Complaining about things going wrong in your life isn’t a good long-term strategy for life improvement. In fact, if you ascribe at all to the law of attraction theory you know it does the exact opposite. Complaining about problems attracts more problems. Let’s piggyback on that idea by eating the frog. Many times the things we complain about are the things we don’t want to do (ie clean house, go to work, etc). It’s the things we dread doing and or keep putting off. We spend more time worrying and complaining about these things than is good for ourselves. Worst of all it makes us feel less confident and less competent. Instead of pushing it back, dreading it, and putting it off, we should get in the habit of tackling it head on, first thing in the morning.
What do frogs have to do with it you ask? Excellent question. It’s an expression I picked up from Brian Tracey who wrote a book called Eat that Frog. It’s a great read and I recommend you pick up a copy when you get the chance. The reasoning behind it is this. What if I asked you to eat a frog? Unless you’re into French cuisine, that does not sound like an appetizing endeavor. Instead it’s one of those things you really don’t want to do. If you just went ahead and ate that frog first thing in the morning, you wouldn’t spend all day worrying and agonizing about having to eat it. Instead of dampening your self-esteem and confidence, get it done right away. When you make it a habit of getting stuff done (no matter how unpleasant) you feel accomplished and ready to tackle anything. You end up getting more done and feeling much better about your life/self.
Maybe you haven’t been asked to eat an actual frog, but you’ve been in plenty of similar situations. Maybe it’s a tough assignment at school or work, decluttering your home, clearing out your email inbox, making and sticking to a budget, or doing your taxes. We all have tasks we want to put off, sometimes indefinitely. Doing so holds us back and our confidence in our own abilities and strengths takes a nosedive. We know we’ll have to get that project done eventually and that taxes will be due April 15th. We also know that getting ready in the morning will be much easier with a closet filled only with items we would actually wear.
Doing this work that has to be done early in the day when we have the mental and physical energy to do it will be much easier than trying to rush through it and pull an all-nighter at the last minute.
Going forward I challenge you to “eat that frog” and do the most difficult or most dreaded task first. Not only will you do a much better job with it and waste less energy and worrying about it, it’s also a great way to boost your self-confidence and self-esteem.
Need more help? I recommend The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage. It’s all about using a nifty “trick” to force you into action. Sometimes we need that extra push!
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