I give up. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to come up with useful tips and lessons that will give you a helpful nudge to get your shit done every day but most days lately, I got nothin’.
So I’m going to write about my lovable, exasperating, sweet, clumsy, annoying, adorable puppy instead, because she is the center of my life right now.
What with preventing ‘accidents’ and chewpocalypse, it’s hard to think about anything else.
You don’t mind, do you?
Oddly enough, as soon as I gave myself permission to write about Scout, she gave me a lesson to share. Good girl!
Yesterday, we drove into town to do laundry and get some dog and people food. I had to make several stops, leaving her in the van (parked in shady spots, of course!)
Each time, Scout would whimper a bit but then settle down to wait for me to come back. She didn’t chew up the upholstery or pee on the rug.
I was pleased to see how well she had adjusted to van life.
But this morning after our dawn walk, as Scout chowed down on breakfast in the van, I put on my shoes to step outside and get something on the camp table nearby. Immediately, she stopped eating (a first!) and jumped out ahead of me.
She wouldn’t get back in until I made it clear I wasn’t going anywhere.
That’s when I realized Scout doesn’t trust me anymore.
It occurred to me in that moment that we procrastinators often don’t trust ourselves.
Trust
If you’re like me, you have a lifetime of experience with letting yourself down. You keep your commitments to others far more than you do to yourself.
Your brain knows you all too well.
“Sure, you say that now,” says Brain. “Been there, done that! You’ll break your promise at the first distraction.”
How do you rebuild trust? Slowly and carefully
When you make a promise to yourself, be as scrupulous about keeping it as if you had promised your child a trip to Disneyland.
And don’t make promises you know you can’t (or won’t) keep. Over time, just like building a muscle, you can make bigger promises.
Slowly, your brain will start to trust you again. You’ll begin to regain your self-respect.
And some day in the not-too-distant future, you will be astonished at how much shit you are getting done.
This is the definition of trust.
Learn to trust yourself, one tiny promise at a time.
p.s. We still have a few half-price beta spots available. Just use the discount code ACBETA when you sign up.
