Tag: struggle

If it feels like hard work

Posted on by philipdodson

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If something you are doing, or a relationship/friendship, in fact anything, if it feels like hard work, forced or it does not come naturally, then it’s not worth continuing.

If it feels like an effort, if it feels like you’re the one who’s trying and not the other, if your work feels like a struggle, if whatever you are doing just feels like a challenge, it’s because it is not right.

The things, people or activities we love never feel like hard work if they are truly right. Loving something or someone is natural thing, a joy, and never a struggle. You want to do it more than anything else.

Once you find the right thing, person, activity, or work, yes you have to value it, cherish, nurture and spend time.However, it will never be a burden or a chore, it will never drain your energy.

Yet so many spend their lives fighting what they love to continue the struggle.

Don’t struggle, be with people you love, do things that are a joy.

Do what comes instinctively and naturally.

Keep the momentum going

Posted on by philipdodson

When you lose momentum and you fall off your ‘wagon’, then it can be hard to get back on and get going again.

Struggle

For a good number of us who run our own businesses, you can find by early December that a bit of the sparkle has gone, it’s become a bit of a grind, you probably haven’t had a break since the summer, if at all, you have been working silly hours and you have got to that point where you think ‘that’s it until January, what more can I do now?’.

That’s where I’ve been at for the last 2-3 weeks and plus, having had for a week, a good old dose of man-flu thrown in and I’m just about had it. I have 4 days this week before I break for Xmas and I am looking at this week thinking ‘wind down’, ‘coast’, ‘doesn’t matter now’ and ‘leave it to do in January’.

Well, that would have been my approach in the past, however, having learnt a few lessons with that approach to life, more than once, I am still on a bit of a wind down this week, as I really, really need a break to re-charge. However, I am setting myself a few important things each day to get knocked off, so that starting in January isn’t a complete shock to the system and facing a mad panic of things that should really have been sorted before the 5th January.

The thing about it is keeping the momentum going, by doing a few things each day, so even during the hols, with the exception of Christmas Day etc, I plan to do a few bits work wise each day.

This way it is not intrusive, it doesn’t effect my relaxation/family time. But it keeps it going and just doing a few things over a two week period will add up to a fairly large list of things done by the time the 5th Jan comes round.

The other thing is to do something that you have been putting off for weeks or do something that is different to your normal routine, perhaps one of the things that are normally less important. Doesn’t really matter, it is just doing a few things each day that counts.

This way I can ease into 2015 without that list of things I know I really should have done, but left hanging over me. I also won’t sit there over the Xmas hols saying ‘I need to get that done when I am back’, ‘I also need to do that first day’ etc etc.

This will actually help me relax more, help me stay focussed and help me feel that I have kept the momentum going. As starting is often the hardest bit.