By Sunny Simon
The other night at a meeting the speaker entertained us with her inspiring story. The premise of the talk involved the strategy of “eating your frog first thing.” The frog symbolizes the call you detest making, the project you haven’t started, the memo you dread drafting, any task you wish would magically vanish from your to do list.
The frog concept brought me back to the Dale Carnegie strategy of tackling that big hairy revolting thing as the first call of business. No deliberation, no procrastination, just soldier on and get it done!
Most mornings I arrive at my office ready to pounce on Sir Frog. On other days I kind of dance around it wishing I had a magic wand to poof him away.
Does this ever happen to you? It’s sitting there in the middle of your workspace. You stare at it not wanting to disturb the creature. So you poke around it, by accomplishing a number of mundane items that didn’t even make the days to do list.
Next you take a coffee break or check in with your friends on Facebook, convinced he will go away if ignored. Not a chance! That sucker is here to stay until you muster up the courage to take action.
Intellectually we know we should take a deep breath, dive in and deal with it. Procrastination takes over and we lose precious time.
Let me share a helpful process I use to prod myself into doing battle with my unwanted visitor. Recalling another gem gleaned from Carnegie I ask myself what is the worst thing that could happen if I take action? My apprehension begins to diminish. Surely the absolute worst will not happen.
A second excellent tactic is to visualize the reward. I imagine doing a happy dance once I deal with the issue and picture myself getting on with my day.
Another strategy involves reminding myself of something one of my mentors preached…”even a turtle doesn’t get ahead unless she sticks her neck out.” That little bit of advice prods me into action. Surely I have more fortitude than a turtle!
Once the deed is done, it sometimes turns out like the fairy tale. You know the one where you kiss the frog turning him into a handsome prince. Yes, dealing with an undesirable task may bring surprising benefits.
The moral of the story is, find a way to kiss that frog each morning and enjoy the rest of the day!
Sunny Simon is the owner of Raise the Bar High Life and Career Coaching. More about Sunny at www.raisethebarhigh.com
