INSPIRING CHOICES

Make Good Choices And Feel Good About It

DOING THE "TO-DO LIST"

How do you feel at the end of the day once you go to check off on your "To-Do List? Did you even make a "To-Do List?" What feeling over comes you when you look at your bank statement? Are you inspired to spend your money thesee days? Are you spiritually inspired, or does it feel like a chore when you try to go to church? Do you feel exhausted just thinking about these things? There's a variation of feelings that go through me when I think of any of these, least of all inspired. When you're motivated to make money something in you kicks and you become eager, empowered even to perform in order to be rewarded. We like the results of working...being paid. Are we driven by the reward? Yes, dopamine starts moving around in our brain. It's the "happy pill", that lets us know something good is coming...and we're getting a reward. This brings us pleasure, pleasure gives us motivation, motivation gives us inspiration. Let's talk about hitting the nail on the head full stop, starting with the "To Do List." Let's get inspired.

WHAT IS INSPIRATION?

Encouragement, enthusiasm, motivation, inspiration? The definition of inspiration is "The excitement of the mind or emotions to high level of feeling or activity." What if your burnt out or you're not motivated enough to even read your emails? That makes it difficult to check that off your "To-Do List" doesn't it? What's the point of making a "To-Do List" if you're not getting things done? It's a hard thing to check off when you're lacking motivation. There is a solution, and that solution? Writing your "To-Do List" down. You're not in the habit of physically writing down a "To-Do List" that's all. So you have to make it a habit. Steve Covey, author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," notes that habits can be changed, we can learn to change our habits, we can learn to create new habits. That itself is reassuring. He also points out the importance of a paradigm shift, the way we look at things. Like a light bulb going off or switching on, it's a light bulb inside your head. Now we can turn on that light and look at things differently.

PUT ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER AND SOON YOU'LL BE WALKING OUT THE DOOR

If you ever watched the animation Christmas cartoon of "The Year Without a Santa Claus," there's a catchy song Heat Miser and Snow Miser sing, "Put One Foot In Front Of The Other...And Soon You'll Be Walking Out The Door." It's so catchy you can sing it in your head as you write out your list. Remember, you didn't take your first step when learning to walk by running a marathon. You put one foot in front of the other, hince baby steps, first you crawl then you walk, then you run, etc. When someone writes a song down on paper, writing it down helps you recall what you wrote down. When you make it into a song, you will eventually brain wash yourself into rememberering it by singing it. Think about it, the "ABC" song, even today that song plays in your head. So write it down, sing it, brain wash yourself into doing things.

WHY WRITE IT DOWN?

It's the digital age. Why write down a "To-Do List" when you can just use your phone calendar, desktop reminders, or Alexa? Psychologist and author Dr. David Cohen says the "To-Do List" must be on paper. theguardian.com. Why must it be written down in todays digital age? Writing things down works, it's a tried and true method. Don't just put it in your phone or use your phone calendar, write it down! You're more likely to get the true meaning of something, and remember something once your actually physically write it down. Your brain loves it! Studies show you will perform better when you write things down. It's an encouraging task that you can monitor. Get those to-do's out of your head and put them in writing. So get a daily journal book with a relaxing picture on the cover on it, get a Bible verse daily calendar, or an affirmation agenda. Just physically write it down. There is a right way to write a "To-Do List" down, don't just dump it all down on paper. There's an action involved when you're doing something, so write down with the action.

ACTION=DOING

You're "To-Do" means action, performing, carrying out and executing something. So write down the task physically with your hand and write down what you'll be doing physically with each task. You're doing your "To-Do List," so write down what your doing with each task. For example, next to the number 1. task on your list you write,"Sit down at desk and check emails," you don't just write,"Check emails." After number 2. don't just write "schedule doctors appointment," write,"At desk call to schedule doctors appointment." You can visualize yourself actually doing the task.

INSPIRATIONAL MIND SET

Look forward to writing down your "To-Do List." How do you switch your mind set? There is a science that connects your brain to get motivated and can even get you energized. It's the "happy pill" that gets you going and keeps you going, it's that dopamine. It's a brain chemical. According to -verywellhealth.com, dopamine releases a feel good reward for behaving certain ways. It hits you after a pleasurable activity and reinforces that behavior. Paradigm shift: It's a blessing not a chore. You're blessed to write down your "To-Do List." Don't think of it as a chore, think of it as a blessing. You're blessed when you open that electric bill. Don't be discouraged or look at paying a bill as if you have to give away your money. Feel blessed you have electricity, you have a place to live that allows you to have electricity. Some people don't have a home to live in, they don't have the pleasure of having electricity. For some people that do have a place to live, they may have to sit in the dark because they can't afford electricity. You're lucky you have an electric bill to pay. So when writing down your "To-Do List" think to yourself, "I'm blessed to have an electric bill to pay." Train your brain to start thinking differently, you'll feel differently. "Doing" things will turn from a chore to getting things done. Just fake it until you make it, keep telling yourself how blessed you are and you'll start realizing how blessed you are.

FAKE IT UNTIL YOU MAKE IT

So you're not in the habit of writing out a to do list physically. There's a saying, "Fake it until you make it." If you are in real estate for example, and you're showing a house, you don't want to pull up in a junkie car wearing wrinkling clothes. Rent a car, if you don't have a nice one, or get your car detailed, and invest in a nice suit. You have to look successful in order to be successful. Once you look the part you'll feel the part. Fake it until you can make it. It's a simple habit and a daily necessity, so if you're not in the habit of writing things down, tell yourself, "I'm a professional at writing down tasks." Once you start going through the motions, it will become a habit. If you can do something four days in a row, you've got it. After 4 days, you know you've got it down, why stop now? Keep going. Then just do it the night before you wake up.

PUT THE UMBRELLA INTO A BOX

When it rains you want to have an umbrella in hand, especially if it starts to pour. The most water hits the tip top of the umbrella, then it breaks up as it starts to roll down. When you have more than six things on your "To-Do List" you start to get overwhelmed and you feel a storm coming. It feels like, "When it rains...it pours." So put up an umbrella, let the rain break itself up into rain drops. Try to accomplish six tasks a day. So how do you determine what to tackle first? The "Eisenhower Matrix System." What is it? It's a way to organize tasks. It's a drawing of a box broken up into four equal sections. The top left corner is the "Do" box. Put anything that you need to "do" into that box that has a deadline and write down the consequences. The square next to that is the "Schedule" box. There's not a set deadline. It's important, but not urgent. You'll do these tasks after you do the urgent tasks that have a deadline and will have consequences if not completed. The lower left box is "Delegate." These must be done but you don't have to do them. You can have someone else do them, they just need to get done. Then there's the "Delegate" box that is at the bottom right corner. This "Delegate" has things on it that are left over. They need to be done, but you can think of them as, "It's starting to sprinkle outside," you don't need an umbrella yet, but if they don't get done it could start to rain, then you'll need the umbrella. Put your umbrella into the box, put the box under your umbrella.

REWARD

Physically check the task off in writing, give yourself a star instead of a check mark, put a happy face sticker next to each thing you accomplished if you have to. It's important to physically write down your list, and physically check it off. What you do is valuable, it's of importance, and your efforts are contributing to success. When your job offers you a bonus if you generate a certain quota, you When you got your test back in school and you had a sticker on your paper, a star or a happy face, it motivated you to keep getting stickers. You felt like you got a reward. In reality it was just a sticker, but it made you feel good, it made you want to keep doing it. Buy some stickers or use a colored pen and put a star next to each completed task. Rewarding yourself for your performance incentives you to perform better. Acknowledging your efforts gets you to achieving more.

TODAY IS BETTER THAN YESTERDAY

Don't overload yourself. Sounds simple, but when you've got to do ten things and only have so many hours to do them it can be discouraging and draining. As for feeling like you've accomplished something at the end of the day if you're list isn't complete? That's okay, remember "Put one foot in front of the other and soon you'll be walking out the door." If you're in the habit of waking up everyday at 8:00am and decide you should really wake up at 6:30am to get more out of your day, then slowly accomplish that goal. You might not get up at 6:30am the first day, but you managed to get up at 7:00am. Nice, you did better today than yesterday. You only got three things accomplished today, but they were the most important things that needed to be done, and tomorrow you're going to get six things accomplished, that's your goal. However, if you only get five things done, you did better than the day before and soon you'll be completing all six and even more.

REVIEW

Take your "Happy Pill"
Turn on the light bulb and sing
"Put One Foot In Front Of The Other And Soon You'll Be Walking Out The Door"
Write it down with actions
Your blessed
Fake it until you make it
Put your umbrella up and reward yourself

YOUTUBE
LINKEDIN
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK

OPENING SOON: "RLMD Designs" We're opening a new store "RLMD Designs" and we are honored to be a part of the Amazon Allifiate Program. This will be our Amazon Affiliate Store. Customer Service is our first priority. As personal shoppers we enjoy servicing our clients and want them to leave with a smile when shopping with us. You can shop with confidence. We believe that because Amazon is a respected, trust worthy and secure store site, we have decided to be an affiliate. Disclosure: For supporting Amazon products we may get a tiny commision (not much) from Amazon, not you the shopper, but for selling through Amazon.