02.12.10
What Are You Waiting For?
People often say their lives are just too busy to add one more thing to their to-do list, even if it would bring them great personal satisfaction – or even advancement.
Often, it’s just fear that is holding them back.
A TV reporter who was dreaming of the day when she could walk away from the business told me she didn’t know what else she could do because all she knew was reporting. I pointed out that she understood lighting, diction, wardrobe, research, pointed interviewing in a short period of time, how to appear credible on the air, all skills that someone – perhaps a newly-minted CEO, would be willing to pay her to teach him.
“I wouldn’t know where to begin,” she replied.
As an outsider, the path was clear to me. She could identify a target audience of people who could use her services, figure out how to package herself as a professional groomer – much like “dressers” who prep celebrities and VIPs for red carpet events. Many in her target audience might well be people she had interviewed over the years. If she sat down and put together a business plan, she could figure out how to attract clients and get out from in front of the camera.
So far, she’s resisted taking action.
It isn’t that she isn’t capable. It’s that she fears walking away from the familiar and her guaranteed income. Usually, people wait until circumstances force them to act. Either they are fired or laid off or they get so unhappy with their current job that they start scrambling to find something else.
I recently heard Bill Banen, a time management expert, say, “When someone says ‘I don’t have time,’ that actually means ‘I don’t know how’ or that you have prioritized something else over this.”
So if you want to change jobs, buy a new house or simply read more but find yourself procrastinating, what are you really saying to yourself?
Are you afraid you can’t find a job in a tough economy? It may seem jobs are scare, but you still hear of people getting hired. What have they got that you haven’t? What did they do that you haven’t or won’t do? A house is a big financial commitment, but is it the money or the fact that you might have to rein in spending for a while? What else are you doing with your free time that’s keeping you from relaxing with a good book? Watching CSI reruns?
The trick is to identify what’s stopping you, figure out how to move forward and then take the time to make it happen.
Banen recommends setting aside an hour each day to focus on something you want or need to do. Set your timer for 50 minutes and work without distractions. Turn off the TV, the cell phone, hang a Do Not Disturb sign on your door. When the timer goes off, the last 10 minutes of the hour are free for stretching, checking e-mail, whatever distractions you’ve delayed.
What you may discover is that during that concentrated period you have accomplished more than you thought possible. Each day, I schedule an appointment for a midday walk so that I’m forced to take a break and get in daily exercise. The duration may vary, but it’s in the schedule faithfully, and it provides a chance to relax my mind and come back to my desk rejuvenated .
Planning is like running up a steep hill. If you look at the top before you start, you’ll be convinced you can’t make it. If you focus on a step at a time, the next thing you know, you’re at the top.
You can begin to control your circumstances or let them control you. What are you waiting for?
