Do The Worst Thing First

I avoid what I hate doing.

Okay. I said that. It’s off my chest. Now we can move forward.

If you are honest, you probably do the same thing. We don’t naturally lean into pain. We flee it. Or we fix it.

Stop.

Avoiding difficult tasks hurts you more than anyone else.
It hurts your family.
It hurts your work.
It hurts your mind.

Worst Thing

Try following this process when you get stuck:

1) Identify One Thing You Dread.

We all dread certain activities. We convince ourselves that admitting avoidance makes us weak. We think asking for help shows inability. Wrong. Very wrong.

2) Knock That One Thing Out.

Don’t identify it, and then go to the bathroom. Don’t identify it, and then “make an important phone call.” Do it now.

The truth is that we will psychologically convince ourselves of limitless important things we could do, in order to avoid what we dread.

Don’t delay. Attack that one thing. Ask for help. Beg for help. Pay for help. Do whatever you have to do. But don’t do anything else other than what you dread the most.

3) Do Something You Enjoy.

Make this activity brief. Enjoy the freedom you earned after annihilating what you had avoided.

If possible, make this activity work-related, so you avoid getting too distracted.

4) Do Another Activity You Dread.

Why stop at one when you are already on a roll. Trust me. You’ll be thrilled when you knock out two dreaded activities.

Think back to how you felt after knocking out the first dreaded activity. Do what you dread and you’ll feel that feeling again!

5) Speak With Your Team About How to Improve Your Process.

Let go of the desire to be in control. Request advice from your team.

Let go of the desire to be in control. Click To Tweet

They will likely have great ideas of how to better approach things in the future.

You must believe they have talent and expertise that you will never possess at the level they do.

So what are you waiting on?

Don’t comment on this post. Don’t like it. Don’t share it. Don’t even close your browser. Stop what you are doing.

Go identify what you have avoided and attack it.

Now. Go lead!

And do the worst thing first.

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