One of
harsh little realities of pursuing a dream is that sooner or later, you're going to have to do some stuff you don't like very much. It's just plain inevitable. Enter procrastination. Dread. Meltdown. Complete inertia.But prospect of doing tough stuff doesn't have to stop you cold. To that end, I've been teasing out some different ways you can keep going. Here are a few of my favorites:
*Play music. I learned this when I started running, or 'jogging' as we called it back in 70's. Clamping on headphones made it go so much better. Even today, as I pound treadmill, it's just so much easier if I've got country music videos playing along while I work out.
In fact, I recently saw a movie in which a soldier talks about overcoming his fear and going into battle by listening to heavy metal music piped into his helmet. Neurosurgeons, emergency room docs, and others in high-pressure operating theaters often play lightly upbeat, soothing music to keep stress under control as they work.
*'Bookend it'. This is a phrase 12-steppers wisely use for calling up a supportive friend before AND after a tough task … just so you're accountable out there to someone. Use phone or email and make that connection. You'll be less likely to procrastinate your way out of it.
*Delegate. Got a task you just can't somehow do? I always have three or four lurking around edges of my desk, until day I rise up and give it away. Hire a local teenager, elderly person who wouldn't mind a little light work, a family member, or even a local odd-jobs person to come in one day and give you a hand with all or your 'hard stuff.' If problem seems to be on-going, hire a Virtual Assistant, from one of on-line sources like AssistU.com. This is a person you hire on an hourly basis, usually in some other part of country, who helps you electronically with all kinds of administrative needs. If you can't afford to find help, buddy up with a friend and offer to do each other's 'hard stuff' in an even swap.
*Plan a big, juicy reward. We're talking one you seriously want …and nastier task, bigger reward. If you must, combine this with book-ending, to make sure you not only do task, but reward yourself as well.
*Dare yourself to not do it. Really imagine life without this particular task completed. Then see what consequences are. Truly dire? If not, maybe you can actually drop hard thing from your to-do list. On other hand, will you be disappointed? Will things just not seem right somehow? Better use that image of disappointment to move your dream along.
*Jump in, first thing. We tend to be fresher, and less conflicted, stressed or distracted first thing in morning (post-coffee, of course.) That's best time to seriously seize day and do hard thing. Success manuals all preach doing it first, and they're right. It works.
