Perhaps, all you can see is the weight of the world bearing down on you. It’s the impossible project, the insurmountable obstacle, the goal that seems unattainable. You are frozen. You cannot move. It’s hard to even think. You may even panic.
It feels hopeless. You feel helpless. But there is hope. You can do it!
But how? The key is to stay with it, break it down into small manageable increments that you prioritize, and then take action.
As you see yourself checking off the boxes and making progress, you realize that you can do this and with each action, you gather momentum. You know it’s now possible. What a relief.
I’m going to give a variety of ways to come at this in the coming weeks so that you are equipped to confront your difficulties, challenges, and discomfort with specific strategies with which you can practice and experiment.
So for today…Break It Down…
Simple example: How to make a phone call:
1. You decide who you want to call
2. You find the phone number
3. You decide what questions you want to ask or points you want to make
4. You dial the number
5. You make a connection
6. You talk to the person you meant to contact…OR you leave a message with voicemail or with the person who was not who you wanted to contact. They call you or you call again ( steps 1-3 are already done).
You cannot actually “make a phone call”. What you can do is steps 1-4 and then you will or won’t connect depending on circumstances out of your control…some of which you can influence.
Consider how to apply this example to some monumental project. I’ll tease this out as we go. The basics in the example:
1.Explore or examine the facts
2. Consider the actual steps involved in the process
3.Prioritize the sequence
4.Act…one step at a time
5. Follow up as the events in the process are revealed
This is certainly far more detailed than A Day At A Time, but in many respects, the strategy is the same. I would love to talk with you in more detail…So experiment with some creative applications to simple tasks and I’ll expand this into your goals which will require days, weeks, months, or years.
This is time management, stress management, and how you will be able to utilize and limit frustration, anxiety, and discouragement. Relaxation skills will complement this as well.
By Michael Gusack
If you would like to explore this in more detail