I would assume that we all have those things that just haunt us and we let hang over our heads because we avoid doing them. I have my stuff just as much as the next person. It would bug me at night and as I went about my daily activities.
I teach goal setting classes. I've started with some new students and as I was teaching them the thought occurred to me that I needed to set some new personal goals of my own and make sure that I was practicing what I preached.
As I do more often than not, I woke up at 3 am and couldn't get back to sleep. I decided to get up and write some new goals. I went to my office and got to it. I made a list of about 10 goals. Some were goals I was excited about doing, others were "should" dos but quite frankly aren't things I like sending my time doing. But nonetheless, the list left me feeling rather overwhelmed and hopeless, "where would I find the time to accomplish any of these things? I keep myself incredibly busy." I went back to bed and didn't sleep much. The next day as I went about my daily activities I kept brainstorming about how I could accomplish my list of goals. I was having a great desire to accomplish all of them, even the "should do goals." On my list were things like organize my home and get on top of my finances. I knew enough to know that avoiding them was only making me feel worse despite home much I detest taking time to work on them. I also know that if I could create habits in both of those areas (like I teach others all the time) that it wouldn't hurt so bad after a couple weeks and quite frankly I'd feel much better over all.
As I brainstormed I began to think about, "what can I cut out so I could have time to work on these goals? Could I cut out anything for just a short time and get somethings done and feel better in the long run?" I looked at my calendar and daily activities and began to get really honest with myself about things I could live without and sacrifice for a short time. Anything from TV to FB to even things like lunch dates with friends. I also thought about things my husband and children could live without for a short time to then have a more sane and proactive mother; date nights, volunteering at school, etc..... As I became very honest and real with myself I decided that I could live without many things for 30 days. I'd tackle my projects and do the hard to feel so much better in the end. I knew some of the things I was giving up were even things I'd used as excuses to not get to some of the goals on my list. After all isn't it much more important to go have lunch with a friend than to clean a bathroom or deal with some medical bill. LOL I can sure justify myself, huh?
Its time to do a little less justifying and a lot more action.
Another thought I had in my slightly extreme plan was a technique I learned from a swim coach. He taught the kids that when they learn a new technique, they should "over learn it." Meaning that if you want to your arm to go half was across your body, practice by going all the way across. Then when you are doing it without thinking about it, you are more likely to hit the point of half way across. Extend past where you want to be in practice so you'll be at that more normal point in every day life. I decided that might be a good idea in this situation. If for 30 days I'd was totally focused on cleaning and making a financial plan, maybe in normal life I'll keep up my house and keep to the financial plan I make for myself.
I have a list of goals and with each goal I'd started with a new sheet of paper and written the steps and a list of things that need to be done in each area. I have goals that have to do with personal health (diet and exercise), being a more loving mother, getting my computer working more efficiently, etc....
The other mentality I'm trying to adopt is the idea of if you have a jar and you want to fit in big rocks, small rocks, pebbles and sand, you can fit it all in if you start with the biggest first and pore the sand in last. But pouring the sand in first definitely makes it hard to fit the rest in. So I'm looking at my lists and picking the big rocks and going down the list. I'm also going to listen to the book "Eat that Frog" (I think that's what it is called). I love daily motivation. I swear by it. Listening or reading a book on a subject you want to improve in daily will do wonders for you in accomplishing your goals. I also plan to look into some books on finances and organization during this 30 days.
I know this 30 days won't magically fix things. But I believe it will help me to being on a more straight path than the one I put myself on with all the curves and bends I choose to take to try and avoid certain responsibilities.
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