Last week I faced my worst nightmare – preparing and writing a comprehensive report for an EU project. I could list at least a few of my virtues and good qualities, but administration is definitely not one of them.
I know only a few people in my business environment who are spectacularly good at writing and writing reports, but I have personally “run away” from it my entire business career. Since postponing or delegating this task is not an option, I found myself in front of a wall – either finish the report with great difficulty or finish it in a way that I learn something and share it with others. In fact, for this second option I have to thank my business coach – a wise man.
What strategies are available to us when we have to complete a task that we definitely know is “not right for us”, but we have no other options? Since the problem is in me, not in the task, the first step is to change our own beliefs about the situation and the obstacle itself.
One of the best methods I learned from Tony Robbins is the so-called incantations (note: incantation, invocation, spell). Incantation means repeating the chosen sentence or mantra with maximum conviction, emotion and physiology. Two favorite and very effective incantations for this occasion are: “When I can’t, I must!” and “Everything I need is in me now!”. When pronouncing the chosen sentence, we can play with tempo, energy, pronunciation, intonation, emphasis – everything is allowed. The key is to include our own body, raise our energy to 110% and have a lot of fun doing it. The second strategy that helped me in this situation comes from Stoicism, and it says – an obstacle is a path! When we think about it a little better, life without obstacles and challenges would not make sense. The Stoics considered obstacles to be a key factor in the development of a person, who becomes a better version of himself with each successful overcoming of them. Giving such a meaning to obstacles has a multiple positive effect on the quality of our lives – for me personally, the most important thing is that we can live a life free from fear, because whatever the obstacle is, its role is to build us into better people.
Following on from the first two strategies, I decided to set aside at least an hour in my calendar every day to write the report and to make it the first activity of the day. Because once I finish it, everything else seems easier. It is crucial to write and set aside time in your calendar, because if you don’t, you will find a hundred excuses to postpone writing the report. I will also tell you a secret – I did one more thing. I contacted two trainers who do the so-called Strengths Consulting and asked them to create a comprehensive profile of my strengths. Their concept is based on the fact that it is better to invest effort, money and time in further developing our strengths, rather than trying to fix the things we are bad and weak at. So when I finish the report, which must happen by my next weekly article, I will say goodbye to the administration and start working on my good qualities.
