Inertia is my weakest suit. It’s always the piece that stands in the way of me beginning something I assess as worthwhile.

I could call it lazy and leave it at that but it’s abundantly clear that when I do begin something, I put massive amounts of effort into it that could never be labeled as lazy.

Then I began to wonder about this lifelong trait and discovered that I see things as a whole rather than a collection of their component parts. This makes everything look like a mountain. It takes lots of effort to climb a mountain. Then I got a gift from The Grasshopper. All he said was “Today.”

The meaning wasn’t clear at first, but images of a workshop I attended many years ago popped into my head. It was a management workshop where the group leader said that the objective is never to get to a 10 – 10 being the ideal. His advice was to assess where you were on the continuum of Zero to 10 by assigning your current position as a number. Let’s suppose you deemed yourself to be a 4. The question you want to ask yourself at that point is not how do I get to 10, but how do I get to a 5?

When we view something as a mountain, we miss seeing the foot trails that will lead us to the top. It’s usually at this point that we find a diversion to dwell on. Reminds me of a story . . .

My friend and business partner, John Leslie tells the tale of a guy who moved into his neighborhood. He watched this fellow standing in the driveway of his new home staring at all the boxes the movers had stored in the garage. They were stacked from floor to ceiling. Having moved a number of times himself, John said he could see the wheels turning in the new neighbor’s head and he could almost read his thoughts about what a big job it was going to be to unpack all those boxes and put the items where they belonged. After contemplating this chore, this man picked up a broom and swept the driveway.

I’ve done a lot of driveway sweeping in my time and the way to put down that broom and accomplish your objective is to focus on today. What can I do today that will have me step in the direction I want to go? What piece of the jigsaw puzzle can I put in place today? It doesn’t have to be a big piece. In fact, it’s better that you begin slowly so it doesn’t feel like a monumental task.

I always find that a list is helpful. Most of us have enough hubris that we think we can keep everything in our head all the time. Oftentimes, it’s productive to take that collection of thoughts and commit them to paper and then prioritize them. Then it’s time to ask the question, what can I do today?

You may get caught up in a diversionary internal conversation and say things like, “doing this little thing won’t accomplish anything.” Notice that conversation. Let it have its say and then do the small piece anyway. This is the gift of willpower – to do the little things. Willpower can never accomplish the big things; it only has enough energy to accomplish the small pieces. When enough small pebbles begin to accumulate, the beginning of an avalanche cannot be that far off.

Ask yourself the following question right now and see what happens.

WHAT CAN I DO TODAY?

All the best,

John

P.S. I am offering a FREE Hypnosis session via conference call this Thursday night, April 24^th at 9 PM EDT and you’re invited. Did I mention the session is FREE? The call is limited to 100 people. Here’s how to participate:

1. Call 712-451-6000 (Please call about 20 minutes early to insure your space)

2. Enter the following code when prompted by the operator 642177#

3. Have a pen and paper handy. There will be an important written exercise to do before I conduct the Hypnosis Session.

Recommendation: Please find a quiet place in your home where you will remain undisturbed for an hour.

Note: This is not a toll free call. Most people these days have phone plans that include unlimited long distance. If that’s the case for you, this will not be a concern. If your phone company charges you by the minute, you may want to calculate whether the toll charges they assess make sense for you. We do not charge for the call.