Last spring, I had a blast spending a relaxing weekend with the Primal Potential Masters Club. One of the fun things we did was a book swap. We each brought a book we loved – fiction or non fiction – and we drew numbers to choose the one we wanted. It was like a Yankee swap, but with our favorite books. For a book nerd like me, it was the best thing ever!
One of her short passages about procrastination really inspired me and gave me a new perspective on delay:
Don’t allow the energy of procrastination to create a staleness surrounding your dreams
Think about that. Procrastination isn’t just about waiting. It’s not just about delay and putting things off. Procrastination makes your dreams stale.
Putting off until tomorrow what you could (or should) do today takes the air out of the balloon of your goals and dreams. It extinguishes your enthusiasm and excitement.
Just for today, make no excuses. Don’t put off action towards your goals. Do anything and everything you can in order to move forward.
Procrastination makes your dreams become stale. Don’t wait! Do all you can do today!
Most of you know that I’m a voracious reader and I love to learn about all sorts of topics – nutrition, physiology, endocrinology, language, investing and so much more! After finishing my manuscript at the end of September, I was most excited about having more time to listen to (and read) books!
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, please click play. Otherwise, keep reading below.
The other day, while listening to a book about real estate investing (a personal passion of mine), I heard something that I was immediately excited to share with you!
Let me set the stage. This guy wanted to get started with real estate investing but he didn’t have any money. In fact, he was struggling to pay his bills each month. One of his biggest bills was his truck payment. He owed more on his fancy truck than it was worth. He decided to sell the truck to reduce his monthly expenses. But…
He didn’t know how to sell a truck he didn’t own (the bank still owned it). In money-speak, he was upside down on the truck. He owed more than he could get for it.
He wanted to do a private sale because he’d get much more money for his truck than if he traded it in. But, he felt stuck because he knew he wouldn’t get what he owed for the truck. Without paying off the loan, he couldn’t get the title. Without getting the title, he couldn’t sell the truck to a private buyer.
He didn’t know what to do, but he didn’t throw his hands up and decide it couldn’t be done. Instead…
He told himself, “I don’t know how to sell this truck when I’m upside down on it, but I know how to vacuum the truck and that’s free.”
He cleaned it out and cleaned it up.
Then he thought, “I don’t know how to sell this truck when I’m upside down on it, but I know how to take some pictures of it and that’s free.” He took the pictures.
Next he thought, “I don’t know how to sell this truck when I’m upside down on it, but I know how to create a Craiglist ad and that’s free.” So, he did.
He proceeded on like that, doing the next small step and not worrying about how to figure it out first.
Sure enough, he learned as he went and he sold the truck.
Trucks and loans aside, his point is much greater than the truck.
You might not know how to lose 40 pounds. That doesn’t matter. You can eat one fat loss friendly meal.
You might not know how to get out of your funk, but you can choose gratitude right now, in this moment.
You don’t have to figure it out. You just have to take the next step.
I didn’t know how to write a book, but I knew how to come up with a list of topics.
I didn’t know how to write a book, but I knew how to summarize the message I wanted to deliver with a book.
You can take your next step, right now. Stop holding yourself back because you don’t know how to complete the 4th, 7th or 200th step.
Stop holding yourself back because you anticipate some future obstacle.
Just do the next thing right now. Vacuum the truck.
In each episode between now and the end of the year, I’m determined to help you make progress, one day at a time. Today, we’re taking a look at what isn’t working for you right now. When we evaluate, without drama or judgement, what’s not working and what’s holding you back, we step into a tremendous amount of power.
What doesn’t work is not cause for frustration, loss of enthusiasm or giving up! We get too frustrated too fast. We stop trying too quickly. That’s why I keep an Edison bulb in my work-space. It reminds me to KEEP the enthusiasm. It reminds me to keep trying. It reminds me to never give up.
Thomas Edison and his team tried THOUSANDS of filaments before they go their lightbulb to work. Each one that DIDN’T work wasn’t some big dramatic failure. It was PROGRESS.
Today’s episode of the Primal Potential podcast is all about learning from what doesn’t work INSTEAD OF getting frustrated and dramatic about it! Use it to move you forward!
From there, we’re going to establish new options. What else could you do? What could you adjust, just for today?
We aren’t trying to change everything at all once, but what we’re looking to identify today are the destructive choices that happen either most often or have the most significant impact on your life.
If you’re ready to make small changes that will create a big impact, don’t miss today’s episode!
I am doing a bit of celebrating this weekend because I finished the final manuscript for my first book last week! I am SO excited to reach this milestone and even more excited to share it with you! It should be out in early January and yes, there will be an audiobook. Yes, I will be reading it. I can’t wait!
But, that’s not what I’m here to tell you about today. Writing a book was (professionally) the hardest thing I’ve ever done! As I reflected on this process, I walked away with one powerful lesson that I KNOW will help me in every area of my life.
If you’d rather listen to this email than read it, please click play. Otherwise, keep reading below.
I have always told myself that I have a really short attention span and am easily distracted. As I’m sure you can imagine, when you believe that about yourself, writing a book is exceedingly hard.
For months and months, I would sit down to write and tell myself that story. This is hard. I can’t focus. I get distracted so easily!
Inevitably, I’d struggle to focus and I wouldn’t get much done. Every hour felt like 10 hours, even if I only got 7 minutes of actual writing done. It was mentally exhausting. At times, it felt like torture!
One day, I asked myself, “If I were the kind of writer I want to be, what would that look like?”
I’d be excited to write. I have so many thoughts and ideas I want to share, I’d be eager to put them on paper. I’d be patient with the process while also committed to it. I’d resist distractions because I know I can’t create a great book and give in to every fleeting thing.
After writing that out, I said to myself, “Great! Be that person for the next 5/10/15 minutes!” Behave that way for this set period of time. Then, take a break.
It worked EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.
It taught me, quite effectively, that I can choose which story to believe in.
I can choose to believe I can’t focus. I can choose to believe that I can. I can choose to believe I can’t resist distractions or I can choose to believe that I can.
It’s really not about my past pattern. It’s about my present choice.
In episode 523 of the podcast I’m sharing how you can apply this strategy to any moment of struggle or towards any goal you have. Don’t miss that episode!
In episode 521 of the podcast, I shared my personal story of becoming debt free. I go into detail about how I started, the process I followed and how I handled struggles like my then-husband not being totally on-board with the idea. I also had my sister on the show – she is currently paying down her debt and overcoming the hurdles of massive student loans and a modest salary. In today’s episode I’m answering all your questions about money and debt including:
How to start when you’ve been ignoring your financial situation
How to become debt free when you’re barely making ends meet
How to stick to a budget
How to budget for personal indulgences (new clothes, spa treatments, etc)
How to handle a spouse who is a spender when you’re a saver
How to prioritize weight loss while getting out of debt
How to eat healthy on a budget
How to save and invest at the same time
Please note that I am not a financial advisor. I am sharing my experience and personal opinions and I do not purport to be a financial expert. I am not. For your own financial advice, please contact a financial expert.
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.
