The Grasshopper had a unique take on accomplishment: “Getting past what you don’t like.”

I’m sure even someone as sainted as Mother Teresa had people she didn’t like. That didn’t keep her from accomplishing things.

Too often we get stuck on what we don’t like and as a result accomplish a lot less.

I had the good fortune to be the manager of highly skilled radio performers for 12 years. I can assure you that there were some people I didn’t like and many more who didn’t like me. If we were to be successful, we had to get past our dislikes and focus on the common goal: Accomplishment.

When we did that, we accomplished a lot. When we didn’t, not so much.

Whether we’re working as part of a group or on our own towards accomplishment, we will be faced with people and things we don’t like. If we get sidetracked by the noise of contention, we miss the opportunity towards ascension.

I don’t like cleaning rain gutters, but if them being clogged is backing water under my roof shingles and threatening to ruin my ceilings with water damage, I’m on a ladder with a bucket scooping out some of the slimiest, bug infested crap you’ll ever encounter.

There will be plenty of things you don’t like in life. If you retreat from them all, your level of accomplishment will stall.

One school of thought on the road to accomplishment is to do the hardest task first. Do an assessment of what needs to be done in order to accomplish what you’re after and then take on the most disliked task first. The strategy is this: “If I can do that, what could possibly stop me now?”

I find this strategy works best for me. When I put off the hard stuff, it looms like a cloud over my mission and distracts me from performing well even on the easier pieces. Putting off what I don’t like also acts as constant energy drain.

Start small and work your way up. Most people have a pattern for emptying a dishwasher: plates, glasses and cups, silverware. Personally I find sorting the knives, forks and spoons to be the hardest for me. If I save that task for last, it cloud covers the whole experience. When I do it first, the entire task seems to go faster and I have a feeling of accomplishment at the end.

What you don’t like is not an impediment to success; it’s a building block that’s best used at the foundation. I wonder how soon you can accomplish getting past what you don’t like.

All the best,

John