EATING THE FROGS FIRST
A BETTER LIFE, PLUS PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS!
“Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” -
Mark Twain
If you do the worst thing on your plate first thing in the morning, the rest of the day is a cake walk.
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PROCRASTINATING MY LIFE AWAY!
I, as are many others, have procrastinated. I will not say "I am a procrastinator", as that would mean that is who I am, unchangeable, part of the ongoing me. No, I do repeat the act of procrastinating, but it is only a creation for the moment. And, many times, I do not procrastinate.
So, I need to master eating my frogs 1st thing in the morning...
NO ONE CAN BE SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT DOING THIS!
Although a metaphor used by many over time, Brian Tracy, as he often does, captures the idea super-well in his book Eat That Frog!
This is vitally important and, indeed, essential, as no person can be successful without thisskill and habit. It can't be a "I'll decide whether to eat frogs at the moment" kind of thing - as that is the formula for failure to do it - plus it takes energy from one's willpower reserve (or psychological energy reserve), so it has other effects that diminish one's life.
In other words, eating frogs on a regular basis should not be optional!
You must make the decision and the commitment to do this, as the quality of your life depends on it.
WHAT IS A FROG?
The most difficult thing on your daily to do list.
Anything put off is a frog
Least-favorite chore
Most irritating task
Task that takes energy but is beneficial but not done: working out
your enthusiasm is gone, along with valuable time you could have used getting stuff done. Somehow, this sets a tone for the rest of the day,
WHY DO IT FIRST?
If you don't, later your enthusiasm will be gone - and you will not feel good about your day!!!! (And probably not feel good about yourself, which is a high cost. If you criticize yourself, you activate a fear loop, which will generate unpleasant feeling but also bad chemicals that will do great harm over time.)
Avoid doing your most favorite task – or at least your easiest task – first.
SO, NOW, HOW DO I CONVINCE MYSELF TO DO THIS? (HELP!!!!)
Even if you're not sure you can follow through, you must first, at least, establish the truth:
__ Yes; __ No Is this rationally what would be the best?
__ Yes; __ No If so, will this make my life better?
__ Yes; __ No Will I feel better about myself?
__ Yes; __ No Does putting it off until later or until I feel more like it, does that work?
__ Yes; __ No Looking at the observations in the "First Evaluation", below, I can see that it
could makes sense - and that it is worthwhile doing the first 30 days.
HOW DO I MAKE IT HAPPEN?
"I always fail at this part."
That's not really true, though it may seem to be what is so. All of us have times where we do not follow through - and alot of that simply has to do with our violating the laws and realities of what works. You simply do not know what works... yet! [How do I know that you don't yet know what works? By the actual undeniable signal: that you don't get the result you would most prefer! The proof is in the pudding. See Sufficient Knowing.)
The Thirty Day Practice Period
Commit to doing this everyday for 30 days, then you can choose to stop if you think it is not beneficial enough. Use the commitment form below.
Put it in your calendar as a reminder every day!
THE COMMITMENT PAGES
Copy the commitments and paste onto a word document page and then sign it.
MY COMMITMENT TO EAT FROGS FIRST
__ I understand that there is no other option. I must do this if I am to have a good life.
__ I will eat my frogs first (after any morning grounding or exercise).
__ I will start with a 30 day commitment, to do this every day without skipping any.
Then I will evaluate and decide whether it is worth it.
__ I will write every day what my experience was with this, so I won't forget.
Committed to this ___ day of _________ in the year ________
Signed ___________________________________
__ I have tickled on my calendar to do the first evaluation below.
MY FIRST EVALUATION AND MY FINAL COMMITMENT
Check off what is true.
__ After 30 days of eating my frogs first, the results I have are: (reviewing what I wrote, I conclude that)
__ I got alot more done on what was important.
__ My life was better
__ A little; __ Some; __ Pretty much; __ A lot better
__ I noticed that I felt better about myself, felt better psychologically.
__ I also noticed that my energy was better.
__ My life was not better
__ It was a pain in the...
__ It took too much effort.
__ Procrastination works better for me.
__ This commitment will be one of the most fruitful and life changing of my life!
__ I will commit to doing this for the rest of my life, for it is truly a superior practice/habit.
__ I stand firmly on this being able to create much greater confidence in myself and in my
future. (With it, I see that I can implement what is in the piece called Fearlessness.)
__ I will not allow myself any "outs" (or easy exits).
Committed to this ___ day of _________ in the year ________
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WHAT I NOTICE ABOUT IMPLEMENTING THIS
(Write your own version of this on a sheet of paper.)
I decided not to review my emails, even if I was just prioritizing them, until after I ate a major frog. I found I could do an hour on a frog, without feeling too much "sacrifice" or impatience.
I acknowledge the truth of the fact that it makes me much more productive and much more satisfied with what is happening in my life and with myself. I also feel much more confident about being able to achieve my major goals, as I am no longer wandering aimlessly based on whims.
I also noticed that I had extra energy and that the clutter in my environment decreased dramatically. And that feels good, especially as it eliminates the reminders of undones and sloppiness on my part.
