Change Starts ffrom Within

Where does organization start? It starts from within. There needs to be a vision. There are many aspects and levels of organization. Some people seem as if they have everything all together. Do they really? Most often, something may be together – but not ALL. First things first – get to know yourself – what your strengths are, your challenges, and your tendencies. Next, after you know yourself, EXCEPT yourself. Next, LOVE yourself. Finally you can start to bring the pieces of your life together for a better understanding.
If you feel you are unorganized – buying a book or taking a seminar/workshop on organization may not be so productive as your first start. Another person’s challenges may not be the same as yours, therefore you may require a different approach. So with that, learn yourself. How can you correct a situation and measure your success if you don’t fully understand the situation? Search deep within. Write out your findings. What’s REALLY holding you back? Depression? Anxiety? Lack of time? Lack of energy? Over committed? OCD? Lack of motivation? Unclear goals? Nowhere to put things?
One misconception that many people have is thinking STUFF will help them be better organized…”If only I had a new tupperware set, a bigger house, a bigger closet, a dresser, a shelve, storage boxes, labels, canisters, a different waredrobe, kitchen appliances… then I could be more organized and life would be so much better.” Have you ever thought anything similar? To some extent, you MAY actually need stuff to have you maintain organization – but spending money (though it is fun), is not the place to start. Whatever stuff you feel you are lacking, you have survived this long without it – and you will still be here tomorrow without. Ask yourself why you have been without the stuff so long. What are our current priorities such that you have been without this stuff that is going to help your organization? If you are haste at buying stuff without the skills to put them to its more clutter for the time being.
Today, introspect…Come back with what you learned and we will go from there.

Go Go Go - No No No

Going back to the 36-hour day notion, as much as we would like to gogogo at full pace until everything is - that can only work for so long. The more we take on with out rest - the more our mind gets rambled with all the things we have to keep track. And nothing ever stays the same - we have to continually manage the old things while taking on new things. To keep yourself sane, you HAVE to take care of your mind. I'm talking time-outs and meditation. I know your busy, but do it anything. I know you dont have the time or cant find the time, but make time. Start off an hour a week. And when I say "meditation", I dont mean thinging about stuff during your commute, or while you are watching TV, or while you are working, while you are at church, or as you are in bed to sleep before the next day. I am talking serious mediation where you are at one with yourself. In a quiet place if you can find one, because you have to be able to hear. Hear yourself and to hear God. Dont try to take on the world with out a plan and without inner peace. Meditate.

36 Hour Day

I wont even attempt to list steps to live a 36-hour day. The concept is a joke to me. There will NEVER be enough time in a day. Not even 72-hours, if that were possible. But main concept is to make the best of the time we are given. If we do that, it will still never be enough. When you go to bed at night, there is still more things that you could have done, if you only had more time or energy. To get peace of mind, not only do we need to make the best of our time, but we need to be satisfied of how we spent our time. I can be super effecient at doing things for someone else, but if at the end of the day nothing was done towards my personal goals from my priority list, I am feeling unfulfilled - even if I were able to accomplish a million things that day.
Each day we need to focus on the things that matter, and our personal goalas. Sometimes these may conflict. For example, if I have a small child, that small child matters. At the same time, my goal it to write a book. Somehow, someway, I have to figure out how to do both. When the oportunity comes for me to sell myself as a writer, I have to be prepared.
For the 36-hour day, I am sure we have the main things down in which to accomplish, right? Get the proper sleep and diet, and be organized. The next things to do is to further introspect on how you spend your time. Even the smallest time - and elimiate the non-productivity as much as possible. I am not cutting down all please. However, there is a time and place for everything. Some possible things to cut down on - looking in the mirror, watching tv, eating, talking, multi-tasking.
I am sure there are more. I will explain the ones I listed at another time.

Time and Money

At a high level, we seek organization to obtain peace of mind. We think we will have more peace if we had more time, or more money - assuming all other aspects of our lives are maintained. We get organized to save time, or save money, it hopes that it will cause us to have more time and money. And then there is the crucial question that is the direct prerequisite to the peace of mind. What will you do with the extra time and extra money when you get it? Maybe that is too far planning, and we can focus right now on the direct matter at hand - creating extra time and money.
This next step is something you are going to have to do on your own - and there is now way to progress unless you do this. You must identify that habbits or tendencies that consume your time and money? Do you eat out more that you need? Do you watch too much TV? Do you spend spontaneously? Do you look in the mirrow too much? Do you talk to much? Do you buy things you dont use or need?
We cant change, unless we know what to change. Go ahead - make out that list. Thing hard and take a few days if you need to. List everything you can.

Why Do You Want to Change?

Getting Orgaized comes from being organized. Realize and understand – that this means change. If you want to be organized, you ARE changing who you are. You will be expressing a change of values, lifestyle, habits, self. To change who you are, it not easily, nor usually done at will. Many times a dramatic experience or situation must occure before we make a change. And I am sure we have all heard similar sayings, “Don’t try to change people”, “People don’t change”, “And you cant change anyone that doesn’t want to change”. Ask you self, Do you what to change? Understand why you want to change. List out who you are, and who you want to be. How much of a conflic are your two personalities of who you want to be an who you are? Is it possible for for who you want to be to fit in your lifestyle? For example, are you currently too busy or too tired or physically unable to be who you want to be? Your list can be big, but execute small. Right now, my reason for change is that I want to get more out of life. A lot of time is wasted not being ready, waiting, and looking for something. Get started on those two lists, NOW!

Me

What I have realized, is that my desires have not changed. From my earliest moment sof self consciousness, my desires have not changed. These were always my desires:

• Look your best - always
• Be physically strong and in shape
• Be financially stable
• Keep house organized
• Be a writer
• Have a social life
• Be helpful


There are certain lifestyles that have to be in place for this image to be a reality. This is the reflection of me that I want. What do I have to do to get there. What is stopping? I'll do some more introspection. You do the same.

My goals are not unrealistic. I would even think that they are simle - but every day is still a challenge to be a better person. Until next time, stay focused or what matters. So umm, what does matter?

A New Life

If I could stop time for about a year and had super non-stop energy, I think I could get caught up on everything. But organization is a never ending battle. Once I was caught up, I would need to maintain that status. So the point here, is that organization is not something we do in an afternoon or a weekend. It's lifestyle. And before you can effectively apply any change to your lifestyle - you have to really beleive in the cause, and watch the cause.
You have to want it so much that you think about it every day. . .  Once you have made up your mind to change, you have to strategicly figure out what and how to change. Change has to be planned. This is a goal. The prize - greater peace of mind. Start making a list of the desireable things you want in your life, make a list of what you dont want. The list of desires will be your ultimate mission statement. After creating the ultimate mission statement, the next step is to refine that to make it a realistic mission statement.