How to Get Your Momentum Back

If you’ve noticed a theme over the past few days, but it’s got everything to do with staying on task, keeping focus, picking up where we left off, and getting our momentum back.  Here’s a great blog article by the fabulous Christine Kane about exactly that!

How to Get Your Momentum Back (…After a Summer of Reckless Gluttony)

Written by Christine Kane

 

Here’s what a client said last week. (See if it sounds familiar.)

“Man, I was really on a roll with this project before the summer. But then the kids were home all summer, and we had vacation, and then I had to get Brian off to school and I’m just, I don’t know, not motivated anymore…”

This “project” of hers is a BIG DEAL. Maybe even something that could change her whole life and business.  It was her “thing” for the year.

But then…

Summer happened.

She “lost momentum.”

And along with it, she thinks she has lost her passion, too.

She hasn’t.

She’s just disappointed in herself for getting off track.

And that sucks.  But it happens.

The problem with MOMENTUM is that people use it as a way to beat themselves up and then never get started again.

But momentum is not a constant.

Stuff happens. Kids get home from school. Knees get wonky. Hard drives crash. You get swine flu.

Any number of things can result in a loss of momentum.

But when you use “momentum” as an excuse for stopping, it simply means you’re afraid of dealing with the discomfort of getting started again.

And getting started again is one of the most valuable success skills you can develop.

So, in honor of September and getting back on track after the gluttony of your outrageous summer … here’s my own 7-step plan to help you get your groove back…

1 – Define the project or thing.

This one’s easy. Don’t overdo it and try to fix everything in your life. Just pick one priority right now.

2 – Schedule a time.

When you schedule an exact time, you will ensure that you don’t put the activity off because you don’t feel like it or because something comes up. It simply becomes just what I do.

3 – Go for Small.

The idea of MOMENTUM makes us set our sights huge in order to “pick up where we left off.”

Don’t play this game.

The best way to get your groove back is to experience completion on a regular basis. And the best way to experience completion on a regular basis is to set your goals small. Sixty-minutes is a perfect starting place. (Sometimes I do only twenty!)

4 – Create the space.

Get the space ready before the time comes. For instance, if your “thing” is getting back into a fitness routine, then every night before you go to bed, create the space for your 6am work out. Lay out your clothes, fill up your Sigg bottle, and charge your iPhone.

If it’s a big project, lay out your task list, clear off your desk, close your email programs every night before you stop working so that you’re not distracted when you begin in the morning.

5 – Set a timer.

When a timer is running, you won’t be as tempted to go downstairs to put the clothes in the dryer, or see if the mail has arrived. It’s a mind game that keeps your butt in the chair and your focus on the task.

6 – Just do it.

Don’t stop to pause and wonder if you really FEEL like doing this today.

Cuz you know what? You won’t!

Just walk out the door, or sit down at the desk, or start going through the clutter. Taking action builds the enthusiasm. Not the other way around!

7 – (Optional) Don’t skip days.

I know. I know. We’re supposed to get weekends off. But if you’re doing small enough chunks of time, then you’ll be able to continue your groove EVEN on the weekends.

Taking a day or two off means having to start all over again on Monday. This is why you start with small chunks of time and small goals. That way, it won’t be hard to keep up your practice – even when you would normally want a day off!

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Christine Kane is the Mentor to People Who are Changing the World. She helps women and men Uplevel their lives, their businesses and their success. Her weekly Uplevel You eZine goes out to over 26,000 subscribers. If you are ready to take your life and your world to the next level, you can sign up for a FREE subscription at http://christinekane.com.

TO SEE HUNDREDS MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?

See Christine's blog at ChristineKane.com/blog.

It's Never Too Late!

Last night I attended a crop hosted by Stampin’ Up demonstrator Sixta Ipina who was raising funds to send her son on an 8^th grade trip to Washington, D. C.  Sixta provided us with some fun activities, prize drawings and a basket full of stamps we could pick through for a donation.  It was fun to be one of the attendees for a change, instead of always being the person giving all the prizes away!

Speaking of giving prizes away, I finally finished the layouts for our 2009 Pam’s Pals. 

Yes, I know, I’m woefully behind on my scrapbooking.  Last month, I finally finished the last page of my 2007 Scrapbooking Cruise album.  What’s even sadder, is that I actually started that album in 2007, but I put it aside shortly after to work on my son’s Cub Scout and Boy Scout albums so they would be finished in time for his Eagle Scout Court of Honor.  He went off to college last year, so I am just now getting back to working on my older stuff.

I know a lot of scrappers who get busy or get distracted by life and don’t scrapbook for a long time.  Whenever I invite them out to crop, they always give a sad excuse that they haven’t scrapbooked in so long that they are too far behind to start again.  I say, “Phooey!”  It’s never too late to start again.  Just pick up where you left off.  Or start all over with the here and now.  You can always go back to the old stuff later when you have more time…like maybe when you retire.

Layout a Day!

Wow! Joy Tracey over at "Obsessed with Scrapbooking" recommended an awesome challenge that I just couldn't resist!  It's Lain Ehmann's Layout A Day (or LOAD, for short).

Throughout the month of February, Lain will challenge scrappers to complete a layout each day based on the prompt she provides.  February's theme is "Past Perfect: Looking Back to Look Forward", so we'll be working on pages, themes, and events from our recent or distant past.

I really needed a kick in the seat to get going on my scrapbooking again.  All these long months of working on Boy Scout pages and being to busy to scrap at all have left me woefully behind on all my scrapbooks.  I'm so far behind, I don't even know where to start!  So I figured this would be a great way to get the creative juices going and to get me in the habit of working on my scrapbooks at least a little each day.  Who knows, maybe it will inspire me to get a lot MORE done than just 29 layouts?

If you'd care to join me, I'd love to hear about it!  The cost is $30 and includes your daily prompt, daily videos, interviews with guest artists, a private message board and private photo gallery, inspiration, fun, and even prizes!  I'll be sharing some of my favorite pages right here on this blog!  You can find out more about this awesome challenge here:

212 LOAD

Procrastination

Two posts in November?  Yes, it's been a goal of mine for quite some time to actually blog more, but I didn't think it would come this soon!  So what got me so excited that I just jumped right in there and posted a second blog in the same week?  Procrastination!  Yep, unlike what I usually do, I just couldn't wait!  I had to share this article with you about procrastination.  It's from one of my favorite bloggers:  Christine Kane.  So without further adieu:

9 Simple Solutions for Procrastinators

by Christine Kane

Irony: As I started to write this article, I thought, "I'll just go play one Sudoku game first." I caught myself in the act and marched to my laptop.

People who say that procrastination is about laziness are probably the same people who think that anorexia is about not eating enough.

Procrastination isn't about laziness. It's about fear. It's about perfectionism. It's about overwhelm. We all experience it, and there are some tricks to help you get moving again.

Here are 9 ways to break the procrastination habit:

1 - When you get an idea, do some little thing to begin. 

When I read Stephen King's book On Writing, I noticed something. I noticed that when Stephen King gets an idea, he writes it. Immediately and imperfectly.

Most people get an idea. Then they sit there. They wonder if it's a good idea. Then, they wonder if it's a good idea some more.

Got an idea? Begin it now!

2 - All hail small chunks of time! 

Lots of us complain about having no time. My guess is that we all have lots of time. It just doesn't happen to be all at once.

Are you waiting for many hours of spare time to begin your idea, your project, or your taxes? Stop waiting! Learn to use the spare half hour that comes up here and there. (I gave myself 45 minutes to write this article just to take my own advice.)

3 - Agree to do it badly. 

Set a goal to do it badly. Set a goal to show up. Let go of doing it ALL, or doing it WELL.

Some of my coaching clients' biggest victories have a lot more to do with getting over perfectionism and fear, than they do about getting it all done perfectly.

4 - Commit aloud. 

Call a friend and say something like this: "I'm going to spend the next hour working on creating my new product." Then go do it.

Call the friend after the half hour and make her congratulate you. Repeat daily.

5 - Define quantities. 

Nebulous goals make for nebulous results. "I'm gonna get my office organized" is a lot like saying, "We oughtta do something about Global Warming."

Most procrastinators have a hard time defining quantities. We think everything needs to be done NOW.

When are you going to do it? For how long? Which part of your office? The file cabinet? Or your desk?

Define the goal and acknowledge its completion.

6 - Install this System Upgrade into your Mental Hard Drive: Less is More. 

Have fewer goals. Have no more than three priorities for a week.

Why?

Because you're not lazy. You're just trying to do too much.

Find out what it feels like to accomplish one thing instead of not quite getting to everything. Wow - what a difference this makes!

7 - Do it first. 

My first coach made me write songs first thing in the morning. He told me to schedule the 2-hour chunk as my first activity upon waking.

Why?

"Because you're telling the universe that this is your priority. And then the universe lines up everything toalign with your priority."

Action grounds your priorities. It makes them real. It also makes your day easier because you're not wasting energy thinking about this thing you're supposed to be doing.

8 - Avoid nose-bleed activities. 

Email, voicemail, web stats - any activity that bleeds itself into your whole day becomes a non-activity. It becomes a nose-bleed.

When you do it all the time, you never complete it. You just let it slowly drain the very life force from you. Define times for these activities. Then, turn off your email, your cell phone, your web stats, until that time comes.

9 - Don't ask how you "feel" about doing the activity.

Have you ever committed to getting fit? And then when the alarm goes off, you lie in bed thinking, "Do I really feel like going to the gym?" (Like you even have to ask!)

Change this pattern. Make your decision the night before. Commit to getting up and going right to the gym, the computer, the blank canvas. Don't have coffee and sigh and think, "I'll probably feel more like it at lunch time." You won't!

If it's a priority, don't waste time asking yourself how you feel about doing it. Feelings are an easy out.

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There. I did it. I wrote this article. And now, I don't even want to play Sudoku! How about that?

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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:
Christine Kane is the Mentor to Women Who are Changing the World. She helps women uplevel their lives, their businesses and their success. Her weekly LiveCreative eZine goes out to over 12,000 subscribers. If you are ready to take your life and your world to the next level, you can sign up for a F.R.E.E. subscription at http://christinekane.com.
WANT TO SEE HUNDREDS MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See Christine's blog at ChristineKane.com/blog.  

Christmas retreat

Thanks ever-so-much to Peter and Ida Wilson for donating a scrapbooking retreat weekend to raffle at our  Pam's Pals cause!  After all was said and done, we wound up with a group of 9 for the weekend of the 11th and we had a great time.  A lot of people passed on this great opportunity because it was "too close to the holidays" or they were too busy, but I tell ya', you don't know what you're missing!  December is the perfect time for a scrapbooking retreat, because it takes you away from the chaotic hustle and bustle and gives you time to just breathe, relax and do a little something for yourself (and you know you've been neglecting yourself for a long time!).  I also found that it was the perfect opportunity to finish up a lot of the handmade gifts that I hadn't been able to finish at home.  So thank you Scrappin' Around the Corner in Denton!  I'm sure we'll be calling you again next year!