Sensational Saturday-my days are over full of people to love and things to do so I need a sensible way to get more done.
Sometimes I think my life would be better if I found a way to get more done each day. At other time, I think my life would be improved if I spent more time doing enjoyable activities. There have been occasions when I thought the secret to successful living could be found in the loving embrace of my children. I even admit I experimented with ways to make each day 28 hours instead of 24 in my part of the world. But, alas and behold, none of these solutions turned out to be feasible.
So here I sit, searching for ways to get more done each day. Like most of you I have read books on time management including these:
Every one of these books has a slightly different approach. One thing they all have in common is the fact the there is no secret to getting done everything that needs to be done. I think the truth of the matter is that the most sensible approach to getting done, what needs doing is to admit sometimes work sucks, but it has to be done.
So the question for you this sensational Saturday is what sensible solution do you have to getting more out of each day?
Fantastic Friday- sometimes it is fantastic to figure out how incredible you really are and enjoy the wonder that is you.
Almost everyone has heard the expression, "A man works from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done. As a wife, mother and business owner, I am always up and at something. I like it when I read about people who say it is time to rise and grind. I think it is cute that you have the luxury of rising in order to grind. I am a mama, I have to grind wherever I am, in bed while I sleep, at the breakfast table or while braiding hair. I am sure the mothers among my readers agree with the following poster I found on Pinterst recently:
I am a wife and a mama, I get it done! I am helping my husband run a business, I am raising 4 wonderful children. My teenie bopper got accepted into Penn State in the 10th grade and into an International Baccalaureate program. My nine year old son is in the mentally gifted program in school. My five year old twin daughters are intelligent, have a wonderful vocabulary and love me to the moon and back. I knit like a professional, read books like crack heads smoke crack and still make sure my family has clean sheets and fresh dinner everyday. THAT is awesome.
Many of you who are reading this post do incredible thing, fantastic things, amazing things. You have friends who say to you, "Wow, I don't know how you do that, I could never do that." Instead of thanking God for the miracles you pull out of your hat each day, you respond, "No, it's nothing, anyone could bake a cherry pie, braid six kids hair, cook a five course meal, do the grocery shopping and still look ravishing for your spouse, all by 10:00 am."
Too often we play down the fantastic things we do, we refuse to acknowledge the awesomeness in a goal we have achieved. When we do that we insult the person complimenting us. We also lose an opportunity to thank God for giving us whatever it was that made someone think we were awesome in the first place. Each time we are complimented for doing something, it is an opportunity for us to thank God for the success we have achieved and to show others the gift God has given us.
This fantastic Friday I think we should acknowledge that we are pretty awesome and that the awesome things about us that others see and appreciate are miracles from God. Check out this song, "God in Me" from Mary Mary that illustrates my point.
So the question for you this fantastic Friday is what fantastic quality about yourself are you going to stop, acknowledge and thank God you have?
Thrilling Thursday - it is thrilling to be able to attain the goals you set for yourself, so get up and do it.
For the past several weeks, the Thursday blog posts have been about having SMART goals, that means we have goals that are:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time Bound
Here are a few of the books I have read that talk about achieving your goals and being successful. Each of them has a different approach. What remains constant is that they all tell you you must get up and do something in order to be successful.
No matter how specific and measurable a goal is, if it is not attainable, the goal is not a good one. No goal is attainable if there is no work taking place. Check out the following goals:
1. I want to fly to the Florida Keys. I have no plan to buy tickets.
2. I want to fly to the Florida Keys on Friday July 6, 2012 on the 1:00 pm flight operated by Southwest Airlines so I ordered the tickets on line.
When you look at the two goals. It is clear to see that the person who wrote goal number one has has not learned to make goals specific measurable and attainable. Goal number one has an idea and a vague plan. But all the details to help take the goal from a simple notion to an actual event that has occurred are missing.
This week we are concentrating on attainable. A goal that is attainable is one that is able to be reached with persistent effort. In other words, a major step in making a goal attainable, means that one must get up and get moving.
No matter how specific and measurable a goal is, if it is not attainable, the goal is not a good one. No goal is attainable if there is no work taking place. Check out the following goals:
1. I want to fly to the Florida Keys. I have no plan to buy tickets.
2. I want to fly to the Florida Keys on Friday July 6, 2012 on the 1:00 pm flight operated by Southwest Airlines so I ordered the tickets on line.
When you look at the two goals. It is clear to see that the person who wrote goal number one has has not learned to make goals specific measurable and attainable. Goal number one has an idea and a vague plan. But all the details to help take the goal from a simple notion to an actual event that has occurred are missing.
When making our goals attainable, we can't sit back and relax, we must get up, get moving and do something.
This song from Mary Mary, "Get Up" illustrates the idea.
When you look at goal number two, you can clearly visualize the road to mission accomplished. The person who wrote goal number two has gotten up and done some things. It is clear that goal number to is specific. That person wants to be in the Florida Keys on the afternoon of Friday July 6, 2012. She knows specifically where she wants to go and when she wants to get there. It is easy to measure the progress toward reaching the goal, because a date and time are listed. The goal is attainable, because airline tickets have been purchased.
The woman who wrote goal number two has packed her bags and will be sitting by the ocean this weekend. She will be texting her friend who wrote goal number one. The woman who wrote goal number one will be sitting in her backyard swatting flies this weekend. Next week we will talk about how to make sure our goals are realistic. So, the question or you this Thrilling Thursday is how are you setting up your goals so that they are attainable?
Magnificent Monday - there is something truly magnificent about having the courage to dream a big dream and making the dream come true.
It takes courage to dream a big dream. Most people like to live in safe and secure manner. They never step out of bounds and never try to do anything different that may be a little hard. For most people predictability and stability are more important than the rewards that come from bravery and potential success. It takes courage to dream a big dream. Often people who are afraid to dream a big dream because big dreams are scary and require work and dedication. But the dream, the big dream is the start of bigger and more wonderful things.
Dreaming a big dream opens a person up to the possibility of having to change and get uncomfortable. Moving from being a 9 to 5 employee with a dependable every other Friday paycheck to a self employed entrepreneur with uncertain pay dates is a big dream. It is a scary dream. The truth is, it's not actually the dream itself that is the scary part. The scary thing is the making the dream come true part. Action is always scarier than sitting and thinking about what is to come, or what could happen. When we dream big dreams there are big things possible. But at the same time, the big dreams require big work and big work is scary.
I am a Christian woman, a wife and a mother. None of those roles allow me to be afraid of dreaming big dreams. As a Christian woman I have been taught that God has not given me spirit of fear, but has given me a strong heart and a strong mind. As a wife I am part of a team, working toward a common goal so I am not alone and don't need to be afraid. As a mother, I am responsible for molding 4 young minds and that work does not have room for fear. As an entrepreneur I cannot to be afraid. I have to get up and find solutions to problems for myself, my company, my employees and my clients.
So yes, I am a big dreamer kind of woman. I imagine a world where all my dreams come true. Check out this song "Imagine Me" by Kirk Franklin to get an idea of the power of imagination and dreams.
So now, I am stepping out and I am going to dream a big dream. I have a lot of little dreams on my horizon, but I am looking for a big one. I want to dream a big dream and go for it. I am Janeane Davis and I am a big dreamer. So, the question for you this Magnificent Monday is what big dream are you to dream?
Wonderful Wednesday- a blast from the past as I take the day off to celebrate the 4th of July with my family. Originally posted April 25, 2012.
Wonderful Wednesday-I have a dream, a hope and a prayer that one day my children will be grown up, independent, healthy and happy. I am a mama, of all the jobs I currently have, mama is the most important. My husband and I have four little people some of them not so little, that I am responsible for bringing into adulthood. It is an awesome, amazing, difficult and time consuming set of tasks. My husband and I work at this job 24/7 trying to find ways to make it 28/8.
I don't know how other people do it. I have a partner in the task and go to bed tired everyday after doing everything I can think of to get the children from here to where they need to be. The job of being a mama changes day to day. For the most part, the things I do today, I do not do tomorrow. There is only one thing I can guarantee I do all day everyday in raising these children-pray.
I pray for them when I wake up in the morning. I pray for them throughout the day. I pray for them when they go to bed at night. It is the best thing I do as a mother. It is something my children see me do and copy. When they fall down and get hurt, before the Band-Aids and Neosporin come out, the prayers go up.
The children see it and they copy. About a month ago, I slipped on something my teenie bopper left on the steps and got hurt. I screamed out in pain. Before I could get my old hurt but up off the floor, my nine year old son was up the steps touching my shoulder and praying for me. If I am in a bad mood or angry about something, the children will pray for my mood to improve. They pray about all kinds of stuff. It is wonderful to see.
Of all the things that my children do that make me proud, (and believe me, that is a long list) I am proudest of the fact that my children are prayers. The hopes, dreams and prayers have for my children are wonderful.
Terrific Tuesday - sometimes it is terrific to see a thing on your to do list and just that that thing go.
We place things on our to do lists for a reason. Normally the reason is that the things need to get done. The items on our to do lists serve a purpose. They remind us of what we need to do, of steps on our journey. However, sometimes things on our to do list don't need to get done, but need to be let go. A thing we put on the to do list on Monday, planning to do it on Thursday, may become obsolete before it is completed.
We are bombarded with advice about completing things on our to do list. At times, it seems that we become slaves to the list. Once an item is on the to do list, we keep it there for all eternity if need be until that thing is completed and moved off the list.
Our to do lists are long and more often than not, contain too many things. So, we must be brave and not afraid to let some of the things go. We all have watched the TV show hoarders and been filled with curiousity, wonder and amazement at how a person could collect so much stuff. When we do that, we do not think about the things we collect and add to our to do lists and leave there long after they should have been thrown away. Sometimes you really need to let things go, like the following song from T-Bone says, "Let That Thing Go"
T-Bone "Let That Thing Go"
There are so many things we keep on the to do lists that need to be let go. Some things are kept by our own choosing. Other things stay on the lists because they are important to other people. The fact remains, at times, we need to look at the list and let things go in order to make life better and more fulfilling. So the question for you this terrific Tuesday is what are you going to remove from rotation on your to do list?
Magnificent Monday- sometimes you have to motivate yourself to put on your big girl panties and get done what needs doing.
We are bombarded with self improvement books. Each day a new book comes out telling us how to motivate ourselves to do whatever it is we need motivating to do. There are some people who buy self help and motivational books and pour through them religiously looking for answers and trying to find the secret to success. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that. I personally carry more than 50 of those types of books on my Kindle 3G at any time. The following are four that I found interesting recently.
In this blog, I spend a lot of time talking about what motivates me and asking my readers to tell me their motivational secrets. So I definitely recognize the need to depend on the advice of others for motivation and inspiration.
However, there are times when we find ourselves without our Kindle 3Gs and without our trusty paperback collection of resources. The need for motivation does not stop just because we left our trusted resources at home. At those times you have to use what you have inside you to get the job done. On those days, and today may be one of those days for you, you have to work what you have. If all you have in your arsenal is the fact that you can hold on no matter what the storm, work that. If your strength is that you are an excellent organizer, organize your way out of a bad situation. When it's just you against the troubles of the world, do you and work what you have.
This Mary J. Blige song, "Work That" captures the idea I am trying to share completely.
Like the words to the song say, work what you got. You cannot go along with someone else's plan. This means that you have to take what you have read in all the books and learned at all the seminars and put it to work. You read the books for a reason. There was a purpose behind all those seminars you paid to attend. Yes, read the books, attend the seminars and participate in the support groups.
But eventually, you get to the day where you have to start putting into play what you have learned.
So the question for you this magnificent Monday is what are you going to pull out of your pocket and work to motivate yourself?
