Life Lesson

Then list absolutely everything you have to do to make that project you’re working on succeed.

If the evaluation isn’t enough to get you to stop moving forward, then certainly seeing how long of a list it ends up being will.

If you want to get unstuck, it pays to prioritize, to focus on a few key to-dos.

Having a few enables you to select a combination of easy (drip, drip, drip) tasks and larger scarier ones (the leaps, if you will).

And if you’d like to get stuck there too, either select all easy tasks or all massive undertakings.

Crazy to consider just how easy it is to get stuck.

Crazier yet to realize all it takes to get unstuck is action.

Stay Positive & One Step After The Other

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Fear and shame and vulnerability don’t arrive so you can run from them.

Nothing meaningful would get done if you did that.

Rather, they arrive to remind you that you’re onto something.

The best action you can take is to dance with the resistance.

Sure, it might step on your toe while you tango, but if that’s what you need to go through to make the change you seek then it sounds like a worthy trade-off to me.

Stay Positive & One, Two, T-A-N-G-O

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The thing about the gauntlet is that the more you go through it, the better you get.

The other thing about the gauntlet is that once you stop, once you’re out, it’s quite scary to get back in and it’s unlikely you’ll pick up from where you left off.

So they say, if you’re going through hell, keep on going.

Stay Positive & Hopes Up High, Head Down Low

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Deadlines don’t need to only be for projects in progress.

They can be for meetings or emails, too.

They can be for connecting with others and having greater empathy today than you did yesterday.

Deadlines don’t just drive progress in work, they can drive progress in life, too–so long as we set them.

Stay Positive & Ready SET Go

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Our default setting is to seek reassurance and it’s strongest when we’re uncertain about something or when there’s a feeling of risk.

We needn’t ask around for others to offer us any certainty, though.

Clarity can be found in recalling who it’s for, who is the target, who is being impacted by the change you seek to make.

When you can make it about them (because that’s how it all started, anyway), you won’t need all that reassurance.

If it’s right for them, then it’s right.

Stay Positive & Back To Work

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You know what it’s like to know that there’s a trip you’ll be taking in the near future. Maybe it’s spring break or maybe it’s a summer holiday.

You know what it’s like to have plans to look forward to on the weekend. Maybe it’s seeing friends you haven’t in awhile or trying out a new restaurant.

But do you know what it’s like to have something to look forward to later today?

We know it makes getting up easier, rolling with the punches easier and, generally speaking, it makes us happier throughout the day.

So why don’t we have anything?

Stay Positive & Blackhawks Play Tonight, Maybe That’s Your Jam?

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People often ask how I stay so busy (in the positive sense). And my answer is always this:

I start with one thing. I accept one invitation or offer to help someone or project I’ve been daydreaming about. I leap over the fear just once.

Because that one thing inevitably leads me to connect with others and those connections inspire other meaningful work.

A quick example.

Had I never volunteered to work on a local guidebook, I wouldn’t have been introduced to a remarkable author who I’ve since done work for. Had I not done that, I wouldn’t have learned about a specific group of people who have helped me in my marketing career with a new client, which wouldn’t had inspired a fresh idea for a book I’m writing.

If you’re stuck in a rut, simply start with one thing. That’s it. One.

Stay Positive & Because It Leads To Another, Leads To Another, Leads To Another

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