11 Apr When the going gets tough..the tough keep going

There are many parts about running my business that I just hate to do. Like dealing with my finances. So I put it off until the last moment. And then I put it off some more.

I was having lunch with a friend yesterday who mentioned something he learned through working his job. Whenever he just wants to stop, to lie down, to say to himself…or to the world…that he just can’t take another moment of this…he reminds himself that he’s committed to completing his assigned task in a certain amount of time and that he really can’t stop. So he continues to work and guess what happens. After about 20 or 30 minutes of slogging through, he finds his rhythm, gets reengaged and pretty much forgets that 20 minutes ago he was ready to quit. His little story reminded me of something really important.

Thoughts pass. Yes, they do. As anyone has ever tried to quit cigarettes or go on a diet knows, the standard advice is that a craving for food or nicotine WILL PASS if you give it the time to pass. Having that thought doesn’t mean we need to act on it. And having that thought in the moment, doesn’t mean it will be there forever. It will go. If we let it.

Focusing on the task we hate may be counter intuitive, but it is a great way to get past the “I’ve had it with this” thought. The physical activity, be it typing or painting a wall or doing bookkeeping actually takes our focus away from the negative thought so it can pass.

Will I ever learn to love bookkeeping? Maybe not. But if I just do it, maybe I won’t hate it. And that would be pretty good.