Time to March Forth!

Did you know that the first week of March is National Procrastination Month? 

I find it interesting that the fourth day of this month is called March 4th. What a great reminder for us to give more attention to the things in our lives that are important so we can march forth toward achieving our goals and realizing our dreams.

What stops you from marching forth?

Many people are paralyzed by mind overload. Compare your brain to the RAM in your computer. There's only so much storage space available before it's full and you need to delete some things or store them elsewhere. Just as computers fill to capacity, when you get too many Post-it notes in your brain, your RAM gets full.

There may be a lot of contributing factors to the number of "to-dos" you try to manage in your head. Perhaps you are over-committed, which leads to you feeling overwhelmed and overloaded, and eventually paralyzed by it all!

If you are over-committed, the landscape of your brain may look a bit like this: every white space on your calendar is filled in, papers are overflowing from your in-box, your to-do list is sprouting additional lists, email is out of control, your voice mailbox is full, and there's no end in sight. Sound familiar?

Since feeling "overwhelmed" does not support your ability to march forth, it may be helpful to consider the underlying causes of you remaining stuck in "overdrive" mode:

• Does being over-committed fill a need within you for approval or recognition?
• Do you feel more important when you're busy?
• Have you unconsciously created a barrier to intimacy with others by being unavailable?
• Are you afraid to be alone with yourself?
• Have you become out-of-touch with what brings you pleasure?
• Are you too accommodating? Has your "no" muscle gone flabby?

Sometimes just getting conscious to what is driving you to over-commit yourself can be an eye-opening experience.

I learned the incredible power of self-talk when I created a negative statement that I repeated over and over, without even realizing it. Four years ago I lived with a constant feeling of overwhelm. The more I thought about feeling overwhelmed, the stronger the feeling got. In March of that year, I had a conversation with a friend I had not seen in years. She had heard me sing the National Anthem at a Seattle Mariner's game years before. Remembering that I was a singer, she told me that I needed to audition for a local theatre company's production of The Sound of Music--my all-time favorite musical.

My reply, "There's no possible way I could fit one more thing into my hectic schedule. I am overwhelmed as it is!" She stopped me mid-rant and said, "What did you just say?"

I said, "I am overwhelmed!"

When I heard myself say it a second time, I realized that I had been programming my brain with this statement for several months. No wonder I was feeling like such a crazy person! That was the "nourishment" I had fed my brain.

"Those who program themselves for success find a way to succeed even 
in the most difficult of circumstances. Solutions to most problems 
come from one source and one source alone: yourself."
-Napoleon Hill

I realized it was time to create a new statement to replace the one that was keeping me stuck in overwhelm.  Here's the new statement I created to nourish my brain with: 

"I have all the time I need for what's most important to me."

When I catch myself beginning to feel overwhelmed, this statement helps me remember the truth. I really do have all the time I need for what's most important to me. My job is to sort the priorities!  What a difference this shift has made in my life.
I decided to audition for The Sound of Music and I was cast as one of the nuns. I was the solo voice that opened the show each night. I had a blast performing that summer in my favorite musical! I had not performed in a stage production for 22 years, and I had so much fun being part of a cast again.

Just after writing my new statement, I looked at a "daily thought" desk calendar that a friend had given me. I was behind by a couple months, so I started ripping the pages off and reading the daily thoughts. Here are a couple of daily thoughts that really spoke to me:

"You may indeed be a very busy person, but remember that 
filling your head with thoughts of how overwhelmed you are 
only exacerbates the problem by making you feel 
even more stressed than you already do."

"The first step to becoming a more peaceful person 
is to have the humility to admit that, in most cases, 
you're creating your own emergencies."

--Richard Carlson, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

You will get what you consistently focus on, even if you focus on NOT getting something. For example, don't think about a pink elephant with polka dots. (As you read that, I'll bet you were imagining a pink elephant with polka dots!) Most people focus on what they don't want and wonder why they keep getting more of it!

Your brain is like a heat-seeking missile. It will lock in on goals you've clearly identified. Scientists have determined that the brain uses its own reticular activating system to filter through the millions of images, sounds, impressions and other messages we receive each day, and to let into our conscious mind only that information we need to survive or to meet specific goals we have identified. When you decide what you want, you instruct the brain to start looking for information, resources, opportunities and other ways to achieve them.

What messages do you regularly send your brain?

In addition to checking your self-talk, take a look at your commitments to make sure that what you are saying "yes" to is indeed something you choose to do vs. something you should do.

Remember that every time you say "yes" to someone or something, you are saying "no" to someone or something else. That something else may be your own health, time devoted to an important relationship, or a key stepping stone to marching forth in whatever direction you want to be going.

Many people create their to-do lists in a vacuum, with no connection to a greater purpose and to the people and priorities they care most about. When you set goals and make decisions within the context of what is truly important in your life, it's much easier to determine what matters and what doesn't.  This will make it easier to decide what you say yes to and what you say no to.

As you set goals, do you ask yourself what you want, or do you ask yourself what you are intending to attract?

The word "want" often represents things you wish to HAVE. The word "intention" represents the experience you choose to create--how you wish to BE. For example, you may want to eat some junk food, and that does not support your intention to BE healthy.

Life is about choices. You make choices every single moment that move you toward or away from your intentions. Set goals and take action steps that are based on your commitment to your intentions, not on how you feel at any given moment. If you allow how you're feeling to determine whether or not you will take the action steps you've committed to, you probably won't follow through much of the time.

Take this opportunity in the first week of March to make some conscious choices.  It's time to march forth!

If you need help organizing your schedule, space and mind, you're invited to attend my free Buried in Paper webinar. Details are below….

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