Not long ago I was talking with a friend named House Painter Dave. He mentioned that he was glad that I didn’t have much clutter around my baseboards because he was about to paint them and he didn’t want to move a lot of stuff. This got me thinking about the way I hide clutter in my house and in my life. ..which in turn made me wonder: Are people’s houses a reflection of our being? When you look at my house you will notice it is generally pretty neat, but on more careful inspection there are several unfinished small projects. I think that is where I am in life right now. I have several ‘projects’ that are emotionally unfinished. I am going to spend the rest of the day finishing those projects and see how it changes my life. So now I have a question for you. How do you keep your house? Is it neat or cluttered? Do you hide the dirt or clean it up? How does this show up in the rest of your life?
I was having lunch with a friend the other day. She is a VP of Finance at a Fortune 500 company and although she has a very good mind for money, she is also a sensitive, caring person and a great mother. During our conversation she was telling me that she was torn between working extra to advance her career and spending times with her daughter. This made me think that at some point we all want to have riches, but what those riches are varies from person to person. In my friend’s case, and I happen to agree, having riches means having quality of connection with loved ones, especially our children. The real question is where or not we are living our lives to optimize our riches? After lunch that day I went home to define what riches I want in my life; connection to family, health, and great friends topped the list. There were a few luxuries like travel and good wine that made the list, but things like fame and fortune weren’t so high. This brings me to a question I will ask myself daily: Am I living today in a way that will optimize my riches for the long run? Are you?
I’ve been thinking a lot about goals and ways to improve the likelihood of actually achieving them. One thing I have discovered is that I need a constant reminder of my goal until I can create habits that are consistent with what I want to accomplish. Once the habits are created I am on autopilot. My solution is the Goal Keeper.
The first thing to know is that most humans are driven by visual information and so visual reminders are pretty powerful. This is what gave me the idea of the Goal Keeper. My most recent goal is to lose 10 pounds over the course of 5 weeks. I started by getting 10 smooth river rocks, each about the size of a marble. On my bathroom sink where I was sure to see them every day, I placed the river rocks around the base of an empty glass jar. That gives me the visual reminder. From today on for the next 5 weeks I will weigh myself (I know you aren’t supposed to do this…but this is more about motivation than actual weight). If I lose one pound I will move one river rocks into the jar. If I gain a pound I will move a rock back to the counter. I also have a few extra river rocks that I hope to never use. They are my, “Are you serious!” rocks saving account just in case I actually gained weight the first few days. Eventually I will pay that account back as I begin losing weight. The theory is that seeing something tangible will keep me motivated and eventually will help me reach and maintain my goal. I don’t need to stress about diet or exercise because seeing the jars every morning gives me the motivation to make good decisions. The purpose of the rocks and the jar is make my good behaviors become a matter of habit rather than a burden of will. I’ll let you know how it goes…184 and counting, down!
Thanks for jumping on my blog. The project started as a way to create a social network for friends to share ideas and inspiration. There are lots of great minds out there. Let’s get them all together here!
