Eating the Elephant

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

I know that there are so many aspect of my business that need improvement. I need to be more consistent, my Pinterest, my Instagram, my Facebook page. I need to be better about bookkeeping, I want to organize my planner stuff (good luck Amy Lee!) I want to eat better and throw away things we don’t use. I want to exercise and get back to crochet- I want to do all the things- and suddenly when I look at this list- I am immediately overwhelmed and guess what I end up doing???

Playing on my phone ( did you know I’m up to level 145 In Wizard of oz?)
Checking FB
Watching Netflix

Not very productive right?
I get so discouraged that I can’t do it all that I just do NOTHING!

You might find the same applies to you with your goals. Maybe you want to be thinner, maybe you want to swim the English Channel, maybe you want to write a book- whatever the case may be, like it or not goals can be seriously daunting. This goes tenfold for the really big goals- the ones that give us any true fulfillment. The first day it seems super easy. You get out your trusty pen and paper and make out that list, and happily check things off, then day two comes and your enthusiasm wanes, and by the 4th day you are already talking yourself out of your plan because it’s just too hard… Sound familiar? Of course it does, because it happens to the BEST OF US!

I have fallen into this trap of overwhelm so many times, that I have decided to compile, for both myself and for you, a list of steps you can take to help you eat the elephant, and accomplish the big tasks! Before you know it you will be immune to any morale busting mess that comes your way!

Read on!

1.Figure out the big picture- What is the end result you are trying to achieve? Try not to get bogged down with the details along the way. For example, if your goal was to clean out your closet- you want to focus on that clean closet- the END result, not the piles of laundry you have to pick up, or the shoes that need to find their mates- Just the end result. I want a closet I can walk into without having to up my insurance coverage. Poof- Done

2.Feel as if- You need to trick your mind, body and soul into thinking this is a done deal. More on that later- Imagine in your mind’s eye what having that clean closet is going to feel like for you. What will it feel like to walk in there without handbags falling from the sky. Literally close your eyes and see what it looks like. Pretty huh? The more details you can put into this visualization the better you are going to be able to FEEL it!

3.Compartmentalize- Break Big Bad goal into tiny bite sized pieces. Maybe one piece is to fold all your tee shirts, and another is to match all the orphan socks, then vacuuming- each of these tasks is separate- it is important that you break them down as such, for two reasons: The first is that by breaking them down into smaller pieces, they don’t seem as daunting, and should you get interrupted or not have much time at once, you have a greater likelihood of accomplishing something that will feel worthwhile. the second is that you will have a lot more “checked off” when the end seems so far away and these little victories will help propel you toward the home stretch!

4.Don’t switch task!- This is a huge trap I fall into when trying to accomplish something and if you can master this tendency you are a better person than I, my friend! If you are in the closet, gathering up your hand-bags and stoop down to see a sock that fell under the shelf, your inclination is to pick up the sock, and bring it to the hamper, which you notice is overflowing- but you want to be productive and so you throw the sock in, squish down the dirty pile into the hamper and schlep it off down the hall to the laundry room, where you notice the cat box is full… you see where this is going? It’s like Give a Mouse a Cookie, but the adult non-productive self esteem busting version. No bueno! Instead you need to focus on the task at hand. Purse collection is the task, and so the only thing we are going to do is gather up those babies like the Pied Piper of Hand-bags.. yeah… him. If something else rears it’s ugly head, remind it that it has to wait it’s turn and KEEP going!!!!

5.Be Patient- This is another one that really trips people up. We want our goal and we want it now! Impatience is the killer of ummm… patience… And yeah, you can totally get discouraged if you don’t meet your goal right away. That is normal and also something you can gently remind yourself of: Rome wasn’t built in a day right? Say your goal is something huge like having 20k followers on Instagram- No way is that going to happen overnight, I don’t care who you are- So you need to set some little goals along the way to hold you over… Say 10 people a week? That sounds much more reasonable and guess what? The more of those little goals you reach the closer you are to the big one! Then you get to start the process all over! As I always say, Progress is a Process!

6.CELEBRATE!!!! When you hit that goal, (and you will hit it if you follow these steps.) make sure to shout it from the rooftops! Take yourself somewhere fancy or buy yourself those Hunter boots you have been eyeing! You just did something absolutely amazing! When you get to that icky despair point again (and you will get there,) remember how you feel RIGHT THIS MINUTE and use that feeling of euphoric joy in the visualization phase of your next goal.

The key to accomplishing big things is to trick your brain into thinking they are small ones. Then let it watch as you smash goal after goal, finding joy and fulfillment every step of the way!

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