Getting Shit Done - It all starts with a Vision
The piles of paper on my kitchen island make me feel like I am going to drown in a sea of unpaid bills and unsigned, un mailed paperwork.
I see it every morning en route to my first cup of coffee. I pass it when I cook dinner. I look at it every time I leave my house. It taunts me. It is the exclamation point on my disorganization.
Know what my favorite day is?
Bill paying and shredding day.
I can envision myself, sitting at the kitchen coffee bar. Checkbook and credit card in one hand, piles of bills in the other and recycling bin at my feet. I have a cup of coffee in my hand. A fluffy robe on. My kids and husband are probably still sleeping and I might even put on a little ambient music. Most likely First Aid Kit will be softly playing in the background.
I can hear the rip of the envelope, the scribble of my signature. I can taste the glue on the envelope and can see the satisfying tear in the bill once it’s finally processed and paid.
When is Bill paying day you ask? Dunno yet, but I have a great idea of what it should look, sound and feel like. I can envision it, and so it could happen as early as today. As soon as I’m done writing this thing, I’m putting it in my calendar!
Vision. It’s something we’ve ascribed to the greatest thinkers of our time - Martin Luther King, Jimmy Hendrix, Twyla Tharp. With words, with sound and movement, these individuals were able to bring us into their world. To show us what they see, and in essence, to lend us their vision.
Though these “visionaries” lived on the big stage, out in public, and were influencing culture en masse. Who is to say that you can’t adopt some of their practices to make a real impact in your life?
I’m going to go as far out on a limb and say I approach most things with this kind of vision. Take my bill paying routine as an example, it’s a seemingly ordinary task - pay your bills. When you add the sensory experience to it, when I play it in my mind and think about the feeling of it all, it becomes something entirely different. It becomes real, it become meaningful and it becomes something I actually WANT to do.
Am I getting weird? Sorry, it’s what I do.
I get weird in service of getting boring shit (like paying bills) done. I also get weird around exciting shit, but we’ll start with the less appealing stuff first. Here are a few hints for how to make the ordinary stuff that you don’t want to do, something that you can do with ease and flair.
SENSORY EXPERIENCE
Taste. Sound. Smell,. Sight. Energy = Vision
What is something you really want to get done but for some reason you just can’t bring yourself to do it? Could be something as ordinary as getting your car inspected, or something a little more complex like updating your resume:
Think about why you have a resistance here. What’s standing in the way?
Now, close your eyes and picture yourself doing it?
What are you wearing?
Do you have a favorite snack with you?
Is there music playing in the background? If so, what is it?
If not, what are you hearing as this is happening?
What pleasure can you take in the moment?
What kind of energy do you want to have while you are doing this? What energy will serve you best?
How long will it take you to get it done?
Now that you’ve taken a moment to answer these questions, what’s changed for you? Do you feel any change in relationship to your motivation to get this task done?
This my friends, is how you begin to paint a vision. Answer these questions, and you are well on your way.
TIME + ATTENTION (INTENTION)
So now it’s time to book your time and make this vision come to life. Regardless of how you feel about it, when will you do it?
WHEN.WILL.YOU.DO.IT?
Send yourself a calendar invitation. Do not cancel on yourself. Do not move this. Make this as important as any other meeting you have because it is. Think about all the free space you’ll have in your brain after you get this done.
Tell Others You Are Doing It. Saying it out loud can have the greatest impacts on completion. Tell anyone who will listen, “I’m not leaving the house until my bills are paid today”
Invest sometimes spending a little coin - hire that organizational guru once and for all, join the gym with the classes you know you’ll love to do, purchase the pencil case you’ve been eyeballing on Etsy, hire a coach - can be just the thing to motivate you into action.
PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING (Well, no more pudding for me)
I just hired a health coach to support my diet. The Covid 12 was making me uncomfortable, and so I reached out for some help. My coach worked me through a similar process of getting it done as I’ve outlined here. I’ll share as a case study:
VISION - Her first question was why was I there. My answer: I wanted to be able to button my pants and have an excuse to buy new pants. I was uncomfortable, and I wanted to feel better. I was done with the yo-yo diets of my past, and my vision was to create a lifestyle that was sustainable and effective for feeling good. I also shared the foods I love to eat and she crafted a plan that pulls on those flavors / foods.
TIME + ATTENTION (INTENTION)
SCHEDULE: I talk to my coach every Thursday at 1. I don’t miss this appointment. It might be the most important one of my week.
ACCOUNTABILITY: Do you think I’m eating cookies in between clients when I have to tell her what I ate each week and how much weight I’ve lost? No Ma’am I am not. I am eating so much fiber, I am turning into a tree. Not a cookie in sight. I am feeling good.
INVEST: I realized I couldn’t do it on my own, and so I spent money to get the support I needed from a coach. Our time together will be done soon. The impacts of our time together will be long lasting, and well worth the investment. I realize that not everyone has the funds for this kind of work. An investment can be as small as paying for a book to learn all about a high fiber diet, or investing in something as big as a Peloton to help meet those same health goals. What ever it is, put your money toward the important stuff.
I can’t wait to hear about the visions that brew for you! If you are so inclined, drop me a line and paint me the picture of how you’re getting your stuff done! I’d love to hear all of the sensory details.