Friday, December 08, 2006

Take it on the chin

Procrastination is killing you.

On the theme of growth, I think that the single most important habit that's helped me to move forward rapidly is the adoption of the attitude of "taking it on the chin". What this means is simply doing the hardest stuff first and then plowing through the easier stuff later. Practically speaking, I make lists of stuff to do each week and when I'm feeling bullish, I hit the nastier stuff first. This is when I'm at my best and when good things start to happen. When I'm at my worst, this grittier stuff stays on the list and then gets carried over onto the next list (ie procrastinated). Taking it on the chin works well with learning too. I have an expectation that I'm going to be taking my lumps while learning something new and usually when I actually get down to it, my perception of what was to come was much worse than the reality of actually going through with it. In a masochistic sense, this makes steep learning curves fun.

Might not work for you 'cuz I have a high pain threshold but worth sharing.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

you pose interesting thoughts to consider. i will ponder them awhile.