I woke up this morning sensing dread.
I recognized my foe – the resistance.
I had been second guessing myself a bit yesterday afternoon on a few things and needed to deal with them today. I should have known he would be around this morning. The resistance had done what it does best – taken hold of those doubts and converted them to fear. He thrives on ambiguity.
“Stay in bed.” – the fear said.
As I stirred, a second voice asked a valid question – “What is it that you are afraid of?”
As I was listening in on this conversation, I realized I had no idea. Cue – time to get started on the morning routine. The morning routine is a fantastic tool for bringing things into perspective as I have a set bunch of tasks I do no matter what. As I stood brushing my teeth, I wondered how the resistance had managed to get to me this morning. I couldn’t even remember the last such morning encounter – I’ve worked hard to keep him away. That’s when I realized – I’d just gone to bed last night with all the doubts in my head. I hadn’t taken a moment to jot them down and put together a plan to work through them today.
So, I finally got to doing that. Now that I have a plan, I can feel that slipping away along with the resistance.
They had left me with a gift – 3 great learnings –
1. As Master Yoda would say – “Named your fear must be, before banish it you can.” Write down what scares you. And, don’t worry – it is normal to feel fear and dread every once a while. It generally feels worse than it really is.
2. Plan tomorrow’s work today. Sometimes, we underestimate the subconscious work our mind does. Even if you had a peaceful night of sleep, worries can tend to magnify if you file them as worries just before you head to bed.
3. A plan doesn’t solve anything, of course. You still have to work through them. I’ve got Ode to Joy playing as I get ready to take on the day. I wasn’t looking for a solution. I was just looking for a nudge.. and that’s what I’ve gotten.
Here’s to getting things done today!
A Learning a Day 