there are people who watch things happen. Lastly, there are people who ask, ‘what happened?’ Which do you want to be?” Life is not a spectator’s sport. You need to go out there and take practical steps to actualize your goals. These can be small steps to begin with, but even small steps (if taken regularly) will take you from Point A to Point B.
Your Bit for the Day:
- Write down 3 things you want to achieve by the end of the day.
- One of those things needs to be an easily accomplishable task that will make you feel good about yourself.
- One of the items on your list needs to be something that you may not necessarily accomplish today (a longer-term goal). Just decide what the next step will be toward it, and writing that
- The third thing can be anything else you would like to have achieved by the time you go to bed
- Once you’ve got your list of THREE, do everything you can to make it happen.
Take a breath. Take the plunge. Just DO IT!
By Ryan G. Edmonds (Life Coach, AUNLP. CHt, n/med) – https://www.facebook.com/Ryan-Edmonds-Author-948340428627489/?fref=ts
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