By Kevin Lawrence (www.CoachKevin.com)
Remember the story of the Princess and the Toad, where an unhappy Princess frees a handsome Prince from a frog’s body with a juicy, wet kiss? Imagine she’d avoided the Toad, and that instead, our Princess had looked at him and thought: “How disgusting. I’ll never kiss you.” The story would have a new ending: Rather than marrying a handsome, young prince and living a heavenly life, our princess would continue along her way, unhappy and despairing, having missed a great opportunity.
Now, consider this: Toads are a part of your life. Every “problem”, “issue”, and “situation” you would like to avoid but have to deal with is a “Toad.” They come in all shapes and sizes, from varied sources, and you can’t hide from them. You may set them aside, hoping they’ll go away, but Toads don’t just vanish. Actually, when neglected, they often get bigger, smellier, and slimier: “Problems” grow, “Issues” begin to stink and “Situations” ooze out of control. What do you think this mental rotting does to your mood and creative mindset, not to mention your productivity level?
Action is the only way to purge yourself of mental Toads. Dealing with your problems head-on – or licking your Toads – will teach you that anticipation is usually much worse than just puckering up. Most of the time licking your Toads isn’t as nasty as you’d thought. It may even leave you feeling relieved and energized. Licking Toads whenever they arise, should also provide momentum for launching new projects, as a few Princes usually pop out of the bunch. And, as Albert Einstein once said, “Amidst every problem lies an opportunity.” Don’t turn away from Toads and blind yourself to possibilities.
Once you are licking your Toads regularly and without apprehension, the law of inertia – objects in motion tend to stay in motion- takes over, propelling you forward of its own accord. This is called positive momentum, which is fueled by an upward spiral of action, a sure path to better results, happiness and success. Negative momentum, a downward spiral that slows down your progress, is fueled by fear. The Princess was fearful of the Toad, but still kissed it. That’s why she met her Prince. People who don’t want to deal with their “problems” – or Toads, are scared, but they ignore them and let them get bigger.
Fear of failure is a self-fulfilling prophecy – you will often “get” what you think about or focus on – and that is why it’s so important to overcome your fears, or Toads. A mistake is only fatal if you don’t learn from it, and failure only arrives once you’ve given up, or been conquered by your fears. Bearing that in mind, here are nine steps to help you worry less about your Toads while achieving better results in life:
1. Identify your Toads: the big and little things you are avoiding or putting off
2. Acknowledge why you haven’t taken action…yet
3. Realize how you will benefit from getting them done and the cost of continuing to procrastinate
4. Divide the task into manageable steps with deadlines
5. Commit fully to completing the task by the deadline: Don’t say, “I’ll try.
6. Get help and support – get more than you think you need.
7. Start Licking!
8. Reward yourself
A final thought from Mark Twain:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain
Licking the toads in your life will allow you to have a more fulfilling, less stressful life. At the end of your life you will regret only the things you did not do . . . the dreams that you did not pursue. You can only win by taking action on the things that you would rather avoid . . . start licking those toads today!
Life is quite simple: Identify your Toads, and lick them right away. They’re only holding you back. It’s all about clearing the things that hold you back so you can be freed up to more easily create what you want in your business and life. With fewer Toads in your life and on your mind, you will be sharper as well as more productive at work and more available during the time you spend with your family and friends. Things can’t help but get better and easier.
Lick a few Toads today – they’re never as bad as you think. Besides, there are some Princes (or Princesses) out there too…
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Kevin Lawrence is a strategic advisor and coach to CEOs and executive teams across North America and internationally. Driven by a relentless passion for helping business leaders get what they really want, in business and life, Kevin has coached clients across a wide range of industries, including consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, luxury retail, media, automotive and professional services. He deeply believes that CEOs and entrepreneurs can have tremendous business success along with an enriching, adventurous and fulfilling lifestyle, taking their professional and personal accomplishments to an entirely new level.
For more than a decade, Kevin has helped clients overcome major obstacles, deal with tough decisions and capitalize on new opportunities to generate breakthrough results. Clients often turn to Kevin when they are faced with a frustrating and challenging issue, which causes them to seriously look at making a big change, quickly. His methods, style and savvy approach have helped his clients expand into new markets, build high performance leadership teams, attract profitable clients, improve productivity, and increase revenue and profitability. Also, with Kevin as their advisor, clients reduce their stress and hours worked so they have more time and energy to live their personal version of an outrageous quality of life. For more information, visit www.CoachKevin.com or call 1-877-564-6224
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