To really get the benefit of this chapter you need to read it in completion (get your copy here.)
But I didn’t want to leave it out because even if you just go with this snippet it will help:
Chapter 12 – Quit Buying Groceries at the Quickie Mart
When people talk to me about not having enough time in their day, I usually find some combination of these misjudgments:
· not being realistic about how much time some tasks actually take
· not prioritizing activities, or allowing priorities to shift
· failing to think things through, not planning ahead
When you are not realistic with yourself about how much time something actually takes, you feel rushed. And when you fail to prioritize your activities, you end up spending way too much time on the wrong things and don’t have nearly enough time for the right things.
When you fail to plan ahead, you end up scrambling around at the last minute, and often the results are unsatisfactory.
For example, maybe you often don’t remember that you’ve got to make dinner until you’re on your way home, forcing you to grab whatever groceries you can find at the local Quickie Mart. Instead, take the time to put those responsibilities into your schedule right along with your other commitments. Too often your personal tasks end up being crammed into the corners of your day, and you then you are forced to rush, which just adds to your feelings of being overwhelmed.
Remember to account for transit time: getting stuck in traffic time, finding a parking place time and waiting for the elevator time. Failing to account for the time it takes to get from one place to another is a leading cause of pernicious lateness, and is one of the hallmarks of the permanently overwhelmed.
To finish reading… just grab a copy here: http://www.StartRightWhereYouAre.com
Chapter 9 – Completion is Overrated
There’s a half-completed sweater in the knitting basket. There’s the first three chapters of a novel in a drawer. There are the specialty tools that you bought to make the ornaments for baby’s first Christmas, even though baby is now entering the fifth grade.
When you see a reminder of something you’ve left undone everywhere you look, you are automatically going to feel exhausted. Half-completed tasks create what productivity guru David Allen calls “open loops” in your mind, and those open loops take up a lot of bandwidth.
There are plenty of good reasons to have stopped moving forward on a project. You might have simply lost interest. That’s fine. There are no starving creative artists in Antarctica being deprived because you didn’t finish what’s on your plate, so to speak.
You might have stopped because you made a mistake or hit a wall, and your misguided perfectionism won’t let you keep going. This could be a good time to make some 5-Minute Art about that perfectionist voice and see if you can’t liberate your project from her thorny clutches. It’s not like there’s really a right way to do creative things .
Fear of commitment can sometimes play a role, too. Allowing yourself to get too deep into a project might mean that it’s actually important to you, and it might have a real impact on your life, your work, and your relationships. So you keep it casual. Being a creative Casanova might feel like it’s protecting your heart, but ultimately you’re setting yourself up for dissatisfaction. What do you suppose might happen if you committed fully to your work?
I’ve also seen people quit mid-project because they find themselves in what the master consensus facilitator Sam Kaner calls the “Groan Zone.” He uses this expression to describe the point in consensus facilitation where diverse opinions have been expressed, and it feels like you’ve reached an impasse and will never find common ground — which is often the moment right before some new and beautiful solution emerges. I find it works equally well to refer to the sloggy middle of any project. Once that new-project smell has worn off and the end seems too far away, it’s easy to let boredom and discouragement take the wheel. Try creating some mini-goals, or even micro-goals, and make sure you’re rewarding yourself for your incremental progress.
Little Changes Action Step: Have a frank conversation with your inner, wise self about one of your half-done projects, and make a swift decision to either let it go or to schedule time in your calendar so you can get back to work on it.
To finish reading… just grab a copy here: http://www.StartRightWhereYouAre.com
Yep it’s that time again!
A team member chose this chapter to share because she actually implemented the first suggestion… and is LOVING IT!
Without further a dieu…
Chapter 6 – 6 Ways to Take Control of Your Time
Time is so slippery, isn’t it? The time spent in line at the bank goes so slowly you can practically feel yourself wrinkling up as you stand there. But the hour you spend on the phone with your best friend whizzes by. And remember the moment when they first put the baby in your arms. Time ceased to exist entirely.
I hear from . . . well, from almost everyone, really, that they have trouble managing their time, so here are a few critical little changes you can make today that will help you stop struggling with the idea that there’s never enough time and start enjoying the time you have.
Get Your Cell Phone out of the Bedroom
The first few moments on waking are an important time of day, especially for the creative, sensitive, and overworked person.
Your reticular activating system is the part of your brain that helps regulate your levels of consciousness and tells you when to wake up. (If you’ve ever wondered how one tiny sound, like the creak of a floorboard, can wake you out of a deep sleep, you can thank your reticular activating system.) Science tells us that your waking-up time is one of your most creative moments in the day, because your brain has spent the night organizing your memories and thoughts, and your body is relaxed, so you are more likely to make unusual connections between ideas, discover new solutions to problems, and have especially entertaining thoughts first thing.
Nothing ruins the cozy mood of a morning like a cell phone.
There is nothing on the internet that cannot wait for twenty minutes while you do some mindful breathing and think grateful thoughts.
To finish reading… just grab a copy here: http://www.StartRightWhereYouAre.com
I am so excited to share with you my NEW BOOK.
Ahh.. the joy (and pain) of birthing a new project… it’s a glorious occasion, that I am sooo excited to experience with YOU.
- Yesterday I hosted an AWESOME webinar all about how you can truly START RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE and start getting the results you desire.
I didn’t want you to miss out on this information so here is the replay of the webinar: CLICK HERE
- Secondly… over the next few days I am going to be sharing with you excerpts from my new book.
So let’s get started.. here is the first little peek:
Chapter 1 – How to Create a Miracle
You know the times when you have had a goal or a dream, worked hard to make it happen and then . . . just . . . nothing? No movement. Can’t get traction. So frustrating, right?
Other times, you have a goal or a dream, and you take just a very few baby steps toward it, and suddenly it feels as if the universe itself comes rushing in to support you. It seems that all you have to do is put out a little energy, and you get a big tidal wave of energy back. Maybe you have an idea in your head about moving houses, and the next thing you know, the perfect place becomes available, and it’s easily affordable, and you get to just swan right in. Or maybe you’re dreaming of meeting the perfect business partner, and then, out of the blue, that person is standing right in front of you, ready and willing. It’s wonderful when that happens, isn’t it?
Ask around and you’ll hear a lot of different explanations for why sometimes you get what you want and sometimes you don’t. People may invoke the power of a strong intention, vibration, divine timing, angels, destiny, manifestation skills, karma, luck, or happenstance. But I have a different theory — and please note that I mean theory in the sense of an interesting way to think about things, not in the scientific sense.
Imagine that you are standing in the exact center of your world: that you are the sun, the hub, the eye of the storm. Now imagine that there are lines, like spokes on a wheel, or like the individual puffs on a dandelion, extending out from you that connect you with everything else. Those lines represent your relationship with the[??3] potentiality of all things[EB4] . Every opportunity, every relationship, every everything can be connected to you through those spokes. Can you see it?
Now, if you take one small step in any direction, can you imagine how those lines shift in their relationship with you?
To finish reading… just grab a copy here: http://www.StartRightWhereYouAre.com
Be on the lookout for tomorrows excerpt… Chapter 3 – Buckle Up, Because I Am About to Get Deep In Here, People
I wrote a longish post on Facebook last night that’s gotten waaaay more likes, comments and shares than anything else I’ve ever written.
Apparently, I hit a nerve.
So I thought I’d share it with you all, too.
NOTE: there is strong language in this.
As you know, depression is a black-hearted fuckshop of a disease – insidious and all-enveloping. After being mostly symptom-free for the past year or so, the last few weeks have been kind of a nightmare. It was a bit shocking to me how swiftly I hit bottom.And because I have “atypical depression” – which despite its name is actually quite common – I can function well in public situations. Atypical depression is not the “can’t get out of bed and crying all day” kind of depression. It’s the “inside a glass box” kind – it looks like everything’s pretty normal, but on the inside you feel utterly alone and completely dissociated. It turns the whole world into a horror show.
I hung in there, though: fought it when I could fight, and laid down quietly when I could fight no more. I prayed, I walked, I did all the stupid things people suggest you do when you’re depressed (take a walk, do something nice for someone else, get a massage, make some art…) all of which are like throwing pebbles at a dinosaur.
Finally – yesterday – the cloud lifted and so far I’ve had 24 hours of non-stop joy.
Here’s what joy looks like: I can taste food. I can breathe. I can feel actual gratitude for my actual life. Nothing fancy. Just the amazing sensation of experiencing energy and desire and being able to think actual thoughts rather than just drown in a sea of self-loathing all day.
Normally I would keep this kind of thing quiet, because it’s private, and in many ways, it’s none of anyone’s fucking business. But I realize that because of what I do and the books I write, people sometimes think that I never have a bad day. Which would be hilarious if it weren’t so tragic.
So, to everyone who is forced to make the choice, every day, to stay on this grassy, ocean-y planet no matter how much it hurts, I salute you. I wish you forgiving friends, loving partners and soft landings. I bless your beautiful sensitivity, your aching heart and the spiritual mastery that you are demonstrating every time you don’t just give the fuck up.
I don’t have any advice, because advice is bullshit. But I will remind you of this: the tragedy of depression is that it convinces you that you will never, ever, ever, ever, ever feel better. And that is a giant fucking lie. You will feel better. Maybe only 1′ better, but still – better. And you matter. You matter to me.
Thank you for listening. I love you.
In the past 6 days, the members of the Creative Genius, CEO program have:
- sold their FIRST EVER ebook
- sold $500 program via new website
- opened a real business bank account
- held first live event and made a profit!!!
- recovered elegantly from a BIG disappointment
- doubled September sales goal (since realizing they were “playing too small”)
- faltered, rested, then rallied
AND
Since their homework last week was to each receive $1000 (yes, they got coaching from me on how to do that : ) they have collectively received over $15,000 in cash, gifts, investments, expanded credit and sales.
Yes – over $15,000 – in less than one week.
Here’s their secret:
- They made a commitment to themselves.
- They got good advice.
- They took action.
- They leaned on the community for strength.
So….what goal would YOU like to make happen this week?
Whatever your goal may be, your first step is to make the commitment.
Real, non-negotiable commitment.
(How does it feel to think about making a big promise to yourself – and then keeping it? No matter what. No excuses allowed.)
I know you can do it.
So let me know how it goes for you, OK?
Yours,
Sam.
