Did you know that when I started writing this weekly blog that I was not sure how many I could write? I had a several ideas I was excited to share, but doubts crept in. Did I really have enough to write something EVERY week? I knew I was passionate about sharing my ideas, wanting to help people. Despite those doubts, I jumped in, figuring that if I did run out of ideas, I would deal with it at that point. This is not unlike deciding to make a change in the way we handle something – like setting goals to be more organized.
This very blog is my 52nd – I have now been doing this for a year! There have been times when I struggled to write, the inspiration faltered. Yet as with many things, the motivation can be halfhearted and what you decide to do with that feeling is that matters. Even if few people were reading my blog, I felt the obligation to push through and write something.
When we set up new patterns, there may be times when we’re faced with that “I just don’t wanna” feeling. What are you going to do about it? What you end up doing is the most important thing. The truth is that part of you does want to, otherwise you wouldn’t have set out to make changes. The motivation can falter and to keep on the path of making changes, we need to push through those moments. Remind ourselves why we embarked on the path we chose.
Too often I struggle with the drive to be perfect. Everything needs to reflect the best of myself. For more than a decade I’ve accepted that this is too much to aim for, that it interfered with my ability to get things done. It’s one of the classic reasons people struggle with procrastination – I was no exception. This blog has been posted sometimes with less than perfect results. I still cringe that this or that post was rather blah. I’ve struggled with seeing how inadequately it feels like I’ve expressed my thoughts. What matters is not that I am perfect, but that I continue.
If you set out to work on organizing for x amount of time a day, there may be days that you get less done than other days. Everyone has off days. You might even find that you need to re-do some things, you forgot how you set something up, or whatever. It is not about being perfect; it’s about following through on the resolutions you decided on.
I’ve mentioned before that it typically take 21 consistent days before it becomes a habit – and even longer if you struggle with attention issues. The key there is the 21 days in a row. I’m doing this once a week, so in some ways it is not habit. I do get a feeling each week, the knowledge I need to do something, though the day on which that happens varies! A few times I almost posted on Tuesday, or sometimes forgetting until late on Wednesday to get everything posted.
When we are looking at changing the way we handle something on a more sporadic basis, anything less than daily – I promote linking it to something else. I have whole posts just talking about this idea and how helpful it can be setting up new routines. The lack of a daily routine for some things can make it that much more challenging and finding a way to still implement it is important.
I’m excited that I’ve reached a year of posts and although my inspiration falters from time to time, I’m in this for the long-term. It matters to me. Persistence is critical to creating new patterns. Getting tripped up sometimes is unfortunate, but need not stop you from trying again. Now there’s a year of posts that outline many different approaches for handling various struggles you might face. Always remember there’s hope to make a lasting change for the better. 🙂
