Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, it's Eric from the one You Feed, and
Speaker 1: we're back with another mini episode. This mini episode is
Speaker 1: called the Exhaustion of Avoidance. On a recent show, we
Speaker 1: had Robert B. Swass diner on and he said that
Speaker 1: avoidance is the tectonic issue of our times. Here's a
Speaker 1: confession for you. I am a best in class avoider.
Speaker 1: I have crazy good skills in this area. If I'm
Speaker 1: not living consciously or paying attention, I will avoid a
Speaker 1: difficult or unpleasant situation if I can at all. And
Speaker 1: right at this moment when I came up with the
Speaker 1: idea for this episode, I am avoiding something that I
Speaker 1: don't want to do. I have a problem that I
Speaker 1: need to solve for a consulting client, and I don't
Speaker 1: want to do it. So one of the things, though,
Speaker 1: that I've realized about myself lately, is that when I'm
Speaker 1: avoiding something, especially work related, I get very tired. I
Speaker 1: can notice it. I just overall get tired, and I
Speaker 1: don't think I was ever able to tie that together.
Speaker 1: Before I start to get restless and morose, I'll start
Speaker 1: to surf the internet, and that tends to numb me
Speaker 1: out and make me forget time in the past, days
Speaker 1: could go by like this. However, I think more recently,
Speaker 1: in the last couple of years, certainly I've become more
Speaker 1: conscious that I'm doing it. Doesn't mean I don't do it.
Speaker 1: I just don't think it goes on for nearly as long.
Speaker 1: But what's amazing to me is the difference that I
Speaker 1: feel from when I'm sort of listlessly avoiding something and
Speaker 1: when I undertake it and actually start to work on
Speaker 1: it is remarkable. My mood almost instantly lives. Now. This
Speaker 1: is not always easy to do, but like most challenges,
Speaker 1: I have a formula that I used to make progress. First,
Speaker 1: as we almost everything is awareness. I've got to realize
Speaker 1: that I'm doing it. I've got to realize why am
Speaker 1: I feeling tired, listless and sad, Recognize that I'm avoiding something.
Speaker 1: The next is to do it right. Just get to
Speaker 1: the next thing and do it is obviously, but part
Speaker 1: of what I've realized is the reason that I'm not
Speaker 1: working on something very often is because I don't know
Speaker 1: how to, or I can't see my way through everything
Speaker 1: I have to do, or I feel overwhelmed by it.
Speaker 1: So what I've found that works really well for me
Speaker 1: is to start by deconstructing whatever it is into its
Speaker 1: smallest possible pieces and at least get clear on what
Speaker 1: the first one or two of them are. So how
Speaker 1: can I take this thing like, Okay, I've got to
Speaker 1: solve this problem or I've got to write this paper,
Speaker 1: and how can I break that down into very small
Speaker 1: pieces in order to get the seven habits courses. I've
Speaker 1: had to do that because coming up with all that
Speaker 1: can be overwhelming. So I break it down into smaller
Speaker 1: and smaller pieces. The first thing is I need to
Speaker 1: read the chapter that I'm going to work on. The
Speaker 1: next thing would be that I need to take notes
Speaker 1: on it. Whatever those things are, but deconstructed into the
Speaker 1: smallest possible pieces. And then I use my tried and
Speaker 1: true five minute trick, where I find a timer I
Speaker 1: said it to five minutes, and I tell myself that
Speaker 1: I only have to do this thing for five minutes.
Speaker 1: That is almost always a small enough interval to get
Speaker 1: me started. And after that five minutes, usually momentum is
Speaker 1: kicked in and I'm able to keep going and make
Speaker 1: some real progress. And usually the only time I get
Speaker 1: stopped after doing it for five minutes is if again,
Speaker 1: I haven't broken the thing down into a small enough thing.
Speaker 1: I'm uncertain or I can't figure out what to do,
Speaker 1: is usually when I will end up not getting past
Speaker 1: that five minutes. So that's really for me is is
Speaker 1: become aware of it, deconstruct the task into whatever the
Speaker 1: smallest thing I can is, and then start work on it.
Speaker 1: But the big revelation I think for me has been
Speaker 1: how much not doing that when I'm avoiding those things
Speaker 1: that told that it takes on my mood and my
Speaker 1: energy level. So that's something I've been more conscious of.
Speaker 1: And now I'm off to do what needs done. So
Speaker 1: that's it for this week's many episode. If you are
Speaker 1: interested in getting the seven habits, of course, there are
Speaker 1: two episodes out now, and you can get both of
Speaker 1: those by going to one you feed dot net and
Speaker 1: signing up for our email list, and that will get
Speaker 1: you those two courses. And uh, I've gotten great feedback
Speaker 1: from some of you so far. I'm glad that you're
Speaker 1: enjoying them, and thanks as always, have a good week
Speaker 1: and we'll talk soon. Bye. One