It might be that you procrastinate or avoid doing certain jobs – we all have distractions that can all-too-easily interfere with our day – but we simply need to make sure that we’re in control. When you look, you might even notice certain emotional triggers that lead you astray, and running a business can sometimes feel completely overwhelming.
The trick is to break these tasks down into manageable chunks. In the book The Happiness Advantage by Shaun Achor he talks about Zorro circles. The story goes that when Zorro first set out to change the world, he wanted to do too much, too soon, and was overwhelmed by the tasks that faced him, sinking into depression and drinking.
Then, our hero met Don Diego who decided to train Zorro. Don Diego drew a small circle in the sand and told Zorro to step into it. Only when he’d mastered that small circle would he draw a bigger circle that he could then learn to master, and slowly the circles got bigger and bigger.
Shaun says we are all ‘emotionally highjacked’ when we feel stressed or overwhelmed, and that we need to focus on the small things we can do, because as we take these baby steps, we instantly feel more in control, and – as a consequence – happier.
It’s a bit like asking ‘how do you eat an elephant’ or deal with any large project? The answer? One bite at a time! Simply cut it up into smaller pieces, prioritise the actions to be taken, and then create an action list and you’ll slowly move forward until the elephant is gone and you’ve achieved your goal.
By Alan Adams The Clinic Coach
