Inspirational quotes
· I may not be totally perfect, but parts of me are excellent. - Ashleigh Brilliant
· Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable do nothing. - William Feather, author
· He who deliberates fully before taking a step will spendhis entire life on one leg. - Chinese Proverb
· Don’t make excuses. Make things happen. Make changes. Then make history. – Doug Hall
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I used to think perfectionism was a good thing. I think it’s because for a very long time I confused it with excellence. If excellence is doing something to the best of your ability, what is perfectionism? Read on…
Have you ever said these things to yourself, or has someone said it to you?
· If you can’t do it right, then don’t do it at all
· Anything less than perfect is simply unacceptable.
· It’s not good enough.
· I can’t do it now because I don’t have the time to complete it.
· Everything must be perfect before I can start.
All of those statements smack of perfectionism. Read them again and see. Perfectionism actually paralyses us. The truth is that even if you do a job 80%, it’s better than nothing because you’re taking action!
You see, a lot of people don’t ever start something because they want all conditions to be perfect. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that will never happen! When you do step 1, step 2 becomes easier and before you know it, you can look back and appreciate how far you’ve come.
Now you can see why perfectionism is the root of a lot of procrastination problems. When I send out the weekly organising challenges, I often say “you can do anything for 15 minutes”. Because when you start, you overcome the perfectionism monster that wants you to have hours to sort out your budget, filing, cleaning out your cupboards, etc.
You don’t need hours – you can do anything in baby steps. I know you don’t have hours to spend doing this or that – neither do I – but we all have 15 minutes here and 15 minutes there. And all those small pockets of time add up.
Now I don’t want you to think that I’m saying it’s not good to do something to the best of your ability. Of course it’s good – I just don’t want you to make excuses that you can’t do the things you want to or need to.
In closing, I want to encourage you to take some action! Don’t let your perfectionism cripple you.
c) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/
Friday, June 02, 2006
Monday, May 08, 2006
May - personal integrity
Inspirational quotes
· Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. – John Wooden
· No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently. - Agnes De Mille
· “Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.” - J.C. Watts
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Marcia's monthly motivational message – personal integrity
Are you a person of integrity? Read on and I’ll ask you again later.
In my opinion, someone of integrity keeps their word no matter what the cost. And make no mistake; it will cost you, either in time, money and sometimes even “friends”.
They return phone calls when their voicemail messages say they will. They keep commitments. They do the right thing even when it’s unpopular, e.g. not gossiping about people, walking away from conversations where sexist, racist talk may be happening. You get the picture.
The other day, I heard someone say, “well, when I see *Jill here, then I’ll believe it”. I agreed with her. In this situation, it was absolutely true and it got me thinking. If two people who don’t know Jill all that well think this, then she’s done a really bad job of maintaining her integrity. If she’s known to break her word, then she’s done it more than just a couple of times! [*Jill is not her real name]
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be known for being unreliable and uncommitted. I think the reason is because we are too quick to agree to do things without thinking the consequences through clearly.
If you have done this and you need to get out of a commitment, ask the person to release you. Don’t adopt a passive-aggressive approach and just not pitch up. This is not integrity! What’s the worse that can happen? They say no. And if the answer is no, then do what you said you’d do cheerfully but learn your lesson for next time and think before you speak.
This month, think carefully before you speak and say things like… I’ll phone you later, you’ll have it tomorrow, yes, sure I’ll help out.
Have a great character-building month!
(c) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/
· Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. – John Wooden
· No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently. - Agnes De Mille
· “Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.” - J.C. Watts
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Marcia's monthly motivational message – personal integrity
Are you a person of integrity? Read on and I’ll ask you again later.
In my opinion, someone of integrity keeps their word no matter what the cost. And make no mistake; it will cost you, either in time, money and sometimes even “friends”.
They return phone calls when their voicemail messages say they will. They keep commitments. They do the right thing even when it’s unpopular, e.g. not gossiping about people, walking away from conversations where sexist, racist talk may be happening. You get the picture.
The other day, I heard someone say, “well, when I see *Jill here, then I’ll believe it”. I agreed with her. In this situation, it was absolutely true and it got me thinking. If two people who don’t know Jill all that well think this, then she’s done a really bad job of maintaining her integrity. If she’s known to break her word, then she’s done it more than just a couple of times! [*Jill is not her real name]
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be known for being unreliable and uncommitted. I think the reason is because we are too quick to agree to do things without thinking the consequences through clearly.
If you have done this and you need to get out of a commitment, ask the person to release you. Don’t adopt a passive-aggressive approach and just not pitch up. This is not integrity! What’s the worse that can happen? They say no. And if the answer is no, then do what you said you’d do cheerfully but learn your lesson for next time and think before you speak.
This month, think carefully before you speak and say things like… I’ll phone you later, you’ll have it tomorrow, yes, sure I’ll help out.
Have a great character-building month!
(c) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/
Monday, April 03, 2006
April - Focus!
Inspirational quotes
· Give your full attention to one thing at a time. - Deb Koffman
· The best way to botch up a job is to rush through it because you can't take your mind off the other tasks you still have on your plate. Talk about counter-productive! So, in the interests of quality control, and for the sake of your own frazzled nerves, limit yourself to one thing at a time. Stayed focused and you’ll do good work. – Source unknown
· The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary. - Thomas Edison
People often ask me how I manage to get everything done. I am married, work a full-time job, run a part-time coaching and organising business, run a church ministry, go to gym, write this newsletter and all the weekly challenges, run workshops, and so on.
I do believe that a large part of the reason is my ability to focus on my priorities, especially when I really need to get something done. Now I’m not Superwoman so I do have my really lazy times but thank God, those don’t happen often. Here are just two of the many ways I manage to stay focussed:
Use a timer
It is generally so easy to get sidetracked. You go to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. On your way, you see something on TV and stay to watch. It’s usually only when the ad break comes on that you realise you’ve wasted 20 minutes and you were on your way to do something else. When I do some chores in the kitchen like sorting out my pantry, packing dishes, etc., I use the oven timer to keep me on track. That ticking reminds me that I only have 10 minutes (or whatever) to do this so I make sure it gets done. While I’m cooking, I use the few minutes between adding ingredients to pack my lunch for the next day, or to weigh my cereals and other foods (I’m on Weigh Less, remember?)
Make a list
I love lists! I am always making lists of things to do. I have monthly lists, weekend lists, daily lists, things that can be done in 5 minutes, etc. Call me crazy but based on results, my system works for me! When you make a list, it focuses your attention like nothing else. And there’s no pressure – if you don’t finish, you just move it forward. The other weekend I had a list of 22 things I wanted to do on the Sunday – I did 20. I’m sure if I only had 5 things, 2 of them would have also been left undone! And before you all write to me telling me that I’m too busy or whatever, I do have fun things on my list like finish x book, or go look at y website, or paint toenails.
I hope that this helps you to get some ideas to focus this month. After all, you do want to achieve your goals!
Recommended reading: The power of focus – Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Les Hewitt
(c) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/
· Give your full attention to one thing at a time. - Deb Koffman
· The best way to botch up a job is to rush through it because you can't take your mind off the other tasks you still have on your plate. Talk about counter-productive! So, in the interests of quality control, and for the sake of your own frazzled nerves, limit yourself to one thing at a time. Stayed focused and you’ll do good work. – Source unknown
· The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary. - Thomas Edison
People often ask me how I manage to get everything done. I am married, work a full-time job, run a part-time coaching and organising business, run a church ministry, go to gym, write this newsletter and all the weekly challenges, run workshops, and so on.
I do believe that a large part of the reason is my ability to focus on my priorities, especially when I really need to get something done. Now I’m not Superwoman so I do have my really lazy times but thank God, those don’t happen often. Here are just two of the many ways I manage to stay focussed:
Use a timer
It is generally so easy to get sidetracked. You go to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. On your way, you see something on TV and stay to watch. It’s usually only when the ad break comes on that you realise you’ve wasted 20 minutes and you were on your way to do something else. When I do some chores in the kitchen like sorting out my pantry, packing dishes, etc., I use the oven timer to keep me on track. That ticking reminds me that I only have 10 minutes (or whatever) to do this so I make sure it gets done. While I’m cooking, I use the few minutes between adding ingredients to pack my lunch for the next day, or to weigh my cereals and other foods (I’m on Weigh Less, remember?)
Make a list
I love lists! I am always making lists of things to do. I have monthly lists, weekend lists, daily lists, things that can be done in 5 minutes, etc. Call me crazy but based on results, my system works for me! When you make a list, it focuses your attention like nothing else. And there’s no pressure – if you don’t finish, you just move it forward. The other weekend I had a list of 22 things I wanted to do on the Sunday – I did 20. I’m sure if I only had 5 things, 2 of them would have also been left undone! And before you all write to me telling me that I’m too busy or whatever, I do have fun things on my list like finish x book, or go look at y website, or paint toenails.
I hope that this helps you to get some ideas to focus this month. After all, you do want to achieve your goals!
Recommended reading: The power of focus – Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Les Hewitt
(c) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/
Saturday, April 01, 2006
March - Setting good habits
This month’s theme is SETTING GOOD HABITS
Inspirational quotes
· We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle
· The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine. - Mike Murdock
· The door of opportunity won’t open unless you do some pushing. - Unknown
Habits are actions we perform continually until they become routines. When they become routines, we don’t even have to think about them anymore. When we were first learning to brush our teeth as children, at first we had to really concentrate to get it right. Soon, because we did it daily, it became a routine and is (hopefully) now second nature.
The key is to build up a series of good habits that you automatically do without having to really work at them. My voicemail message on my phone says, “successful people do what unsuccessful people are not prepared to do”. I get a lot of interesting comments from people phoning me and that’s good because I want people to start realising the truth of it – successful people create many good habits in their lives that unsuccessful people don’t have the discipline to do. Ouch! I know that’s tough – I’m talking to me too. I have some good habits like goal-setting, financial, time management but two really bad habits (reading too much and going to bed too late, and not being consistent with a healthy eating plan).
So! I have decided to join Weigh-Less tomorrow where I will create some good eating habits and in so doing, lose a couple of kilos.
What good habit will you commit to do this month? Go to the blog and let me know by posting your comments. I’m also going to post some feedback every week to let you know how I’m doing, and I encourage you to do the same. It will be good to have a whole community of like-minded people.
Let’s do this together!
Recommended reading on this topic: Today matters – John C Maxwell
(c) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/
Inspirational quotes
· We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle
· The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine. - Mike Murdock
· The door of opportunity won’t open unless you do some pushing. - Unknown
Habits are actions we perform continually until they become routines. When they become routines, we don’t even have to think about them anymore. When we were first learning to brush our teeth as children, at first we had to really concentrate to get it right. Soon, because we did it daily, it became a routine and is (hopefully) now second nature.
The key is to build up a series of good habits that you automatically do without having to really work at them. My voicemail message on my phone says, “successful people do what unsuccessful people are not prepared to do”. I get a lot of interesting comments from people phoning me and that’s good because I want people to start realising the truth of it – successful people create many good habits in their lives that unsuccessful people don’t have the discipline to do. Ouch! I know that’s tough – I’m talking to me too. I have some good habits like goal-setting, financial, time management but two really bad habits (reading too much and going to bed too late, and not being consistent with a healthy eating plan).
So! I have decided to join Weigh-Less tomorrow where I will create some good eating habits and in so doing, lose a couple of kilos.
What good habit will you commit to do this month? Go to the blog and let me know by posting your comments. I’m also going to post some feedback every week to let you know how I’m doing, and I encourage you to do the same. It will be good to have a whole community of like-minded people.
Let’s do this together!
Recommended reading on this topic: Today matters – John C Maxwell
(c) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/
Procrastination
This month’s theme is DEALING WITH PROCRASTINATION
Inspirational quotes
Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible - George Horace Lorimar
Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today – Thomas Jefferson
Procrastination is the thief of time. – Edward Young
All of us procrastinate at some time or another, and for many different reasons. I’m certainly not immune. Sometimes I’m just lazy, or I think it’s going to be too difficult, or I just don’t feel like doing it, or I build it into this mammoth task. The solution is to find a couple of methods that work for you and use those to propel you to action. In other words, procrastinate in the best way. Hang on a second – I’ll explain…
I have many tricks up my sleeve to combat this monster. If something needs to be done and it doesn’t have a deadline yet, I’ll leave it for a day or two and then… one morning I’ll come in, quickly check emails (15 mins) and not do anything (no coffee or breakfast) until that thing is done. You can also give yourself a self-imposed deadline. Say, this has got to be done before lunch, and sure enough, you’ll work furiously getting it done. I had a day like that today – I’d been putting off writing a sales script yesterday and gave myself 2 hours. When I actually did it, it only took me an hour.
Or reward yourself the minute it’s done – depending on the size of the task, of course. Like a cup of coffee for making a difficult phone call.
For bigger tasks, it always helps if you tell yourself you’ll work on it for just 15 minutes. Anybody can do anything for 15 minutes. Usually by the time 15 minutes rolls around, you’ll have gotten into it and want to make some serious headway. I do this with gym – “I only have to stay for 30 minutes” and before you know it, the class is over and an hour’s gone.
This month, I want you to focus on areas of your life where you might be procrastinating and make a decision to just do something – anything – for 15 minutes!
You can do it!
(C) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.organiseyourbusiness.com/
Inspirational quotes
Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible - George Horace Lorimar
Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today – Thomas Jefferson
Procrastination is the thief of time. – Edward Young
All of us procrastinate at some time or another, and for many different reasons. I’m certainly not immune. Sometimes I’m just lazy, or I think it’s going to be too difficult, or I just don’t feel like doing it, or I build it into this mammoth task. The solution is to find a couple of methods that work for you and use those to propel you to action. In other words, procrastinate in the best way. Hang on a second – I’ll explain…
I have many tricks up my sleeve to combat this monster. If something needs to be done and it doesn’t have a deadline yet, I’ll leave it for a day or two and then… one morning I’ll come in, quickly check emails (15 mins) and not do anything (no coffee or breakfast) until that thing is done. You can also give yourself a self-imposed deadline. Say, this has got to be done before lunch, and sure enough, you’ll work furiously getting it done. I had a day like that today – I’d been putting off writing a sales script yesterday and gave myself 2 hours. When I actually did it, it only took me an hour.
Or reward yourself the minute it’s done – depending on the size of the task, of course. Like a cup of coffee for making a difficult phone call.
For bigger tasks, it always helps if you tell yourself you’ll work on it for just 15 minutes. Anybody can do anything for 15 minutes. Usually by the time 15 minutes rolls around, you’ll have gotten into it and want to make some serious headway. I do this with gym – “I only have to stay for 30 minutes” and before you know it, the class is over and an hour’s gone.
This month, I want you to focus on areas of your life where you might be procrastinating and make a decision to just do something – anything – for 15 minutes!
You can do it!
(C) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.organiseyourbusiness.com/
Change
This month’s theme is CHANGE
Inspirational quotes
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude – Maya Angelou
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future. – John F Kennedy
We must be the change we wish to see – Mahatma Gandhi
Happy New Year to all of you. My wish for you is that this will be your absolute best year yet.
The good news is that you don’t have to be stuck with your situation the same as it was last year. Remember my tagline? If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got. This is SO true. If this is to be your best year yet, then you’ve got to do something different. Otherwise, I will bet you that you’ll be in exactly the same situation next year this time, probably saying something like, “I had a terrible 2006, I hope this year’s different”. My friends, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but simply hoping will do nothing! You’ve got to take action.
Any change can be a bit scary but I’ll ask you this – do you want to stay a caterpillar or turn into a butterfly?
So this month, I want you to focus on where you want to be and start stepping into greatness by making changes to lead you to your best year.
I know you can do it so go for it!
(C) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular Weekly Organising Tips ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.organiseyourbusiness.com/
Inspirational quotes
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude – Maya Angelou
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future. – John F Kennedy
We must be the change we wish to see – Mahatma Gandhi
Happy New Year to all of you. My wish for you is that this will be your absolute best year yet.
The good news is that you don’t have to be stuck with your situation the same as it was last year. Remember my tagline? If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got. This is SO true. If this is to be your best year yet, then you’ve got to do something different. Otherwise, I will bet you that you’ll be in exactly the same situation next year this time, probably saying something like, “I had a terrible 2006, I hope this year’s different”. My friends, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but simply hoping will do nothing! You’ve got to take action.
Any change can be a bit scary but I’ll ask you this – do you want to stay a caterpillar or turn into a butterfly?
So this month, I want you to focus on where you want to be and start stepping into greatness by making changes to lead you to your best year.
I know you can do it so go for it!
(C) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular Weekly Organising Tips ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.organiseyourbusiness.com/
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