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Getting It Done
by Steve Goodier
Do you ever feel as if you just aren't getting anything done?
"The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get." Here are three simple steps I try to
use to guide my work.
1. Just DO it.
Sometimes we just have to decide to go for it.
A "road warrior" stopped at a small town motel in the American
Midwest. "How's business?" he asked the owner.
"Not very good," the tired looking man answered.
The customer nodded sympathetically. "Well, what's your next
step? Do you think you'll look for ways to get your name out there to build up
business? Or are you thinking you may have to close?"
"Well," said the owner dryly, "I've never made enough in this
motel to stick with it, but I've never lost enough to get out of it. I'm hoping
to do one or the other this year."
All he has needed these years was to make a decision - one way or
the other. Sometimes we just have to decide to do it.
2. Do it NOW.
One farmer decided to raise a few sheep. He bought a fine ewe
which soon gave birth to two lambs. However, had no pen in which to keep his
sheep and a wolf ate one of the lambs. The farmer remarked, "Well, I guess I'd
rather have one fat lamb than two skinny ones" and decided to accept his fate
and not build a fence this year.
A few days later the wolf killed and ate the second lamb. This
time the farmer reflected, "I supposed it's all for the best. Now the ewe won't
be bothered with them." With no lambs left, he again chose to wait on building
the fence.
A couple weeks later the ewe was eaten up and the farmer became
more pensive. "I know it's all for the best, but I'll be darned if I can figure
out how."
I find peace in learning to accept what cannot be changed. But
there is also wisdom in doing what needs to be done WHEN it needs to be done.
3. But do it RIGHT.
One poet put it like this:
"If a task is once begun, never leave until it's
done. Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all."
I think a case can be made that not everything has to be done
well all of the time. But more often I have to ask myself, "If I don't have time
to do it right, when I will find time to do it over?"
I have a friend who likes to say, "Slow is fast." What she means
is that if I will slow down and do the thing right, I won't have to redo it
later. Slow is fast.
For me, it helps to just do it, do it now and try to do it right.
And then maybe celebrate when it's done.
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Steve Goodier
Publisher@LifeSupportSystem.com is a professional speaker, consultant and
author of numerous books. Visit his site for more information, or to sign up for
his FREE newsletter of Life, Love and Laughter at
http://LifeSupportSystem.com
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