Present
Moments
Thoughts
from Susie Ascott - on living your Perfect Life
Welcome to March 2010 Issue of Present Moments!
Present
Moments includes tips for living your perfect life, an update on what
I’ve been up to and news of upcoming events.
You are receiving this because you have partnered with me in a
coach-client relationship, you have attended my yoga
classes or expressed an interest in coaching. If you would prefer not to
receive these (infrequent!) newsletters, then please let me know, susie_coach@bigpond.com
Special Offer: Be one of the first 5 to email me with
your answer to the question below and attend a Vision Board workshop or an Oil
Painting for Fun afternoon for just $20.
Question: Do you know who said:
"The
sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up."
"One
day I'm going to get help for my procrastination problem."
"If it weren't for the last minute, I wouldn't get anything done."
Hint: Read the question carefully
In this issue:
Feature
– Perfecting the Art of Procrastination
What’s
been happening?
I put my Mum’s
property up for sale last July. Many weeks and home-opens later, after no
offers at all, I decided to take it off the market. The flower seller at the local market is
most disappointed as I no longer rush in every Sat morning to buy copious
bunches of flowers. Two weeks went
by and guess what, someone has made an offer, Yay!
My interest in, and
love of, Celtic myths and legends has been bubbling to the surface, lately.
Maybe it is because I keep meeting people with interesting Gaelic names like Brid and Fenn and Neamh.
I’ve been scouring the local libraries for reference books and
came across one which begins by discussing the Neolithic, Stone Age and Bronze Age
pre-history which set the stage for the Celts. Reading about the amazing
structures and monuments (stone crosses and circles,
I went on a 3 day Vipassana (silent) retreat. This was a gift from a client; Thank you, M. I was nervous about my (in)ability
to stay silent for this long. Most vipassana retreats
are 10 days and some are as long as 6 months, so I trusted that I would
survive. I LOVED it! I had a good chance to get to know all the voices inside
my head and now that we are home we are all doing well.
Clients continue to
amaze and inspire me, landing new jobs, producing beautiful art work, riding motorbikes
around Australia, manifesting laptops (see my blog
for the full amazing story on this), writing novels and movie scripts, studying
the yoga sutras in an ashram in Mysore, building
businesses ….. You guys are awesome!
Feature – Perfecting the Art of Procrastination
Do you procrastinate? If you answered “No, never”, I
seriously want to meet you, buy you dinner, maybe even marry you! If you answered “Is the Pope a
Catholic?” then read on, I have good news for you. "Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday."
Unknown
There are many useful tips and techniques for overcoming our
tendency to procrastinate. Maybe we will look at some in a future newsletter
feature article. Let’s, just for
now, consider how we might be able to take this “weakness” of a
tendency to procrastinate and explore how we can use it to our advantage; turn
it into a “strength.”
Last week I had a boring task that I did not feel inspired to get
on with. I really needed to re-organise the filing system on my laptop and
archive or delete a bunch of data.
I know myself well enough that I could easily imagine getting to the end
of the day having achieved very little of value, feeling guilty and frustrated.
So
I decided to “Give myself Permission to Procrastinate”
thereby no longer risking the feelings of guilt and frustration
I developed some “Conditions” for this
permission. I could procrastinate
for as long as I liked but while I was procrastinating I was only allowed to
spend my time on a specific list of activities and tasks. This list did
NOT include reading and reminiscing over old information. I wanted a long list
of useful things to do, because I understand that I work best when I have lots
to do.
"It
is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do,
the less time one finds to do it in." Earl of Chesterfiled
To create this list I went through my to-do-list and selected all
the other small but valuable tasks that have been on the list for several days
(or weeks or months!), all the “little things” that were building
up. The list included:
File receipts and update my profit and loss spreadsheet.
Stock up on printer paper and printer cartridges.
Source, locate, or buy a cable to connect the camera to the computer
to replace one that has “gone missing in action”
Check the oil, brake fluid, and water in the car
Update mailing lists
Call Telstra
Apply for ambulance cover for Mum
Complete working with Children Check application
Investigate using googledocs
Find necessary documentation for applying for British passports for
the kids
etc..
dull, reasonable mindless tasks, but nevertheless useful
I sat down to work on my main task, sorting out my laptop filing
system. When I started to
procrastinate I immediately chose a task from my list and worked on it until it
was completed. I then went back to my main task, and so the day continued.
It worked! I ended the day feeling efficient, effective
and energized. I also made reasonable inroads into re-organising
my laptop.
As Robert Benchley said "Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he
is supposed to be doing at that moment”
With love and thanks also to my dad who
taught me “Never
put off till tomorrow, what you can put off till next week”
Your thoughts?
Recommended
Books I have enjoyed reading over the last few
months:
“The War of
Art” Steven Pressfield
A book that I come back
to again and again. The funniest and most
helpful book I have found on the art of procrastination.
“What keeps so many of us from
doing what we long to do? Why is there a naysayer within? How can we avoid the
roadblocks of any creative endeavor—be it starting up a dream business
venture, writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece? Bestselling novelist
Steven Pressfield identifies the enemy that every one
of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then
pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success. The War of Art emphasizes the
resolve needed to recognize and overcome the obstacles of ambition and then
effectively shows how to reach the highest level of creative discipline. Think
of it as tough love . . . for yourself.”
http://home.stevenpressfield.com/books/war_art.asp
“The Tibetan Art
of Living” Christopher Hansard
Interesting account of
Tibetan Bon Medecine, written by a man who was chosen
for this teaching at the age of four. Worth reading if you can remember to keep an open mind and take
from the book what is useful to you. If you hop onto amazon
you will find customer reviews ranging from “this book changed my
life” to “this is all rubbish”.
“Tibetan Bön medicine is one of the world's most vital, sophisticated systems of healing -- an ancient, detailed approach that aims to unite the mind, body, and spirit to restore a dynamic balance and create patterns of health. In The Tibetan Art of Living, Christopher Hansard -- the leading Western practitioner of Tibetan medicine -- introduces you to Bön's uniquely empowering worldview, and guides you to a new and enlightened level of discovery. His is the first book to reveal how to apply the wisdom and principles of Tibetan medicine to daily life.” http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340771240/wwwbonmedicin-21
Yoga Classes
I’m loving teaching yoga. THANK YOU to all my dedicated students.
See my blog for latest timetable and home practices
Vision Board Workshop
In this ½ day workshop you will create a
visual picture of your hearts desire using paint, texters,
collage
Cost
$40
for a ½ day of Fun and Inspiration Materials supplied
Dates: Saturday
March 13th
Oil Painting for Fun
Have fun discovering or rediscovering that painting is fun. No experience is necessary.
Cost: $30
to include paints, canvas and use of easel
Bring your own materials and the cost is $15
Dates: Sat
afternoons or Sunday afternoons
Live the Life You Really Want –
E-Course
A simple, step by step process to take you closer to
living the life you really want. All you need is access to email and about 1
hour per week.
Cost: $90 for 6 week class.
Dates:
start whenever
you want to
“All my benefits keep on growing from this
course. If I haven’t said it yet – thank you.”
“I really like your course, thank you for providing
me with the materials. They are very simple, clear and easy to
follow.”
“light bulb moments go off constantly in my
head, so much that I could light the city with it!”
“I definitely would like to tackle one,
but in a while, when I’m a bit more defined and sure of what it is I
want. “Ah.... but that will help me be defined won’t
it”... yes I can hear you through the computer!”
Thanks for Reading!
Smiles, Susie