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Mini Motivators by Sharon Crosby Looking for a few ideas to get motivated? Try stringing it along. In his book 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself, Steve Chandler gave an example of how when faced against the impossible a group of dedicated people were able to save lives through coming up with a series of small solutions to a huge problem. Chandler wrote about it this way, "They never gave up. They looked for partial solutions, and they declared that they would string these partial solutions together one at a time until they brought the men home safely." Not only can stringing together several small solutions to clutter help you stay motivated, but stringing several small motivating techniques together can work too. Try these few mini motivators to get you started, then add a few of your own. 1. Read about those who have overcome difficult odds. It doesn't have to be about someone who has overcome clutter. Oddly, one of the most motivating things for me was to read about the testing and training of Navy SEALs. These men choose to face incredibly grueling experiences to become part of the best military group in the world. I thought to myself, if these guys can do this, I can do the simpler task of doing something about my clutter. 2. Do something, anything. Doing things unrelated specifically to your problem can surprisingly help. Even when that problem is clutter. Steve Chandler, the author mentioned above, often takes a walk when he needs to feel motivated about a difficult task. After walking he feels ready to tackle the task at hand. As for myself, when I really decided to become clutter free I felt it too difficult to physically do something about the clutter itself. But I knew I had to do something. I made the choice to write. I filled a three ring binder with lined paper. And I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote. And as I wrote I became inspired to become clutter free. That journal continues to be an inspiration. 3. Pick up and properly take care of ONE piece of clutter. This is similar to the potato chip principle, "You can't eat just one." If you stand up to put away just one object you may find yourself putting another additional piece of clutter away as well. Usually I'll put away two, three, maybe four things away. One action can easily inspire you to take more. And even if you just put away that one item you can feel good about that. 4. Do something you find even more difficult. Few things can be as powerful as doing something you thought you couldn't do. I myself experienced this through an example of physical endurance. I'm not a strong runner. For that matter I'm just not strong either. So imagine my experience then of running laps with a group, each of us required to carry weights, our arms held akimbo at our hips. After the first lap I was already gritting my teeth and silently begging, "Please let me get through this...please let me get through this..." As the painful running went on and on I began to believe that if I could do this I could do just about anything. Though my arms, legs, and lungs burned I survived. And I realized I could do just about anything...including becoming clutter free and helping others do the same. So what do you say? Do you think you're capable of tying a few odds'n'ends of motivating ideas together? By themselves they may not amount to a lot. But each item is a motivating pearl that put together becomes a beautiful string of successes. Copyright
2001 Sharon Crosby - Mind Over Clutter |
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© 2001-2007 Mind Over Clutter |