Motivation!

Personal crap you can skip if you just want to get to the point

I have A LOT to do in the next few weeks. Home involves being a single mom with an infant and a 4 year old and moving, and at work there are BIG time projects. If you know anything about EHR/ EMR and implementation take your worst nightmare involving it and multiply it by something unholy- like spam.

I get overwhelmed.  I am (read can be) an incredibly productive person, but when the opportunity arrives to tackle those things on my lists I kinda freeze.  Sure, I'm tired.  I have an infant, a 4 year old, a full time job... I have a right to relax.  And of course I decide to not only take on -and by take on I mean I freely volunteered,-and by freely volunteered I mean it was all my idea- a pretty large enterprise to get together backpacks for the homeless... I digress.

But what I do isn't just relaxing.  It's a little something I like to call pretending the outside world doesn't exist. 

This can be a useful tool for regrouping- a reason why I love rainy days.  What I have been doing is not the healthy,-useful-tool-for-relaxing kind of way. It's more of the avoiding-reality-and-the-fact-that-I-have-responsibilities (and really much more than normal) that-I-really-should-have-already-started-on kind of way. So instead of helping it just makes things harder.  It increases my desire to continue to pretend that the outside world doesn't exist.

Motivation- what you can do

1. One day at a time.  Seriously- you can only do what you can do.  Yes, it's smart to plan ahead- But don't let tomorrow consume you.  I can work on this myself, especially lately. 

There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.
— Dalai Lama

Go browse Dalai Lama and Zen quotes on Pinterest if you have a hard time with this.  He's a smart dude. He knows what he's talking about.

 I'm a list person.  Try making a couple of lists- a list for today (I make the ones that need to get done today stand out) and a list for things to attend in the future.  I started doing this at work, but now I do it at home, too. Writing it down helps get it out of your head.  You don't have to worry about forgetting it.  And it's there to add to your "today list" tomorrow.  

2. Surround yourself with positivity.  I LOVE quotes.  I collect them on notebooks, on Pinterest, I put them in places I'll see them- write it on the calendar, tack it up at work.  If I really need to remind myself of something I use a dry erase marker on the mirror, or put it eye level in a spot where things don't belong so it will catch my eye.  I set my desk top back ground.  

Also, pay attention to the company you keep.  I had a clean break from the friends in my life when I was 21 or so.  It was super tough at the time, but since then I have been able to chose who is and isn't a part of my life.  I can get amped up very easily.  I also believe that positive thinking is necessary for a happy, healthy life.  I don't needed added stress and drama- I have enough stressers and personal issues I need to work through.  NEGATIVITY IS A DISTRACTION FROM BEING THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF.   

3. Create a dream board.  I'm going to do this. I'll make it for life goals- figure out what I want. Remind myself I am moving towards something- and I can pick the direction I go. When I need a break I'll get creative instead of shutting down- and I'll give myself a time limit. I may start with Pinterest, then look into those smash book things I've heard about. Seems perfect for me. I like the idea of journaling, but don't want a "diary"-I'm nowhere near as profound as Anne Frank.  I'll theme the journals by a newly defined goal- or grouping of them.

4. Ask yourself what you want and set realistic goals. Woah.  You may think I planned this out, but I didn't even know I was going to list out the things on the picture until I started typing about lists.  I scrolled up to see number 4- and it looks like I just addressed how I plan to deal with this in 3.  And 3 is the reason I decided to make a blog after posting the picture on FB and saying I want to create a dream board to stay motivated.  Full circle... that I suppose you didn't need to know about.

But really- HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE HAPPINESS IF WE NEVER DEFINE WHAT IT IS THAT WILL MAKE US HAPPY?

5. Reward yourself.  I can't tell you how to go about it, but pick something that makes you happy.  If I get all this work done I'll drive an hour to the beach and take a walk. Or if cut my spending by x amount I'll get to do this with a percentage of what I saved.  Or I spent so many hours working on this skill I want, now I can get a tool or book that will further it, and I proved I'll use it.

6. & 7. Believe in yourself & acknowlede your attributes.  Do what it says.  Self doubt and low self esteem make you just as egotistical as someone who is full of themselves.  And it gets in the way of you being happy and achieving goals.  Everyone has flaws and good qualities.  Recognize what you excel at just as much as what you dislike about yourself so you can make some progress!  So cut the crap and know you can do it.

8. Recognize your progress.  And congratulate yourself.   I find getting a little bit done keeps me going.  Recognizing what you accomplished makes the rest lest daunting.

9. Visualize accomplishing your goals. You're more likely to succeed if you tell yourself you can than if you tell yourself you can't.

10. Be kind to yourself.  I can be a huge jerk to myself.  It slows us down if we're busy being mean to ourselves.  Imagine you're trying to lose weight.  2 weeks in you gain instead of lose.  Instead of being mean and discouraged- making us more likely to quit- saying, "I did really well for two weeks, I'll start over on Saturday and this time I know I can make it two weeks, but I'll aim for three weeks!"  Talk to yourself and forgive yourself for your perceived shortcomings as you would someone you love.  If you have kids this is a big one- they will learn how to treat themselves from how you treat yourself. 

11. Don't compare yourself to others.  Life isn't a contest.  Anyone who says it is is doing it wrong.  There will always be people more experienced or naturally good at certain things.  We all have our strengths and weaknesses... and now I'm turning into a broken record.

Ironically, this post took a lot of time away from all the things I planned on doing this morning... I'm feeling overwhelmed, but I'll get going on my list.  And

Anne Frank

One of my all time favorite quotes... and how old was she?  If she could feel that way, I sure as hell better figure it out. some others by her:

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.

Whoever is happy will make others happy too.

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.


The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.

It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.
Boys will be boys. And even that wouldn't matter if only we could prevent girls from being girls.

And finally I twist my heart round again, so that the bad is on the outside and the good is on the inside, and keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would so like to be, and could be, if there weren't any other people living in the world.

I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out.

Who would ever think that so much went on in the soul of a young girl?

I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.

No one has ever become poor by giving.

Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!