Motivation123 Blog

Today I’m going to ask you something.

It’s a simple question, but powerful nonetheless. It can quickly snap you out of any rut and motivate in just a few seconds.

It works so well because we like to fool ourselves. We say, “I really want (fill in the blank), but it’s going to have to wait. Someday, I’ll make it happen.”

The truth is that it won’t happen, not if we continue following the same routine.

But that’s not fun to think about, so we rationalize and deceive ourselves and ultimately lock our hopes away in a pretty little basket called someday.

Today’s question is a wake-up call, if you let it sink in. So do yourself a favor and let it.

Ask: If I don’t change what I’m doing each day, will I ever get what I want?

Are your daily actions bringing you closer to your goals? If not, don’t expect things to change anytime soon.

It might feel good in the moment to believe in someday, but you can’t hide from the truth–you have to do something different to get something different.

If what you’re doing today isn’t going to bring you closer to what you want, stop fooling yourself. Start doing something different.

The Spanish have a proverb:  Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week. Clever wordsmiths, those  Spaniards.

We all procrastinate. We dawdle and delay, dally and defer. My  office floor is still home to a pile of papers that needed filing two months  ago; I’m waiting for them to stop dallying and file themselves.

Whatever  the task, whatever the excuse, the tips below will help you do today what most  people put off to next month.

1. Ask yourself, What’s the holdup? People  procrastinate for many reasons. Some fear failure. Some avoid boring jobs.  Others shy away from getting tangled in a complicated mess (i.e., my pile of  papers). Knowing the cause of the problem may open your eyes to an obvious  solution.

2. Do you need to do it? Simple question, but it’s a good one.  Sometimes we put something off because it’s not important. If you don’t really  need to do it, free yourself of the mental burden and drop the task from your  to-do list.

3. Ask for help. I have an ancient window mechanism that  takes the effort of a drawbridge operator to open. Last month, unsurprisingly,  it broke. Someone had to fix it, but I was hoping that someone wasn’t me. So I  put it off.

After weeks of gazing at the window without actually doing  anything, I asked a friend to help. It wasn’t only because I have the mechanical  skills of an uncoordinated squid; I knew it would get me moving.

4.  Commit just five minutes. That’s it–just 300 seconds. Telling yourself you only  have to do something for a sliver of time does two things.

It transforms  a big job into a tiny matter: Five minutes? I can do that. And because getting  started is the hardest part, once your five minutes is up you’ll often drive  right on through to the finish.

5. Focus on the end. Thinking about how  you’ll feel when you’ve done whatever needs to be done may motivate you to make  it happen.

I don’t much like to organize, but I love to be organized.  This is what I focus on–the feeling of having everything in its place, clean  and tidy–when I need to declutter a space. Although my pile of papers proves  that I have some work to do.

6. Just do it. Quit stalling. Quit  rationalizing. Stand up, walk to the danger zone, and get to work.

Stress is serious business. It can break down our bodies just as quickly as it breaks down our minds. Try a few of these tips to see if you can limit its negative effects.

1.It’s the Little Things

With the tax deadline looming, it’s important to stay cool and not stumble into a nervous breakdown; major events have a way to bringing out the crazy in us. But did you know that small annoyances can actually lead to bigger problems?

Clinical professor at the University of Colorado, James Ehrlich, MD, says, “For some people, the little stressors we face every day are more damaging to health over the long term than the really big things, like a death in the family or a car accident.”

The reason, Ehrlich says, is that “Today, many people live in stress mode all the time, and the constant release of steroids like adrenaline and cortisol can lead directly to diseases like diabetes, heart disease, depression and cancer, and indirectly to bad health habits like undersleeping and overeating.”

A messy house or tiff with a friend might seem like a small matter, but it’s not. Take care of these little concerns and you’ll go a long way in cutting down on stress, protecting your health, and ratcheting up your happiness.

2. The Truth About Fog

I just found this statistic and had to share it with you. Not only is it interesting, but it can also help you regain perspective when things start to unravel.

According to the Bureau of Standards, “A dense fog covering seven city blocks, to a depth of 100 feet, is composed of something less than one glass of water.”

Can you imagine? Something so big actually fitting into a drinking glass.

It’s a lot like our worries. They seem enormous, but are actually much, much smaller. In fact, studies show that 92% of the thing people worry about: never happen (40%), can’t be changed (30%), are needless health concerns (12%), or are trivial worries that don’t actually matter (10%). Just 8% of what you worry about is worth all that worry. A mighty fog has been pushed into a tiny glass.

3. A New Route to Work

Here’s a simple tip you can use later today. Researchers at Ohio State University found that students who viewed a driving video of a scenic pathway through a park showed less signs of stress than students who watched videos of highway driving with strip malls and billboards.

It might take a bit longer, but a scenic drive to and from work may be just the break you need to wash the stress out of your system.

4. Quick Fix

Need to relax in a hurry? Lynn Ponton, MD, suggests lying on the floor with your hands under your face, breathing deeply and slowly, for five minutes. With how good it feels to relax, I think it’s worth a shot.

5. Ancient Wisdom

India’s 5,000 year-old medical guide, the Ayurveda, speaks of ‘marma’ points in the ears (aka. acupuncture points) that correspond to particular parts of your body. For instant relief, rub the outer edge of your ears with each hand. I’ve tried it. It works.

6. The Best Medicine?

Laughter has long been touted as nature’s best medicine. Not a bad thought, given the facts about laughter’s effect on the body. Did you know that laughing has been scientifically proven to reduce muscle tension, get the heart, lungs, and diaphragm working (easy exercise!), and increases the production of endorphins (natural painkillers)?

It’s true. And there’s more.

Not to go technical on you, but medical research scientists Dr. Lee Berk and Dr. Stanley Tan at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine found that laughing also “lowers serum cortisol levels, increases the amount of activated T lymphocytes, increases the number and activity of natural immune system killer cells, and increases the number of T cells that have helper / suppresser receptors.” In other words, you boost your immune system when you laugh.

Who would have thought the class clown could make you live longer?

Now, you could wait until something strikes you as funny. Or you could be proactive. With all of the benefits, why not put yourself in a situation that is likely to make you laugh?

Read humorists (I like Ian Frazier and S. J. Perelman). Page through comics (Calvin and Hobbes fan here). Listen to comedy albums (Bob Newhart, anyone?).

Watch funny movies. Learn new jokes. Go to a comedy club, spend time with a funny friend, or actually open one of the forty-seven forwards your co-worker sends you every day.

You could also fake it. Just as a forced smile can improve your mood, fake laughter can trigger the same benefits as the real thing. Go ahead, give it a try.

So, what about you?

What do you do to relax? And what makes you laugh? Leave your comments below.

A fascinating look at experiencing life at a new level, at the level of flow.

Something to think about–so what do you think? Let me know in the comments. And if you enjoyed the video, spread the word using the Share Me links below. Thank you!

Just Released! The Procrastination Report will teach you simple tips and tricks to stop putting things off and start making things happen.

You can get it free for a short time here: http://www.motivation123.com/procrastination-report.html

Do you procrastinate? Put things off to tomorrow that you could do today?

You’re not alone.

One study found that 95% of people occasionally procrastinate. You’re in good company.

So why do we do it?

Though many theories are out there, here are four common reasons we put stuff off.

1. We think it’s difficult: When the task seems hard to do, we naturally avoid it in favor of something easy. This explains why so many tax payers wait until April 14 to get down to business.

2. We think it’s time consuming: With our time always in short supply, something that seems ready to gobble large blocks of time is going to be set aside. “We’ll have more time on the weekend,” we say, “so we’ll tackle it then.”

3. We think we don’t know enough: Few people like to make mistakes, so instead of taking real action we turn to study and research. We keep learning more (from the safety of home) until we feel safe to start. Then, when we feel ready…we learn some more.

4. We think people will judge us: Engineers don’t get engineer’s block; accountants don’t get accountant’s block. But writers? Oh, they get blocked. And one possible reason is the fear of getting criticized. Because they worry so much about what people will think, they put off the writing, or, worse, work themselves into a lather that we call writer’s block.

The solution to these problems? As simple as it sounds, just tell yourself the opposite. (I told you it would sound simple.)

We talk to ourselves–a lot. Often it’s everyday chatter about what we’re going to do or what you would have said to that nasty Target cashier if given a second chance. But we also talk ourselves into procrastination.

When a task or chore or goal pops into our heads, we often run through one or more of the common traps above. We convince ourselves, even before starting, that it’s going to be hard, or time consuming, or mistake prone, or judged.

That’s why a new conversation–a controlled conversation–is so helpful. You can stop the problem before it has a chance to kick in.

The next time you have to do something, consciously tell yourself:

1. It’s not so hard.

2. It won’t take that long.

3. I’m sure I can do it, or at least learn as I go.

4. No one really cares about what I’m doing; they’re worried about their own problems.

One more tip.

A study in the December 2008 edition of Psychological Science found that people are more likely to put things off when they focus on WHY they should do it as opposed to HOW it should be done.

When tax time rolls around–or anything else you habitually put off–think about concrete ways to get it done. Don’t worry about the why.

So what do you put off? How do you beat procrastination? Let us know in the comments below!

Seth Godin–former VP Direct Marketing for Yahoo!, creator of Squidoo.com, writer of the most popular business blog in the world, author of ten best-selling books, and one of the most popular speakers around the globe–”sat” down with me for an interview (via e-mail) about his latest book, Linchpin.

JG: I’d like to begin by thanking you on behalf of myself and my subscribers. We appreciate your time and willingness to share your thoughts. You’ve said that Linchpin is the most important book you’ve written, your life’s mission. What is that mission? Why did you write it?

Seth: There’s a massive change going on in our world, a revolution. It’s the death of the industrial era, and a lot of people, innocent people, are getting hit hard by the changes that are happening.

I think there’s a huge opportunity here, a chance to make a difference and to find one’s calling, and I felt as though my readers could take advantage of it… if they could only see how the rules have changed.

JG: An idea that many can relate with–especially those looking for motivation–is the concept of the lizard brain. Can you describe that for us?

Seth: The lizard brain is an actual part of our brains, a pre-historic vestige responsible for fear and anger and revenge and reproduction. The lizard brain wants you to fit in, not stand out, to play it safe and to not be laughed at.

It’s pretty clear that back in the day, this was a good survival strategy. It isn’t any longer.

JG: Fear is the number one obstacle to change. It keeps our goals and dreams at bay and works hard to maintain the status quo. Though every approach to overcoming fear is unique, how do you personally quiet the lizard?

Seth: That’s a lizardy question, because whatever I do won’t work for you, thus giving the lizard an edge! I think the general idea is to either defeat it through force of will, create systems that fade the volume or just sit with it and let it freak itself out because you refuse to join in.

JG: Many people are stuck in a routine that saps the life out them. They want to be passionate about something, but aren’t sure what that something is. What do you say to those waiting to find their “thing” before acting and shipping? (Shipping, in Seth’s terms, is about making things happen. Ship your ideas, get them out the door.)

Seth: There isn’t one thing. If we had taken Catcher in the Rye away from Salinger, he would have written something else. If Steve Jobs hadn’t done the Mac, he would have done something else. Ship, relentlessly.

JG: There seems to be a powerful thread connecting your recent work. What is the driving force behind that work, the purpose you hope to achieve?

Seth: I think we are living in a revolution, one fraught with risk or filled with opportunity. Will we use it create a better world, treat people with respect, race to the top and do work we’re proud of? Or will we rationalize a race to the bottom?

JG: You can tell so much from a man or woman by their greatest dream and greatest fear. So, what is your greatest dream? What is your greatest fear?

Seth: They’re the same. To use this moment to leverage these ideas in a way that somehow is worthy of the chance I have.

JG: You’ve certainly done that, Seth. Without doubt. I want to thank you again for taking the time to talk with us and bring us all one step closer to becoming linchpins. I know I speak for everyone reading when I say we can’t wait to have you back.

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This was the first of several interviews with Seth. I’ll let you know when the next is scheduled and posted. Until then, please check out his site, his blog, and Linchpin. Visit: http://sethgodin.com/

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement.