Posts Tagged ‘action plan’

Photo by Pikaluk

I am thinking of that children’s game often seen at street fairs and church bazaars.  You’ve seen it:  a colorful flock of happy rubber ducks floating on the surface of a tub of water.  From the surface all the ducks look alike but hidden below the surface is a secret number that names the prize associated with each duck.   

The game is in the gamble.  Some prizes are valuable; some are not.  Without knowing the expected outcome there is risk; you’ve given value for the opportunity to win the prize of your desire but you cannot be certain of the results.

Tasks are like Rubber Ducks

Here is my list of tasks for the next 120 days.  This list, developed as a mind map, has branches for each of my major projects. My projects range from finding a renter for a vacant unit, to remodeling the master bath in my home.  The bulk of my activities are around building and marketing Working Miracles, my coaching business.

It’s a busy list.  I could easily work 12 hour days and still not complete all the tasks I’ve laid out for myself.  My mind map of a to-do list is not unlike a tub of rubber ducks.  On the surface the tasks all look the same.

Which duck should I pull out of the tub first?

I don’t know about you but I think I will have a better chance of winning if I first take a peek at what’s under the surface.

Choosing Your Duck

A client of mine, a young newlywed who complains of (and has been complained to) about her lack of organization, recently e-mailed late on a Sunday evening to say she had finished her house cleaning and was about to do planning for her business.  

Did she choose the right duck?

When, earlier in the day, she faced the choice about what to do next, she could have turned those ducks over. She could have taken a moment to ask,   “If I choose this duck, what will I get?   If I choose that duck what will I get?”, then she could see: duck number one promised a clean carpet; duck number two promised an efficient work week with  important tasks clearly and efficiently mapped out. If she had just taken a peek at the results of her actions she might have made a different choice of priorities.

Play to Win

 They are your ducks! 

You can know the outcomes hidden under the surface.  You will greatly enhance your satisfaction with the results of your choices if you take a minute to turn over each task and take a peek at the results.   What is the prize you want to win?  Which duck will get you there the fastest?

Thanks to Coach Davender Gupta for pointing out this Time Magazine article about positive thinking. In it author Barbara Ehrenreich, asks “What makes you think unsullied optimism is such a good idea?”  According to Ehrenreich, we are now free to give up optimism because the current economy proves it doesn’t work.

Do You Believe In Magic?

When the economy was good, the message of “The Secret” seemed to work.  When housing prices were on the rise and we were all working, it was easy to believe we could have anything at all simply by using our mental powers to “attract” it. But even while things were good and optimism was easy, many people felt an inkling of a doubt.  There was always a suspicion that wealth and abundance didn’t exactly work that way.  Most people suspected there was something missing from the process of simple manifestation long before the collapse of the sub-prime market.

In her book, Steering by Starlight, Coach Martha Beck, speaks for many cautious optimist when she asks, “So which is it?  Are human thoughts nothing or everything, powerless or powerful, worthless or priceless?”

Stuff Happens

The Time Magazine author seeks to debunk optimism by encouraging “the simple admission that … “stuff happens,” including sometimes very, very bad stuff.”   

Too true; no argument there, but…

 Optimism and positive thinking is still the answer because with optimism we continue to strive. With optimism we can believe the bad stuff will lead us to a future that is not better or worse, only different.  With optimism we can believe that there is always a future worth working for.  

In Martin Seligman’s study for his book “Learned Optimism” he discovered optimistic people were more successful not because they were optimistic but because, being optimistic, they continued to try in the face of disappointment. 

Clear Eyed Commitment to Action

Ehrenreich concludes by saying “The threats that we face, individually and collectively, won’t be solved by wishful thinking, but by a clear-eyed commitment to taking action in the world.” 

What do you plan to do in the next few months to be wealthier or healthier or happier?

In my next post I will introduce a tool for goal setting and action planning; a tool to help you stay optimistic and work consciously toward the outcome you want despite the “stuff” of life.  Our optimistic thinking and an action plan will get us out of this current “stuff”