The Number One Secret to Getting Things Done

I'll give you a hint: it's the easiest thing in the world, but it's the hardest. There really is no other secret, which is a relief, but it means you cannot compromise on this step. There are different ways to get to this step, and people will try to tell you that you can trick yourself into liking this step through various techniques, but at the end of the day, there is only one secret to getting things done.

I'm not telling you what it is yet. Bear with me.

You may have noticed there weren't many posts here recently. That's because I was in QLD at a wonderful music festival with some friends I grew up with. The intensity and frivolity of the occasion was delicious, but it's left me giving myself excuses for not doing the things I would ordinarily do (i.e. hang out my washing, blog, sleep).

Want to know the secret I have come to terms with? Do it. Just do it. Like Nike. Like Steven Pressfield's  new book (Do the Work), which is free for Kindle/iPhone/any eReading device, thanks to the Domino Project (this is revolutionary for anyone interested in books or what they achieve. Sign up now.)

I used to overthink things. I know, hard to believe ;)

One day, I watched the Triplets of Belleville with a friend and I was busy trying to discover its deeper meaning when he said, "Um, let it go?" and that moment changed my life. So simple, so possible, so easy... so why did it feel so hard?

Because there's no compromise. Ready? Go. Do. It.

Who Do You Hold Close?

So, who do you hold close? Whoa re the people you surround yourself with?

How do these people impact the way you see the world each morning?

I've recently reviewed the blogs I follow. One of the bloggers expressed that he was having a very difficult time, and I was moved to share some words of encouragment, but that was all shut down when I read his response to a fellow commenter. She had encouraged him to be open to receiving help, but he quite definitely told her that he is no position to receive help, because of reasons she couldn't understand. His statement made me realize that I was a voyeur in his life; we had no relationship or connection, and so I had to evaluate what I wanted to receive from his blog.

This made me reconsider all the blogs I subscribe to... I know I have to choose what I receive into my life, and I have to evaluate where it comes from. I used to listen to moody music when I felt sad. It seemed to soothe the emotion. You know what I've come to see? That music only enforced the emotion and fed it. Now, when I feel deflated, I put on something upbeat, full of passion for life.

This has been the number one most helpful habit I have ever built into my life.

So what about you? Are you surrounded by voices which inspire you and mould your view of the world into something beautiful and full of the goodness of life? Who do you read or hold close? Leave links below for the rest of us to share :)

Who Will Remember You?

If anyone has not yet discovered grooveshark, do. Just do.

Typing "Remember Me" into the search bar turned up one of my favorite playlists of all time. It seems that those two words inspire a lot of beautiful, vulnerable songs.

It matters to us to be remembered.

It mattered to me that I'm not sure anyone reads this blog. It mattered to me that my friends seem to be succeeding in blogging and getting married and getting degrees and traveling and joining the Navy, and I wondered where my mark was on the world.

Want to know where my mark is? It's in being able to listen to my Dad and take his advice even when I think it's stupid.

My insight and foresight is so limited by my emotions and daydreams and Disney cartoons that I've almost fallen into some pretty big holes in my life. When I listen to wisdom, I make a mark in my own heart. I clearly remember the moments I listened to my Dad instead of racing down the aisle, and those have left a mark on me.

I am the only one who will remember every step of my life on this earth. Why should I be concerned about the impression I'm making on anyone else? I am content. I am headed in a good direction. I trust that the people older and wiser than me are not always right, but they are always older and wiser, and I trust the Lord takes care of the rest.

Want to agree? Argue?
Leave a comment :)

Where are you leaving your mark?

I've Been

I've been away :) And now I'm back. Back to work, back to winter (an early one, and our heater's broken), back to repainting the house and preparing for three months in Alaska this May.

I'm not sure if I left my life behind when I went on holidays - I didn't plan to - but I am giving myself excuses for being sluggish, because "I just got back from holidays." Of course, it doesn't help that I'm sunburned (wicked farmer's tan is developing as we speak) and I didn't get a full night's sleep the whole time we were away (thanks, noisy aunts and bajillions of cousins who were too much fun to be with).

But now, I am back. Even if it is only for a week before I go away again. Tough life, but it's the only one I've got ;)

How do you deal with changes in your routine? Do you leave your life behind and then have to pick it up, piece by piece, when you return? Or do you manage to keep the ball rolling even in your absence?

(Not) washing my hair and how to grow rich...

Who influences you?

This morning, I didn't wash my hair. And I don't plan to for quite a while... maybe forever, we'll see. Guess why this happened... Because of my dear friend, Katie, and this post about going poo-less. I've toyed with the idea before, sure, but it was Katie's words and her passion which tipped me over the edge.

It's only day 1, but I love the feeling of my hair and the idea that I don't have to wash buckets of money down the drain each year. She gave out her passion and her knowledge, and I benefitted from it. What do you think this does for her?

I was reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad today (great book; I'm glad I finally cracked open the copy my Dad bought me for a $1!), and I love the following excerpt:

It reminds me of the story of the guy sitting with firewood in his arms on a cold freezing night, and he is yelling at the pot-bellied stove, "When you give me some heat, then I'll put some wood in." And when it comes to money, love, happiness, sales and contacts, all one needs to remember is first to give what you want and it will come back in droves.


What about you? What do you want out of the world? What are you sowing in? 

Watching Memories Fly

We held a garage sale yesterday, in preparation for The Big Move.

It was disconcerting to watch objects from my memories fly away in someone else's hands. I'm convinced that these things had to go, and I was excited as I saw our piles growing smaller and smaller, so it wasn't too hard to let them go.

Life changes. I am not the girl I was when I hid that book from my brother 10 years ago. I am not the girl who sat on those chairs at Christmas and sulked because we got ham and not roast chicken. I am someone else.

This thought is intensely liberating. If I am not that girl, then I have no reason to still carry guilt about what that girl did. I have no reason to believe I am still that arrogant, nerdy little brat. I would not now do what she has done, so why carry vestigial remnants of her?

I was reading Poke the Box today, and I saw the value in this book for me, because it shows me where I still limit myself according to what I have been. Failure is the partner of exploration. Failure doesn't define us.

Praise the Lord that we can choose to be someone new every day and be open to the limitless possibilities.