Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - September 30th

We all put off and delay different tasks…Why?   

Research shows that everyone procrastinates.  Some people procrastinate because they are bored with the basic things of life and want to try new, interesting activities.  Other people are chronic procrastinators, which means they chronically avoid hard tasks and look for distractions.  Today’s technology is a great distraction!

Since mid-July, I had a report I needed to write.  There was not a deadline, but other people were waiting to read it.  I procrastinated for 2 months and was busy with other work tasks.  FINALLY, I decided this past weekend I was going to finish it and I did.  I had made this same decision in previous weekends, but never accomplished it. 

Olin Miller said, “If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it."  This is so TRUE!  Once I started working on the report, I spent about an hour finishing it. 

Back to my question….why do we procrastinate?  For me, it was that I had to review something I was in charge of and had to find the strengths, weaknesses and develop ideas for improvement.  In some respects, I was evaluating myself.  Often times, I have seen that when we have to examine ourselves, it makes the task even harder to accomplish.  This particular project I had started a couple weeks ago and just never finished it.  Once it was done, I was happy and relieved.

Sally Berger said, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” 

With tomorrow being October 1^st, it is a great time to review our goals and determine what the status of each of them is…..which ones have been accomplished, which ones still can be accomplished and which ones will not be accomplished this year.  For those that you can still accomplish, stop procrastinating, get a plan and COMPLETE your goals!  You will be glad you did. 

Next week, I will provide tips to help with those procrastinating tendencies…

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - September 23rd

John Stephen Akhwari…most likely you have never heard of this man.  However, he made Olympic history in 1968 in Mexico City.  

Akhwari was a marathon runner from Tanzanian that had leg cramps during his run because of the high altitude in Mexico City.  During the marathon, there were many changes for first place and he was hit during the race.  His knee was badly wounded, his shoulder was dislocated and then he hit the pavement hard.  Even with all those injuries, he did not stop.  Finishing 57^th….he was last person to finish and 75 had started.  

The winner was Mamo Wolde of Ethiopa finishing at 2:20:26 and Akhwari finished 3:25:27.  When Akhwari finished, there was only a few thousand people left in the whole stadium and the sun had already set.  The small crowd cheered louder than when the original winner of the marathon crossed the finish line.  

The next day he was interviewed by the media and was asked why he continued running, he said, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race."

Remember that you have a purpose in this life and you cannot give up.  Remember the amazing words of Winston Churchill:

Never, never, never give up.

Check out this inspirational YouTube video about his story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlfMogR7ZnI

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - September 16th

On Sunday, I was reading The Alcalde, which is the Official Publication of the Texas Exes.  As I was reading about the new University of Texas Football Coach Charlie Strong, I read this quote and thought it was a good reminder: 

“I’ve been around some really outstanding football coaches,” Strong says, “from Steve Spurrier to Lou Holtz to Urban Meyer to Bob Davie to R.C. Slocum. You can’t ever be them, you can only be yourself, but you can always draw something from what they have and use it in a way that it could be very successful.” From September 2014 The Alcalde (http://alcalde.texasexes.org/2014/09/strong/)

There are thousands of self–help books on amazon.com to give us ideas of how “to improve” or online magazine articles that can help us discover how other ladies have been successful in life.  Over the last couple of years, our society has discussed how women can “Have It All” including family, career, etc. Many books and articles have been written about it also.  

This quote spoke to me because it reminded me that I will never “be” the ladies that I am reading about.  I was created to be Terri.  I can learn what these ladies did and incorporate lessons and ideas they learned into my life, but I will still be the unique Terri Flow.  My path will be a different path from the ladies I read about because I have a unique Purpose on this earth and there are certain things I must accomplish as I complete this Journey in Life. 

As you have the unique opportunity to be on this earth for such a time as this, remember that you were put on this earth for a Purpose.  Go after it with all you heart and never try to be someone you are not.  

As a disclaimer, I may read the Official Publication of the Texas Exes, but I am still an Aggie….Gig’em!