Light your lazy dynamite
Henry Ford used to point out to his colleagues that there wasn't any job
that couldn't be handled if they were willing to break it down into little
pieces.
And when you've broken a job down, remember to allow yourself some
slow motion in beginning the first piece. Just take it slow and easy.
Because it isn't important how fast you are doing it. What's important is
that you are doing it.
Most of our hardest jobs never seem to get done. The mere thought of
doing the whole job, at a high energy level, is frequently too off-putting
to allow motivation to occur.
But a good way to ease yourself into that motivation is to act as if you
were the laziest person on the planet. (It wasn't much of an act for me!)
By accepting that you're going to do your task in a slow and lazy way,
there is no anxiety or dread about getting it started. In fact, you can
even have fun by entering into it as if you were in a slow-motion
comedy, flowing into the work like a person made of water.
But the paradox is that the slower you start something, the faster you
will be finished.
When you first think about doing something hard or overwhelming, you
are most aware of how you don't want to do it at all. In other words, the
mental picture you have of the activity, of doing it fast and furiously, is
not a happy picture. So you think of ways to avoid doing the job
altogether.
The thought of starting slowly is an easy thought. And doing it slowly
allows you to actually start doing it. Therefore it gets finished.
Another thing that happens when you flow into a project slowly is that
speed will often overtake you without your forcing it. Just as the natural
rhythm inside you will get you in sync with what you are doing. You'll
be surprised how soon your conscious mind stops forcing the action and
your subconscious mind supplies you with easy energy.
So take your time. Start out lazy. Soon your tasks will be keeping the
slow but persistent rhythm of that hypnotic song on Paul McCartney's
Red Rose Speedway album, "Oh Lazy Dynamite."
The dynamite is living inside you. You don't have to be frenzied about
setting it off. It lights just as well to a match struck slowly.
Henry Ford used to point out to his colleagues that there wasn't any job
that couldn't be handled if they were willing to break it down into little
pieces.
And when you've broken a job down, remember to allow yourself some
slow motion in beginning the first piece. Just take it slow and easy.
Because it isn't important how fast you are doing it. What's important is
that you are doing it.
Most of our hardest jobs never seem to get done. The mere thought of
doing the whole job, at a high energy level, is frequently too off-putting
to allow motivation to occur.
But a good way to ease yourself into that motivation is to act as if you
were the laziest person on the planet. (It wasn't much of an act for me!)
By accepting that you're going to do your task in a slow and lazy way,
there is no anxiety or dread about getting it started. In fact, you can
even have fun by entering into it as if you were in a slow-motion
comedy, flowing into the work like a person made of water.
But the paradox is that the slower you start something, the faster you
will be finished.
When you first think about doing something hard or overwhelming, you
are most aware of how you don't want to do it at all. In other words, the
mental picture you have of the activity, of doing it fast and furiously, is
not a happy picture. So you think of ways to avoid doing the job
altogether.
The thought of starting slowly is an easy thought. And doing it slowly
allows you to actually start doing it. Therefore it gets finished.
Another thing that happens when you flow into a project slowly is that
speed will often overtake you without your forcing it. Just as the natural
rhythm inside you will get you in sync with what you are doing. You'll
be surprised how soon your conscious mind stops forcing the action and
your subconscious mind supplies you with easy energy.
So take your time. Start out lazy. Soon your tasks will be keeping the
slow but persistent rhythm of that hypnotic song on Paul McCartney's
Red Rose Speedway album, "Oh Lazy Dynamite."
The dynamite is living inside you. You don't have to be frenzied about
setting it off. It lights just as well to a match struck slowly.
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