Monday's Quote

"If you want your life to be a magnificent story, then begin by realizing that you are the author and everyday you have the opportunity to write a new page."

Mark Houlahan

Taking Action

Susan says: Boy that was a great blog that Jennifer wrote about goals and planning and planning to plan and spending time thinking about all the things we would like to do someday when we step out from in front of our TV. I found myself really rooting for her to use her 100 hours for noble productivity.

It’s a novel concept, that 100 hours. It’s easy to use the excuse that one can’t get anything done in the 15 minutes a day that she first suggested. One may even argue that so short a time is a good enough excuse not to do anything. After all, it only takes 15 minutes to check your email or look up that thing on YouTube and then there you are: Right back to surfing the web – that viral activity that is so much like a vacuum.

So the question really should be, if you had 15 minutes, what would you do? Let’s imagine it’s going to go down in history as the most important 15 minutes of your day. Jennifer and I have this discussion often: “If something is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” I read that in a book on depression one time. Of course I was reading a book on depression because I suppose I was feeling badly about not doing anything. The author was suggesting that, rather than not doing something because we are afraid of doing it badly (leading perhaps to depression), we should just do it, even if we do it badly, since the doing of something is better than doing nothing. It makes us feel better because we are taking action.

So how do we get ourselves to take action? Well according to my good friend Tony Robbins, when it comes down to it, the thing that stops us from taking action is inner conflict. Some internal message is conflicting: you want to have total free time, but you want to build an empire, or you have the talent and ability to achieve it, but a part of you doesn’t think you deserve it. This kind of conflict is what stands in the way of us taking action.

We must ask ourselves the hard questions (just for a moment so as not to use it as a further excuse for non-action) about what our conflicts are. What is it that makes us stay at the computer surfing when we know we have that writing course to finish? Or what is it that makes us stay and watch reruns when we also really want to learn to play the violin? It is impossible to take action when we are being pulled in two different directions. So we need to identify these conflicts, the two (or three or four) struggling directions, we need to identify what they are and then get clear about what we really value, what is really important to us. Notice which part of these conflicting beliefs is not serving us and then get our beliefs to align. If we get into alignment about what we really want, we will take action. It is the natural flow of things to take action when we are aligned. There is nothing left to stand in our way. We want to take action.

So, gotta go! Gotta take some action! I’m in the mood!

Monday's Quote

"All my work, my life, everything I do is about survival, not just bare awful plodding survival, but survival with grace and faith. While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated." Maya Angelou

Making your goals a priority

Jennifer says: As I sit in my comfortable chair in the corner of my bedroom contemplating when would be the best time to resume my writing course or work on the other projects I've got going, I realize I spend far too much time in that chair. Mind you, the book for my writing course is within arm's reach of that same chair. So is my desk, photography books, computer, drawing pencils, camera, etc. It's sort of funny, in an "I can't believe I'm admitting this" way to see it on paper. Yet I'm watching TV and planning when I should work on something. Wow. I'm always surfing the net, another activity I spend far too much time doing, for motivational "You can do it" kind of article and sites. I was reading one, I forget the name, about an Australian motivational speaker / life coach. He wrote to the effect that the majority of us spend way too much time planning, researching, buying materials for stuff we're going to do but never actually get to and waiting for the perfect moment to start...which, of course, never comes. He wrote that we should stop all this and just start. That we already have everything we need to make some step forward. I also read, some where, that we need to make our goals a priority and give them the time they deserve. So true. Many of us, me included, think our schedules are so full that we don't have any time to work on our goals. But maybe if we shift thinking of them as goals and start thinking of them as priorities we may make some progress. To me, a goal is something far on the horizon, a long way off. A priority is something that I know I have to do, like paying my bills. Schedules, I think, also become habit. Get up, coffee, shower and dress, work, dinner, TV, bed... I know if I stopped automatically going through my day and thought about my next move that I could find some time for my projects. Finding just 15 minutes every day, over the next year is nearly 100 hours. A lot of progress could be made in 100 hours. What could you accomplish in 100 hours?

Monday's Quote

“What we do today, right now,

Will have an accumulated effect on all our tomorrows.”

Alexandra Stoddard

One hour & $10.00

Jennifer says: What can you accomplish in an hour? Let’s assume literacy is an important issue to you. In one hour, you could assist the teacher in your child’s reading class or volunteer at the library or help someone learn phonics in an adult reading class. How can you help with $10.00? You could buy a book or maybe two to donate. Or you could simply donate the cash to a worthy institution like a school or library. It doesn’t take much effort or money to have an impact on a cause that’s important to you. Everyone can contribute something. One hour once a month. Or a few dollars donated to a charity instead of buying out one lunch. What’s important to you? The environment? You could become involved with the Bahamas National Trust, organize a beach clean up or plant some trees in your back yard. If health issues are important to you: you could donate blood, make a monetary contribution to a hospital, the Cancer Society or research organization. Housing? Volunteer or donate to Habitat for Humanity. The elderly? Why not visit residents in a Home for the Aged? Why not start a clothing drive or food bank in your church? It would be a small thing to ask for one can of food to be donated by each parishioner. What to do with the contributions? Ask the Red Cross, Salvation Army or Social Services. Let me share some of things I’ve done. Over the years I have contributed to the G.B. Children’s Home, St. Judes Children’s Hospital, The Rainforest Site and Habitat for Humanity. I have donated books to the Library and Genesis Academy. I have volunteered my photography services and participated in beach clean ups. I don’t write this to brag, I write this to hopefully inspire someone to do something to help. It doesn’t take much to make a difference and we’re all capable of some action, no matter how small we may think it is. What a better state the world would be in if we all gave one hour a month or a couple of dollars. Not to mention the great feeling we would have knowing we made some contribution. So go ahead. Pick a cause. Or two…

Monday's Quote, on Tuesday

"Smile, breathe and go slowly"

Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Buddhist Monk