Life Hack: Turn Dread on Its Head, Inspire Yourself

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It’s Sunday, it’s glorious outside, and I’m sitting on the floor of my newly downsized living room, which doubles as a dining room. And an office. You get the picture. And I’m surrounded by piles of paper. When you downsize from a four bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment, there is a ton to purge, and I was nearly done save for the paper. Lots and lots of paper. I am not a saver per se, but I did keep examples of fresh creativity, clever packaging, interesting copy… things that inspired me. Plus work samples, copies of magazines in which I was published, and articles I meant to read… someday… well, you know.

A “BIG” Project

I have been putting this project off for a year. I knew it would be tedious and cumbersome and perhaps a bit emotionally difficult too. It was one chore I just couldn’t bring myself to tackle. Until I gave it a new name: Inspiration & Motivation Through Organization.

Not exactly catchy but given the choice which would you rather do: purge paper, or get your groove back?

Inspire Yourself

Sun shining through my 35th floor windows, I tackled pile after pile. I had the music on, then the TV, then the music again. I laughed when I rediscovered long-hidden treasures… a funny card from my college roommate. And there were pangs too… a long-lost love letter resurfacing out of nowhere. But I pressed on willingly because I was inspired by my goal!

The vision of being free from the weight of the past inspired me. The thought of having a system for managing my home office efficiently, giving me more time for spontaneous creativity and play, motivated me.

This was no longer the last leg of what I had been calling The Great Purge. This was now a joyful choice, a gift to myself, a clearing of space where amazing work might spring forward.

Change Your Angle

My accountability partner is working on something she too had been putting off, but after she renamed it with the end goal in mind, it went from chore to choice and she’s been crushing her action plan week after week.

I’m learning that when I feel that sense of dread to pause and look it in the eye… to decide if the dread is warranted, and if not, how to turn it on it’s head.

What’s lingering on your To Do list? Perhaps it’s tackling your LinkedIn profile or your resume. Maybe it’s honoring your commitment to be a better networker, or publish that next blog.

Whatever it is, consider renaming it with words that inspire you into action.

>> Because when you are in action, you inspire everyone around you. <<

Funny how that works…

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