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Start small…

Have I ever shared with you how I began my daily journaling practice? After years of wanting to, intending to, planning to … but never getting to it, I finally took a real first step. I’d read Julia Cameron’s, The Artist’s Way, where she said: “You must begin the practice of brain drain – just write what flows through your mind – every day, first thing out of bed. Write until you have filled 3 pages.”

To which at first I said, “THREE PAGES?!!!!!!!!!! You have to be kidding! I can’t take that kind of time.”

Then I decided to start small. I made a commitment to 3 minutes of writing first thing every day. Seriously! I set an alarm for 3 minutes so that I could forget about time but not overdo it and miss my next urgent commitment. Are you smiling yet?

Here is what happened. Those three minutes were easy to keep and I did… until they flowed into 5 minutes and 15 minutes and … Well, they flowed into a practice which amounted to:

“I can’t wait to sit with my journal each morning and write until I am done. Sometimes it is three or more longhand pages. Sometimes, it is writing until the tears flow and whatever is blocking me for the day brakes open and I am freed. Sometimes the words flow until a poem or song appear, unannounced and unplanned.”

What is it that you want to begin?
What small, consistent step will you take in that direction …
starting today?

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Toward the outcome…

CutToTheCore

Bring to mind a situation, relationship, belief that both challenges you and that you are ready to experience shift around.  

Got it?  Now:

 

  • What is the outcome you wish to achieve?
  • What is your tentative deadline?
  • What three main obstacles keep you from reaching this outcome?
  • What steps will take you beyond each obstacle?
  • What can you commit to doing and changing to reach these steps?

 

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Daily Structures … dealing with “the rest”

DONT

A recent post talked about choosing our daily activities with intention and re-choosing, or not, the activities in “today” that were planned “yesterday”. You can read more about this HERE.

Why do we put activities in our planners, “plan ahead”,
when we might not feel like it when they arrive?
Why not just wing it?

Beyond those activities that are date/time specific (i.e. the dentist appointment, kids’ sports, the networking event), I think we put tasks in our planners to save us from ourselves!

What? If you, like me, have big dreams and goals, major projects you would like to complete, you know that the steps along the way just might include those you can’t wait to do … and the rest. The rest includes the tasks that don’t light you up, that you aren’t sure you know how to do, that you perhaps really dislike doing. The rest need to be done, and often YOU need to do them.

Here is where the daily planner, the structure that some days you resent, is very helpful. We put tasks into the planner when we aren’t emotionally attached,  we aren’t fully invested in the negative energy we will feel when it comes time to do them. That is a gift! Our planner, the structure, keeps us on track when it reminds us that now is the time.

What do we do when we don’t feel like doing it?

We pause. We notice the resistance within us. We call to mind and heart the bigger reason that this task is on the list. We vision the dream fulfilled, the project completed. Then we return to that recent post:

Simplicity … again: the Choice

We choose with intention if and how we will follow the structure and do today’s planned task. If your choice is “do it”, please schedule in time to celebrate!

What structure, what task, do you face today?
What purpose is behind it?
What if you complete it?
What if you don’t?

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Simplicity … again: the Choice!

TheChoiceIsClear4By6

I suspect, like me, your day is filled with activities and interactions that were planned in the past. You chose them “then” yet here you are. Given the option, you might not have chosen them today!

The first and most important choice you make each day is this:

Will I follow through on today’s plan?

Sometimes, we need to respond NO. Perhaps illness or an urgent matter calls to us. Maybe we really need to change life direction and today’s plan no longer fits. If you are here with NO today, then make it a firm and powerful NO and set a new trajectory.

If, however, you responded YES, then make it a firm and powerful YES!

Whatever plan you are following, you have a second choice to make each and every day: How will I execute the day’s plan?

What energy will I bring to today’s moments?
With what spirit will I fulfill today’s commitments?
What will have me arrive at the pillow tonight
feeling fulfilled, grateful, whole, happy?

The Choice is Clear!

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Do you practice self-judgment?

Really, how well have you perfected the skill of self-judgment? What are the areas in  your life where your inner judge is particularly active?  What is the difference between judging and:

  • noticing
  • acknowledging
  • discerning

Next time you find your harsh, inner judge all too active, pause. Give the judge a rest and try being with yourself in a gentler, softer way. Take a deep breath. Notice. Acknowledge what is present. Discern what, if anything, you would like to shift and accept the rest for now. Take a step.

How does your being respond to gentle?