Don't get too comfortable!

Don't get too comfortable or you run the risk of missing your goals, losing your dreams, falling behind, or worse, going backwards!

What happens to me when I am in the middle of yard work on a hot Saturday morning and I decide to take a break?  That depends on what kind of break I take!

Picture a ninety-five degree Saturday morning in central Florida.  The humidity is about one hundred percent, give or take a percentage point.  I've probably already mowed the lawn and still need to edge it, blow the clippings into a pile and put them in a garbage bag.  Let's say I'm about halfway done.  I want to (I need to!) take a little break and cool off, otherwise I will melt.  Let's take a look at three of my options:

1. Go to the outdoor fridge, grab a water or Gatorade, drink it down and go back to work
2. Go to the outdoor fridge, grab a water or Gatorade, drink it down while sitting in a chair in the shade
3. Go inside, grab a water or Gatorade and sit down in the A/C to cool off

Option #3 is a great choice ... assuming that I don't want to finish the yard work.  What is likely to happen is I will realize how hot it really is outside and I'll wait for the cover of darkness (I wouldn't want the neighbors seeing me be lazy) to go pick up my lawn implements.  Stowing them away until next week. 

Option #2 sounds like a pretty good and reasonable choice.  But let's be honest, I'm going to plop down in the shade and if I get up before it gets dark it will only be to get a beer.

Option #1 (at least in my case) is my best choice and takes the least amount of time.  If you are like me, when you get too comfortable with your situation you don't want to leave your situation.

And I am not just talking about yard work.  Remember all of those hopes and dreams that you had when you were younger.  You know like the one that had you where you were going to become the world's first firefighting-doctor-astronaut on his way to Mars, who could also sing better than Frank Sinatra!  Yeah, we've all had similar goals.  But then one day we realized how much work it would be to achieve that goal, how much we would have to sacrifice, how UNCOMFORTABLE we would have to be for a few years and we decided maybe things are okay the way they are. 

Don't let go of a dream because you are comfortable in your current situation.  It's okay to change your goals/dreams.  You should be chasing what you are passionate about.  Find that passion and go after, don't settle for being comfortable where you are at.

As Jim Rohn said "Rest very little!"  Surely, you will need to rest along the way.  You'll need to re-energize your mind, your body and refocus your efforts.  But get too comfortable, don't sit down in the shade for too long and definitely don't go inside where the A/C is at or you'll never accomplish your goal!

Have a great day!

It's amazing what you ...

It's amazing what you ... can accomplish when you don't have a choice!

Around 8:30 this morning I was thinking about how much I had to do today; or how much "burden" I had.  I started to feel bad for myself and wallow (gasp!)

Then I realized how much I had already accomplished by this hour of the day because I didn't have a choice.  They were just the things that were part of my routine or items that were injected into my day by outside forces ... meaning I didn't have a choice!  This is when I became more confident in my ability to get everything done (well most everything)!  I took a minute and thought about what I had done having been up for about three hours:

• showered
• shaved
• made bed
• did some work "work"
• made an unplanned trip to the high school
• talked to my dad
• talked to my fiance
• got interrupted while on the phone by my dad calling again, so talked to dad again
• called the fiance back
• made German Pancake batter
• ate breakfast
• made breakfast for my youngest
• cleaned the kitchen
• went back to my work "work"
• and now ... I'm blogging

And shortly before writing this entry, I realized ... It's even more amazing what you can accomplish when you have goals/dreams and a plan (with margin built in for those things that might get "injected" into your day).  The rest of my day is planned out, I don't feel quite as overwhelmed (thought there is a lot to do still) and I can't wait to look back on today and count my accomplishments!

Have a great day!

Pull the trigger!

I've often times heard people (read "myself") criticizing others for shooting from the hip.  At least that is how it appeared.  As though they spent zero time thinking through a decision and just reacted.

It's one thing if you are in Target with your shopping list and see a deal on something that you just know you'll use (ex. consumables like deodorant, toilet paper, etc).  And it's quite another if you are in Target and you are pulled in by the display of rechargeable, extendable Swiffer ceiling fan sweeper display.  The colors are so vivid, the price is within budget (did you have a Swiffer budget?), the extension is up to 10 feet ... it goes in your cart.  Not a well thought out purchase?  Perhaps.  Especially when you get home and realize you don't have any ceiling fans.  Shooting from the hip, yes.

Please don't shoot from the hip ... but please be able to, as well as, know when to pull the trigger.

I have suffered all my life from not being able to pull the trigger.  Yes, I like most have made impulse purchases.  How else would a 500 piece bucket of Bazooka bubble gum end up in my cart at Costco?  But when it came to buying a new mower or dishwasher, two things I knew I needed, I suffered from analysis paralysis for about two years!

In looking back, I'm pretty sure that I was only looking at how much the items were going to cost and not fully considering the benefits.  Of course, I also didn't want to be separated from my money.  When I finally bought the new lawn mower I realized that it was saving me at least thirty minutes a week because I didn't have to keep stopping to fix the broken wheels!  Over the course of a year of mowing this has to be more than fifteen hours.  Assuming my time is worth something, let's say ten dollars an hour ... the savings in the first year was $150!  The mower (which I paid about $450 for at Lowe's) pays for itself in just three years!

And yes, I did finally buy a new dishwasher, but the benefits calculation was harder for me to quantify. Maybe I am saving on electricity, maybe the dishes are more sanitary, who really knows?  But I can say that I am now able to run the dishwasher, carry on a conversation and do other things in the kitchen at the same time.  Again, my time is money ... so I'm sure the dishwasher will pay for itself in just a few years.

What the heck is my point?  Opportunities can be lost!  Some opportunities do linger, but the "profit" potential from them fades.  Will the mower or dishwasher that I bought be less expensive in two years?  Yes.  But the savings in the meantime likely outweighs the extra cost.

So when opportunity knocks, at least, look through the peephole in your door before dismissing it.  And conversely, every knock on your door is not always an opportunity that you want to take advantage of, look through the peephole before you open the door.