Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Execution

Tags

doubt, Execution, Little Steps, momentum, motivation, Perfectionism, Plan, Procrastination

So you have goals and a plan. What do you do now? Execute.

Get your action steps on your calendar and to-do list, and start knocking things off. Easy right? Nope.

This is the time procrastination raises its ugly head. This is the time we execute the things that have nothing to do with our goals and priorities. Why do we do this to ourselves? Fear of failure, perfectionism, and perhaps a little doubt sprinkled in (Is this the best use of my time?).

This is the time to do what Nike suggests in their logo–Just Do It. You’ve decided it was a worthy goal. You’ve put together a plan to achieve the goal. Just start knocking out the stuff on your list. Get it done.

If you still hesitate, take the action steps you have already and break them down further. Whittle these things down until you no longer resist them. Whenever we hesitate to do something we have in our plan, it is either too big, or we lack the skills to execute the steps. It’s ok to discover this when you begin executing because you likely have never done this before. It’s ok.

When you revise your plan so that it is easier to execute, you’ll find getting started easier. You’ll also build a momentum to your work. You’ll start building confidence in yourself. You’ll begin to think that you worried over nothing and your action plan will work.

Perfectionism? Don’t let this hold you back. Just do the best you can. Execute your plan and take care of the details later. It feels good to make progress. Take advantage of that and keep moving forward. You decide when you’ve gotten a project completed. You. Don’t let perfectionism slow you down. Done is better than perfect. What is perfect anyway? Do you know?

Your doubt about your ability to do something will fade as you begin getting your tasks done. You will start to see how execution helps you move forward and your confidence will build as you move through task by task. Keep going. Use that forward momentum to keep moving. Once I start moving forward, it is hard to stop. The momentum is easier to keep going, once you are going.

Well, folks. That’s all I have for today. Have a great Monday.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Planning

Tags

Achievement, failure, measurement, off track, on track, Plan, Planning, Success, troubleshooting

If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.

Jim Rohn

I believe that planning is more important than the goal itself. Obviously, we have to have goals, if we want to accomplish anything in a systematic and organized way. The real question for me is how will we achieve what we set out to do? We can only do this by putting together a plan.

Plans can be simple or very complex. It all depends on the goals you want to accomplish. A goal of simply going to the gym would be less complex than writing a novel, for example. The key to planning is realizing what you need to do and then coming up with an order of operations to achieve what you want.

One of my goals each year is to read 60 books. This works out to 5 books a month or about 1,25 books each week. Do I get this detailed? No. I just keep reading continuously throughout the year, reading multiple books simultaneously, and knock them off of my list in Goodreads. I monitor my progress, but my plan is pretty simple. Read an hour a day, a minimum, and you’ll get there. So far, so good. As you can see, the plan is pretty simple. It has also delivered consistently over two years.

Diet and exercise can be more complex. You have to monitor what you eat, monitor the supplements you are taking, and track the exercises you are doing, the weights you are lifting, water intake, sleep schedule, etc. This one is more complex than reading books. You have to put a bit of work and planning to ensure you hit all of the checkmarks required for achieving your goals, whether it be weight loss, improved cardiovascular capability, or strength gains.

I also set goals for myself when I play video games. My current favorite is Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War. I am currently playing the Zombies part of the game and each day I set out goals that I want to accomplish. Do I want to earn a particular camouflage for this weapon, clear out a particular reticle for a sight, or do I want to earn so many crystals? I realize you may not understand what I’m talking about, but you can set goals for literally anything you want to. I like setting goals for daily activities, because it makes it more of a game to me, and keeps my motivation up when I achieve a milestone of sorts for all of my goals. It also makes it easy to measure and assess that I’m on track with a goal or not.

Plan folks. If you have a plan you can adjust it as you go, particularly if it isn’t working. Without a plan, you really don’t have any ability to gauge what you are doing or measure where you are. Both add difficulty and frustration to everything you will try to achieve. When this is added in, it is highly likely you will quit, because you aren’t seeing the success you need and you don’t know how to troubleshoot what you are doing to get something done. Make sense?

Have a great Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenge Week of April 12, 2020

Tags

Brainstorm, Execute, Make a list, Plan, Prioritize, Spread Your Wings, Sunday, Weekly Challenge

This week’s challenge: Go through your to-do list or create one. Then decide what is the most important thing to get done first, and so on. Prioritize the most important tasks you need to get done first, brainstorm and plan, and execute.

This will help you knock down that to-do list that continues to grow and get you back on track doing the most important stuff first. Procrastinators (like I used to be), tend to focus on the easy stuff, while those big, painful projects just sit there. Before you know it, the year is gone, and you still have those big things sitting there. Prioritize those big things and get’em done. You’ll feel great when you do. The easy little tasks will still be there when you’re done.

As always, if you do this challenge, reply to this posting in the comments. I’d like to hear how this helped you.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Oh, Those Little Surprises

Tags

Actions, Attitude, Blind-sided, Emotions, Execute, Plan, Surprises, Think

You ever wake up, looking forward to your day, and then get a phone call, email, or text that upends everything? Yeah, you know those days, right? The days you wish you would never have gotten out of bed, or called in sick to binge watch Netflix or get on your XBOX and get in some Call of Duty.

The key to getting through these days is to realize how important our attitude is. All of us get these “little surprises”. They are as common as breathing. So what do I mean by attitude?

Our attitude relates to how we deal with these surprises. Do we take them in stride or do we let them blow away our whole day, week, or month?

What I have found to be most effective is to not react so quickly. Take some time to understand what this surprise is asking of you. Do you need to fill out a form, make a phone call, or seek someone’s council? Decide what you need to do with whatever you got blindsided by. It may be as simple as marking a date on a calendar to revisit when you can do something about it. In other circumstances, you may need to sit down and put together a plan of action.

This planning phase takes a lot of “edge” off of the surprise and gets you thinking about how to solve the problem or finish this new task. The less emotion you are, the better. Just start brainstorming for ideas, write them down, decide which action makes the most sense, and plan out a course of action.

The next time you get blind-sided by something, take your time. Let the initial emotional reaction subside. Then think. You’ll find you always have a solution available.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – My Schedule

Tags

Achieve, Cardio and Strength Exercises, Drink Water, Eat consistently, Exercise Bands, Grind, healthy living, Move, Plan, Walking

Here’s my workout schedule for the week:

Mon – Sun

• Walk 10 minutes x 2
• Exercise Bands x 1 (full body strength training and bodyweight exercises)
• Get up and move around each hour
• 3 meals per day shooting for < 2500 calories
• Drink 1 gallon of water per day

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Weekly Review – Do Nothing Days – President’s Day

Tags

Catch Up, Do Nothing Days, Gauge, Plan, President's Day, Review, Track, Weekly Review

Hello, readers. I wanted to reach out to you today to discuss giving yourself a down day during your week. A down day allows you to contemplate what you’ve done, assess your progress toward your goals, and let you relax and enjoy quiet time with yourself. I use Sunday as my “do nothing day”.

Do Nothing Days and The Weekly Review

Having a day during the week where I can choose what I want to do is a great way to give my mind a break, have fun, and get caught up on things that required my attention during the week but fell to the wayside. It is also the day I do my laundry, clean up my office, and organize for the upcoming week.

There are daily habits I do not miss. I always meditate, read, write, and exercise. I also take time to spend on one of my classes I am taking to keep the brain engaged. The habits I stick to on Sundays are my critical to-dos I want to continue to build as strong habits.

The other thing I do is what I call a “weekly review”. This is a practice of taking stock of what I have done, where I am regarding my goals, and making a note of anything I must do in the upcoming week is not already in my planner. If you have not done a weekly review before or don’t know what it is, I recommend a book by David Allen called Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity. In this book, David describes best-practices for you to use for your weekly review.

Here’s a snapshot of what I do. I clean out my “Paper” Inbox. This is where I capture any snail-mail I receive during the week. This could be bills you have received. This could be magazines you haven’t glanced at. Then I look at all my ongoing projects. Am I on track with my book writing, my programming course, my other courses? How about my exercise routine? Is it working for me? What about my bucket list? Is it up-to-date? Are there other things I came up with during the week I want to add to my bucket list? Your weekly review will differ from mine, since you will have other priorities, other things you must do personally, and other ideas about the things you’d like to do with your life. Finally, I test my progress toward my goals.

What do I do for the rest of the day? I watch a movie I’ve tagged to watch; I get in some extra fiction reading; I go to a nice coffee shop and just hang out; I get in some video game playing. The sky is the limit. I strive to do something I don’t do the rest of the week to give my mind a break. I really enjoy doing mindless things that give me a mental and physical break.

President’s Day

Tomorrow is President’s Day. If you live outside the states, this holiday is where Americans celebrate the Presidents of the past and present. It is a national holiday recognized by most employers. This means that this is a 3-day weekend for those of my readership that still work at an office.

I use holidays as another day to relax and do what I want. I still work on my priorities but take it easy and do something fun. Playing video games, watching some TV, listening to music and enjoying a cup of coffee are my ideas of having fun.

My Weekly Review

I am on track with all my goals so far. I am well on my way to reading 48 books this year. I am making progress on my weight loss. I have changed my diet and enjoying the benefits. My writing is on track and I am making steady progress toward all my classes I am engaged in. I have no special appointments or activities to take care of this week and everything is in a state of flow. Today, I’ll get in some video game play after I have knocked out all my daily to-dos. One of my to-dos is to straighten out my home office and get laundry done. Besides that, the rest of the day is mine!

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday. I also hope you have something fun planned for President’s Day (If you celebrate this holiday).

Until next time…

Dave