Read Online Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life by Margaret Moore - Free Book Online

therapist or other program designed for that purpose.
    BUILD CONFIDENCE TO MEET CHALLENGES
    There will always be reasons to do nothing and to talk yourself out of making changes and meeting challenges. Getting your life better organized sounds like a lot of work. It’s not the right time, you’re too busy, it’s football season, it’s your son’s graduation or your wedding or whatever. While there are periods in your life that may not be best suited for making major changes, doubting yourself as to the timing, whether justified or just a convenient excuse, will eat away at yourconfidence in your ability to change. Ask yourself on a scale of 1–10: “How confident am I that I will be successful in overcoming my challenge and making this change?” If your score is below a 7 then you should first spend a little time thinking through ways to handle your challenges. As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
    Make sure that you think you can.
    Sometimes it’s as simple as scaling back the goal a little so that it moves from “I’m really anxious about whether I can really do this” to “Absolutely!” Sometimes you need to shorten your horizon: take it one day, even one hour at a time.
    Or you may discover that you need to learn a new skill and gain knowledge first because you’re about to do something you’ve never done.
    Set small first steps, and don’t worry about how long it takes to make them. The race to long-lasting change is usually won by those who take time to build the foundation needed for new habits to last.
    ADOPT THE MIND-SET OF A SCIENTIST
    As much as we would all love a quick fix or shortcut and avoid a lot of experimentation, there is no one else quite like you. Someone else’s prescription probably won’t get you to the finish line. That’s why our approach in this book is highly individualized. Here, you get options, you get choices and you get to pick what works best for you. Sure, we have some evidence-based principles to offer you; yes, I’m going to give you the information, techniques and approaches that I know can work, but just how they will work best for you, to what degree and how you’ll integrate them into your day-to-day life…well, that’s going to be up to you.
    We’ll talk quite a bit about the science of the brain and how it can help you. So get into the mind-set of a scientist. Be ready to do a few experiments, observe the outcomes carefully, think back to past experiences that might be revealing and decide which habits fit you best now, based on the results. Don’t worry, I’ll help. I’m here giving you some suggestions and guidelines and a framework to help you make these changes, but ultimately it’s your experiment, and you’re the one best suited to judge the results.
    CALL IN YOUR STRENGTHS
    Another way to cultivate confidence is to bring your strengths and talents to the table. It’s very easy to forget what you’re good at when you’re swimming upstream. While your desk may be a mess, your kitchen pantry may be well organized. While you may feel unfocused and unable to stay on top of things, you may be quite capable of helping your colleagues organize their projects. Or you may be known as tenacious, as someone who doesn’t give up, who’s determined to close the deal, find the item you’re looking for and reach the finish line of the race. Or you’re creative and you have a knack for finding new ways to do things.
    By the time we are adults, only one-third of us have a pretty clear idea of where our strengths and talents lie. We are typically much better at naming our deficiencies. If you want to learn more about your strong points, complete the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment (www.strengthsfinder.com) or do the VIA (Values in Action) Survey of Character at www.viacharacter.org.