Don’t Let Tolerations Get in the Way
If you’re part of the Institute of Success and Goal Achievement, then you are clearly a driven person. I’m guessing that you have huge aspirations for what you want to achieve, and for the level of success you want in your life.
I expect that you certainly have the habit of setting goals, and I’m guessing that you are also conscious of the contributions you are making – you have unique talents that you share with the world in some way.
I go through the process each year of setting goals across all areas in my life. I have many projects that I am excited about and want to see through. I feel like we’re connected in this way.
In 2009, I plan to have my children’s book published and my business book on Strategic Goal Deployment™ finished and released. I have my Results Coaching and Consulting clients that I want to help achieve quantum leaps in their success levels. I have the Dear God Letter process that the world deserves to learn about. And, of course, the overhauls and improvements to the Institute of Success and Goal Achievement are exciting and forthcoming!
Additionally, because I do believe that all areas of my life are important, I have built time into my calendar and goals this year for my family, friends, and self, as well.
With all that we want to achieve this year, who has time for the tolerations that distract us from focusing on our goals? Tolerations are those things that we have allowed into our lives that are not as they should be, but we have not bothered to handle them yet. As a result, they actually distract our mental energy from what is important.
Let’s come up with a few examples.
- My office is a bit of a mess. As mail comes in, I look quickly to see what is important, and then I put the rest in the inbox. Well, that inbox is overflowing now, and extra items on my desk (way beyond what I’m working on right now) are staying there until I scoop them up and drop them on top of the inbox.
- The door lock on my car’s driver door sticks. I hit the power lock button on my keychain, and it sometimes stays down. I have to hit lock then unlock a few times before it pops up.
- I have a number of books on my bedside table – all really good ones, to be sure. Some I’ve read most of, some I’ve thumbed through, and others I have yet to start. But I’m certainly not reading them all at this minute.
- My “all-in-one” printer somehow lost the ability to fax documents a few months ago, and instead I’ve been scanning to PDF and emailing.
- My blue-tooth headset went through the laundry. Yep – it was washed, and dried.
At least it solved the puzzle of where it could have possibly disappeared to! However, it no longer works. I have been relying on my old plug-in hands-free device when I drive, but the sound quality is quite poor.
You get the idea. What tolerations do you have right now? I bet you could come up with a list at least as long as the one I’ve created, and I’ve only scratched the surface!
Here’s what happens when you allow for these tolerations. First, they take up some of your mental energy and attention. At a minimum, each time something isn’t working the way it should, you give a little groan of dissatisfaction.
Second, they are probably causing you to lose personal productivity. If your office is a mess and you spend time looking for something that should have been filed in an obvious place, then you can appreciate the productivity loss.
Lastly, if you have allowed it to go on so long that you don’t even realize you’re taking the extra step – such as creating a pdf where a fax would have done the trick – then you’re actually sending out signals to the universe that it’s OK for things not to work perfectly for you and that you’ll just handle the extra complexities and frustrations.
So what can you do? The first step is to pause and take a look around to recognize those things that have indeed been tolerations for you. Make a master list of “my tolerations”, and post them on the wall. (Leave space for you to mark the “completion date” next to each item.)
Of course, you don’t want to keep these tolerations around for long, but you do need to be at peace with what might be an overwhelming list. The second step, therefore, is to make a decision that you accept these tolerations until you decide to handle them. (This is a secret to managing anything that is frustrating – start by accepting it.)
The third step is to decide which toleration to handle next, and then take it to completion. Clear the books from your bedside table and put them away. Organize your office or hire someone to do it for you. Get a system in place and follow it from this point forward. Schedule an appointment for that irritating problem with your car.
Next, commit to making progress on your toleration list every week. It doesn’t have to be a big step, but you should take a conscious action toward completing the next toleration, and keep going until it is handled and gone for good.
Finally, celebrate your progress! Write the date you completed all the actions to get rid of this toleration. That way, you can have the list that is posted on your wall actually reinforce your successes. Now, give yourself permission to enjoy something you love that you would not have done had you not cleared the toleration. Go out for ice cream. Buy yourself a gift. Watch your favorite movie. What it is doesn’t matter, but do tie the reward to the fact that you earned it with clearing the toleration. We love rewards, and this action will help reinforce that which we’re trying to create – a list of completed tolerations!
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I encourage you to review this list and start with step one today. It only takes a few minutes to write down the things that you’ve been tolerating for a while – you know what they are. It becomes easy to follow all of these steps once you’ve gotten into action, so start with this list now while you’re thinking of it. Need to be held accountable? Email your list to me at info@i-saga.net.
To your highest success,
Pete Winiarski
Note: This article is published concurrent to the newsletter as a blog posting on the i-saga.net blog, SuccessStoriesBlog.net. Please post a comment to let us know your thoughts about this article.
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