Are You Addicted To Butterflies?

I have yet to find someone who doesn’t love butterflies. Their beauty as they flit from one spot to another can mesmerize you.

A few months ago we spent the day in Branson, MO. with our granddaughters. One of the places we visited was the Butterfly Palace. The hour we spent in there was magical. It was like being in an enchanted fairy tale as time stood still for a brief moment.

We attempted to capture the memories of this event by photographing the beautiful butterflies as they lit on a leaf or in some cases on you. The challenge was the butterflies would only sit for a short time and then flutter off to another spot, usually because they were startled or distracted by sudden movement. If you were slow on the button you missed the shot.

But, this article is not about the amazing variety and beauty of the butterfly but rather about their motion and activity and how it relates to our thoughts.

Let me explain. How many times have you been totally focused on a project or a conversation and a thought comes flitting into your mind and that thought triggers other thoughts and emotions and they start to layer on top of each other?

Before you know it you’re totally off track, you’ve lost your train of thought, you find yourself working on something totally different or you have no idea what your friend is talking about because your mind has been so busy darting around like a butterfly from one thought to another?

I know we’ve all had times where we’re listening to our spouses, best friends, children, teachers, ministers, the news or watching a favorite TV show or movie and something that’s said takes our mind off in another direction, we no longer are in the moment. Something triggers the thought and off we go. These thoughts are called “Inner Butterflies”.

What happens when we become aware of our Inner Butterflies? We can finally understand why we constantly find ourselves off track, flitting from one project to another and rarely getting a project completed.

Inner Butterflies cause us to lose the ability to focus. We need to become aware of these thoughts and emotions and discover what triggers them if we want to be able to stay focused and complete tasks we’ve started.

To discover these Inner Butterflies it requires you be honest with yourself. Admit that you have them and begin to notice what makes your Inner Butterflies worse.

What makes butterflies worse? For many of us it’s distractions in our environment or we may be addicted to the "rush" that comes from challenges.

I am a deadline junkie. I get a ton of stuff done when I have a deadline coming at me faster than a run away freight train on a downward slope. I love the adrenaline rush as I frantically struggle to meet a deadline, the feeling of accomplishment and sigh of relief when I finally get it done.

”Wow. I totally did it!”

But you know what? Many times I could have avoided the mad dash to the deadline and the immense stress and pressure I put on myself if I had been able to stay on task and focused and completed the job long before the deadline. I’m addicted to butterflies.

So what’s your butterfly trigger?

My biggest butterfly trigger comes while I’m working at my desk. I look over see a pile of papers or a stack of unopened mail and next thing I know I'm off on a tangent only to come back an hour or two later and realize the one project I needed to get done that day was still not done and the day is over. So I add another unfinished project to my list.

Another big one is email. I sit down to start a project. My email box is open and the little notifyer pops up. And off I go chasing butterflies for the next hour or two.

As you discover what triggers your butterflies you can start to eliminate them or at least control how they affect you.

For me, now when I realize I’ve hit a trigger I stop, take a deep breath, let it go and get back on track with what I’m working on.

I’ve also found that by not having stacks of papers piled around my office I am less likely to get off track. I keep my email box closed and have a set time when I check emails and catch up on paperwork.

By eliminating some of my triggers in my environment I have become more productive.

I’ve eliminated a lot of stress in my life, have fewer unfinished projects robbing me of energy and can take time to look out the window and enjoy the real butterflies as they flutter from flower to flower.

Many of the tips I’ve learned about inner butterflies comes from one of my very favorite success gurus, Eben Pagan. His Wake Up Productive course has helped transform my life from one of disorder, unfulfilled goals and stress to where I am finally on the path to living the life I’ve envisioned for many years.

The Wake Up Productive course is not available right now but you can go to Eben's web site; www.wakeupproductive.com register for the free videos and receive notice when he offers the course again.

By the way the free videos are full of great information for you to start on the path to greater productivity.

If you found this article helpful take a few minutes to leave your thoughts. I’d love to hear your comments

Stay tuned for more tips on living a successful and productive life, while you are working on building your business and achieving your goals.

Are You Setting Yourself Up For Success or Failure?

You may have heard of someone who was set up to fail. Have you ever thought about setting yourself up for success? Lets go back to the first guy. In my opinion if they were set up to fail it is most likely they were not taking personal responsibility for their life. Most of the time we are not set up to fail. We set ourselves up to fail in one way or another. Just like you can set yourself up to fail you can set yourself up to succeed.

How can you set yourself up for success?
Here's a very simple but powerful concept from marketing guru Eben Pagan. My day is twice as productive after applying this principle in both my business and personal life.

Cleaning the Grill
Think of a restaurant. At the end of the day the grill is cleaned so it's ready for the next day, otherwise, it would become very dirty and mucky and impossible to get clean. If you clean it everyday it keeps the grill in great shape.

How would you apply this concept to your business? At the end of the day or at the end of working on a project you close out all the programs you had open, save files and clear your desk of paperwork. When you come back the next day you're ready to sit down and focus on the next project. You won't be spending the most critical hours of your work day shuffling papers, getting distracted and finding yourself multi-tasking. Which by the way is the biggest time waster we have. More on that in another article.

Another example of "cleaning the grill" is to get enough sleep each night. Ideally, 7 to 8 hours to give your body and mind a chance to recover and restore so you're sharp and ready to go the next day.

Where can you "clean the grill" in your business and personal life? You may want to focus on just one area in each group. For me after I finished a session of high focused activity on a project I would close out the programs, shut the files and clear my desk. When I came back to start another project I was ready to focus on the next activity.

In my personal life it was starting a morning ritual that set me up for success each day by getting my daily exercise, healthy breakfast and meditation and prayer completed the first thing each morning. When I start my day out like this the whole day goes smoother. As Stephen Covey would say it, "I've sharpened my saw" and I'm more focused, productive and prepared for the days tasks.

Take a few minutes to think about where you need to "clean the grill" in your life so you can be more productive and achieve the success you want.

Happy Cleaning :)
Ruth
www.HomeBizLeadsOnABudget.com