Thursday, March 22, 2012

A Day Late and A Dollar Short

Well actually I'm three days late, a few dollars short and closer to 30 lbs overweight. 

I said that I would report back on the 19th, and here it is the 22nd! If I had an employer, I would have been fired. I even thought about firing myself. But I couldn't do that.. You see, if I fired myself, that would be quitting or giving up...and we will have none of that. 

How clear is it - the importance of accountability and to regularly check your progress? And by regularly, I mean both daily and weekly! For the 19 people who read my last post (and again, thank you), you may have noticed my questioning why it took me so long to finish a book that I was already more that half way through reading. Truth be told, I already knew the answer. I was almost more curious as to how obvious the answer was to you. Also admittedly, I think I was not quite ready to give up the negative habits. You see what is easy to do (read every day), is also easy not to do. But remember, that was is easy not to do (read every day), is also easy to do!

Last week as the week prior, I did attend classes, I did have meetings, I was working on my business and marketing plans, BUT those were not the reasons that it took me extra long to finish the book. Nor are those the same reasons that I am a day, opps...three days late with my blog post. Everyone has work, school, family and/or various other responsibilities; what makes the difference in accomplishing something great is doing what is hard, doing what is easy, after the work day and other responsibilities are done.

So let me share with you what happened exactly. For the entire previous weeks, either from being distracted, forgetful or busy - I did not track my DAILY activities. That is a crux in achievement of your goals; and remember our goals are simply our measured dreams. Every night you need to write out your plan for the next day. The benefit to following that course of action is immeasurable. First off, you become more efficient. At the end of day when you are writing the next days goals, you are also reviewing your successes for the day, allowing you to make whatever course corrections are needed to make. 

Just as when a plane travels to the any destination, there is a set flight plan; but during he actual flight, 100's of tiny course corrections are made along the way enabling the pilot and plane to reach it's correct destination. Before the plane takes off, the arrival time at the intended destination has already been set. In order to meet that arrival time, it is calculated what time the plane will leave and at what speed it will travel

It was only a few days ago, that I realized that I had not decided on any specific goal for my reading plan. Did you know that if you read one book a week for 10 years, you will have read a thousand books. Can you imagine how your life would changed if you read a 1000 books? I  am certain that one book a week is not currently a feasible goal for me considering my current schedule. But I am confident that I can read two books a month. So there, I have set my reading goal - 2 books a month.

I have already written my daily plan for tomorrow and I am committed to that being a daily effort. Oh, and the "negative" habits that kept me from doing the extra effort that my dreams require in order to be met. First allow me to preface that they are only negative in that they were distracting me from my supporting task. I incorporated a daily schedule that includes specific television watching time, it allows time for prayer, journaling, study and reading, along with those daily - can't get around them responsibilities. I eliminated  playing Words With Friends, except for playing with my stepdaughter. And I have a specific bed time and a time to get up. So say I'm not sleepy, well the lights are out and I an read on my iPhone, not play games (except Words With Friends with my stepdaughter), but read; but no matter, I still have to get up at the scheduled time. As days go by, I'll soon be sleepy enough to go to sleep on schedule.

This may seem quite tedious, only because it is. But the great are so because they are willing to do for a short period of time, what others won't do, so they can live as others can't, for a long period of time. Oh, did I not mention that I am going for greatness?

When will I be back...looks like I better check in at the end of the week! So I will see you on Saturday, March 30th. And much, much thanks to my friend who is on my you know what, holding me accountable. Thank you.

Peace,
Jaymes





3 comments:

  1. Great blog Jaymes........we'll catch up at the end of the week.

    Wendy

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  2. Thank you Wendy. I appreciate your feedback and your diligence in holding me accountable! :-)

    Peace,
    Jaymes

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  3. Hi, extremely nice effort. everybody should scan this text. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete