For once, I am going to endorse procrastination. When it comes
to worrying, you should put it off. Do everything you like to
avoid worrying. Worries don’t help us; and in fact, they make
many bad situations worse. On top of that, most of what we worry
about never comes to pass.
On the other hand, putting off tasks that will help us advance,
right now, is an epidemic. There is a health maintenance
disaster on the horizon when most of the western world does not
want to engage in exercise. Therefore, the habit of
procrastination should be purged as soon as possible.
Here are a few things that will help you “stay on track” toward
your goals, live for the moment, and leave most of your worries
behind.
You should design a specific and detailed plan, of our future.
Your plan should have an exact step-by-step formula with time
lines. Cover every possible detail and research it.
Your written goals should be reviewed daily. This is a healthy
process, and people who write goals down have a much better
chance at success. Don’t talk, or think, in terms of “some day.”
Meditate and visualize yourself attaining success. Take the time
to quiet your mind and focus on your dreams. You should do this
every day to keep your vision alive. You could do this in the
morning, or the evening, when you can make time for yourself.
You should exercise regularly to increase endorphins and rid
your body of toxins. This will change your entire mindset for
the best. If you are new to exercise, walking is the best place
to start. Walking alone is a great program for overall health.
Drinking water, and getting a massage, are two more ways to
flush toxins from your body. Getting a massage is truly living
in the moment and gives you an appreciation for the finer things
in life. Massage could also be a form of bonding with your
“significant other.”
Learn to laugh, watch a comedy, and lighten your spirits. Some
of us take ourselves far too seriously. In order to live for the
moment, we all have to put serious feelings aside and learn to
enjoy life.
Posture is important while sitting, standing, walking, eating,
or anything else. A slouched body posture is bad for all forms
of health. Always sit up, or stand up, straight whenever you
think about it. Poor posture is usually a reflection of poor
self-esteem, so get rid of a slumping posture right now. Make
changes to your goal setting plans when you have to. Nothing is
“carved in stone,” and if you see a collision course with
disaster, make an adjustment as soon as you can.
You may not be able to implement all of these changes at once.
That’s not a problem; but if you add them to your lifestyle
gradually, you will enjoy your life and leave your worries
behind.
© Copyright 2005 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Today I heard the saying “Trying is lying!”
It made me reflect back to earlier this year when I was lying in my hospital bed with two broken legs, a broken hip and a broken pelvis, injuries I had sustained in a motorcycle accident. After the surgeons had put my body back together, I was moved to a rehabilitation hospital, where I spent the next 4 months learning how to walk again. This was an amazing facility designed to assist patients (many worse off than me), in adjusting to their new limitations. The goal was to assist us in finding strategies that were designed to help us continue to live a life worth living, despite these challenges.
Since I had sustained extensive orthopedic injuries, I required intensive physiotherapy.
Each morning, patients were expected to get dressed and wear their street clothes to physiotherapy, even though most of them would spend the remainder of their day in bed. It was part of the psychology to help us realize that we were not “sick:” but learning how to function again and look after ourselves.
The first time I went to physio, my physiotherapist Derek, asked me to move my leg. Now if you know me, (or are coached by me) you will know that a common theme I espouse is that of “I can’t}”. “I can’t” and its cousin “I give up!” are two phrases that are not allowed in my vocabulary, and if I have any influence over you, it’s not allowed in yours’ either…smile!.
I looked down at my leg and counted myself lucky as I looked around the room at the other patients. They all seemed to be using a mixture of medieval looking contraptions that contorted their bodies in a way that I was sure was designed to increase pain and agony. I just had to move my leg.
I told my leg to move in the direction that Derek had just asked but it stayed put. “Wait a minute”, I said to myself and I tried again, but it just wouldn’t move. I tried concentrating harder, and even spoke the words aloud, but it still wouldn’t change position. Frustrated now, I glared at this appendage that was betraying me, and found myself alternating between cajoling and cussing- all internal conversations of course. No amount of asking was making my leg budge! Derek my physiotherapist came by and with his hands on his hips and a smirk on his face said “come on Frankie, MOVE IT!” “You can do it!” Visibly upset now with tears of anger and discouragement streaming down my face, I cried out, “I’m trying”, CAN’T YOU SEE THAT? “Well actually no, I can’t” he said gently, “because I don’t see your leg moving.”
It was then that I had an epiphany, Trying is not good enough. Trying is actually NOT Doing! It is still “I can’t” or “I won’t”. Another realization came to me as well, and that was I had a commitment, but it wasn’t to what I thought.
I was committed to NOT moving my leg. For whatever reason, perhaps it was fear of pain, or maybe of finding out that I may never be able to move it, I just didn’t want to do it. I am sure the “why” of it matter doesn’t matter as much as asking the Powerful Question, “So what are you going to do about it?”
When I came to terms with that revelation, I knew I had a decision to make right then and there. Either I could continue to pretend to “try” and not move my leg, or I could be a Doer.
We have already established that I am not a quitter, I don’t believe in I can’t and I knew I hadn’t survived the night of my accident to fail in my recovery, so there was only one option left, and that was to DO!!
But what about that commitment, what was I to do with that?
That commitment was NOT serving me. I knew that, because I WANTED to walk again and making my leg to move, was the first step to that goal. So I took a deep breath, told myself one more time “you can do it” and looked down at my leg and said “move damn it”.
Well son of a gun, didn’t it just move a couple of inches! I was ecstatic!
Now to be honest, it didn’t move far, but it did move. This was enough to prove to me it could be done.
Not only did I know that my leg was going to work again, I also knew what a powerful being lived inside me! This is not only true of me, but it is also true of you!
Each of us has the power to overcome the things we are committed to whether it be fear of flying or poor body image. No matter how long you have been living you’re your commitment, you can change the terms anytime you want.
I invite you to look inside at some of the commitments that have not been serving you, and see if you are ready to change your perspective on any of them.
Now that you understand the difference between trying and doing, literally in the blink of an eye, you will be able to recognize your commitments and know how to change them. Just imagine the freedom of being able to DO anything you want.
The next time you hear yourself say I am trying, remember, to tell yourself you are lying!
If you want to stay committed to something then commit to being the best you can be! Thomas Merton said, “The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.”
An exercise to bring this point home is to sit in a chair and drop a pencil on the floor. Now then I want you to TRY to pick the pencil up. Did you pick the pencil up? You Did? Well then put it back because you weren’t trying. Try again. Now I want you to TRY to pick the pencil up. Did you pick it up? NO? Then you weren’t trying. You see you can either be committed to picking the pencil up and do, or be committed to leaving the pencil on the floor and not do, but you can’t TRY to pick the pencil up!
Frankie Picasso, CPC LMT , is an Executive Business and Vision Coach and a Motivational Speaker, who loves to help people find their passion, path and purpose in Life. She has worked with both public and private sector organizations in the area of organizational wellness, alternative dispute resolution, sales and marketing, customer service and quality planning.The name of her company is Conversation with My Shoes and to find out more about her coaching, her speaking engagements , and her community involvement, please visit her website at http://www.conversationwithmyshoes.com
What if there is no toilet paper and I am halfway through doing the “do”?
What if one of my team members decides to leave the project halfway and he happens to be the most knowledgeable guy there?
What if I turn colour blind, how should I adapt to the environment?
What-if, what-if and more what-ifs…
The technique of asking What-ifs provokes an individual to think and to produce something new. At times, in order to find original solutions to old problems, one must take the leap of faith and ask ‘crazy’ and imaginative questions to get us out of the rut of stale, conformist routine.
So, when you are walking, relaxing and or plain daydreaming, practice the techniques of What-ifs and have a ball of a time stimulating your brain juices!
You never know when your What-ifs Questions and Answers (Q&A) practice sessions could come in handy in sprouting innovative solutions to everyday problems.
I was just wondering about the invention of the mobile phone (or cellphone). Could it be the result of several fun and crazy What-ifs sessions among some guys in a restaurant, just talking off-the-cuff? What kind of questions could lead them into the invention of our beloved mobile phone? Hmm..
The questions asked could be the following:
- What if I go out and I cannot receive an urgent phone call from my wife? (Especially when I am out so late and so often)
- What if I have to make an emergency call and there is no public phone around? (Where’s the fire truck when you need one?)
- What if I cut the wires of my home telephone and bring the phone along with me? (That could be COOL! No more getting entangled!)
One must remember that the What-ifs techniques are often used more to excite your imagination, not to develop a real solution to your problem. Though it happens!
The next step in the What-if process is to weigh up the responses and see if there lies a connection that may be used to solve the problem at hand.
Here are the steps of the What-ifs technique:
1.Write out specifically the nature of your challenge/problem. (How can I stop losing my car keys?
2.Ask as many WHAT-IF scenarios as you can. Any crazy what-ifs will do. Don’t be too pre-occupied with facts of the problems you want to solve. Imagine. Be a non-realist!
(What if I put my car keys within my body?)
3.Try to answer the what-if questions.
(I could develop a system whereby my thumb-print/ voice could be used to open the car’s door- yes; it’s been done already! The bio-metric technology)
Putting Your Elements to Work:
Get cracking and develop your own original responses to the following questions. Have FUN!
- What if my pet dogs starts talking to me?
- What if the Internet service is shut down for a week and I am in the online business selling my products?
- What if the book I am reading now is laughing at me for not being able to understand the meanings of certain word?
- What if my friend turns out to be alien from Mars?
- What if I have a Television that tells me to stop watching too much T.V?
Crack your Head and have FUN!
About The Author
Dr. Alvin Chan is a Senior Research Consultant at First Quatermain Centre of Collaborative Innovation (www.firstquatermain.com).
Please contact heartware2002@yahoo.com as a courtesy when reprinting the article online and/or offline.
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