This sounds very Zen-nish but nonetheless, a very critical point. It is important to reflect and understand what makes you (YOU). Your chances of effectively incorporating into your lifestyle anything you read in this blog (and just about anything online) increases many folds if you first understand how you tick.
The big Idea today is this:
Know yourself – your weakness, strength, idiosyncrasies and all – and use that to your advantage.
The point here is to really understand yourself, use your strengths and temper your weaknesses to achieve what you want in life (and here is where we get all Zen-nish).
- If you are a perfectionist and will only start when conditions are right, you may want to try the Kaizen 1-minute method
8 out of 10 of Perfectionist I know would never admit it even at gun point. Fellow Perfectionist, do not self-evaluate, take your trusted friends’ word on this!
Perfectionist are sometimes the worst procrastinators. You may hear phrases like “I do not have enough time now”, “I need to find out more first” and “Now is not the right time” from them. In the quest of getting it right the first time, it sometimes prevents them from doing something immediately.
The Kaizen 1-minute method I came across 2 years back really helps in this case. The crux of it is simple – the more pleasant the experience, the more likely we will repeat it. The idea is to commit to spend just ONE minute a day to focus on self-enrichment activity. Yes, you read right, just one minute. Now, that sounds less intimidating and what you will find is that you may end up spending more than a minute because you enjoyed the experience so much.
- If you appreciate beauty/art and all that is beautiful in this world but cringe every time you pass the mirror just out from the shower, give the before/after selfie trick a try
In Tim Ferriss’ book “The 4-Hour body”, he went as far as to suggest taking a photo of yourself from front, back and side in underwear or a bathing suit and then sticking the “Before” picture on your refrigerator or mirror. I bet you would reach for that bag of potato chips less often.
Word of caution – please keep this private with lock and key, you do not want this shared all over social media.
- If you are health conscious but fear you are in the high-risk group due to genetic predispositions, start off with that as your source of WHY power for you to do start out.
A very close colleague of mine experienced heart attack like symptoms 12 years ago and made the decision to stop smoking immediately after. Happy to report that he has stopped smoking for the last 12 years. Of course, don’t wait till that happens!
- If you are one who fears failing on your commitments to someone you love, like me, turn that into an advantage.
What makes you (YOU), what you believe in, what you stand for and what you really want… you gotta spend quiet time asking yourself, writing it down.
With that, I leave you with a phrase from Bene Gesserit.
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” – Bene Gesserit “Litany Against Fear”, from Frank Herbert’s Dune.
…And for those who are sticking on to know more about my predicament, read on.
My Weakness
I am a chronic procrastinator. You would always hear me say “I will do it later” and it drives my wife absolutely nuts. It annoyed her so much that I would find, on the way out for work, she would plant a box of unwanted goods right at our doorway. This was her Final reminder that I have not made that trip to the donation bin. I was at least wise enough to get it out of the house by then. But yeah, that is me.
(At the point of writing, I have finally bought the replacement part for the leaking sink tap three days ago. But it is still sitting there beside the sink tap – “I will get it done later today Honey” :P)
My Strength
Another thing about myself is that I am a Stickler when it comes to keeping commitments made to someone dear. So, when I say I will be there at a certain time, I do my best to be there 5 minutes before (9 out of 10 times and that is great by Malaysian “on the way” standards). It is the same thing when I have given my word to help a friend out with something.
This is what I do
When I feel strongly in my heart of hearts about something, I broadcast to my family and trusted friends what and by when I will get it done. Now, I have no way of backing out without giving an embarrassing or lame excuse. Darren – 1, Procrastination – 0.
What I found was that this does not always work for everyone. I made this shocking discovery while I was sharing this trick in a lunch and learn session I was facilitating in hopes that it would help kickstart others to apply what we have learnt to life. One of the participants told me that while they were happy for me, this individual felt it would not work in all cases since it takes a lot for some people to get fired up. Not everyone is commitment driven. Truly insightful.
Fit Couch Potato 