What I Learned This Week 09.05.20

September 5, 2020 | by Lisa M. Dublin

•  Get a system in place to keep you efficient

I missed a deadline and it was largely because the notifications from that organization came at the end of the day when I had already left work mentally and physically. I would forget to deal with their email altogether. Someone suggested this week that I put a system in place to deal with the notifications. So I did, and this is my system going forward:  I now have a recurring reminder that pops up early every Friday morning to prompt me to deal with that email in particular first!

• You can also pray for the desire to want to do something
  
  There are things that you need to be doing that you don’t have the will to do, you know …. projects that need starting, attitudes, and habits I should cultivate but don’t want to, emails I need to answer but don’t feel like - that list is a mile long. 
  How long is your list of have-to-but-I-don’t-want-to? I rediscovered a verse in the Bible that always helps me: it is God who works in you both to will it, and to do it for his good pleasure. So while some things come naturally to you, and you need no motivation to start and complete them, there are things we run away from because they are just hard, unpleasant, unappealing, or confusing. You can actually ask the Lord for the will to do something - the will to eat right, the will to exercise, the desire to leave a bad relationship, etc.  

God can help you to want the right things. (Tweet this)  

• An incentive makes hard things doable

 Why is it when I think of what I want to accomplish in my business, I am not so sleepy anymore and can stay up and work?  Why is it when I think of the answers that I desperately need that only divine intervention can make happen, that I can turn down my plate and fast? If you are having difficulty doing something, think of the reward, the result, the selfie (if you must), the goal checked off your list. If someone promised you $100 000 to write a book, or to lose 20 pounds, or to drop a bad habit, I am pretty sure you would drop every excuse and focus. So when you are stuck, think of the end result. That should get you moving!

The right incentive keeps you going (Tweet this)

QUOTE I LOVED THIS WEEK

“Why do you think you are ready to buy a house after saving for only one year?”

Financial planner to a disappointed, over-eager client who was just refused a mortgage.