Resilience-Readiness: The Power of An Already-Done List
By Sandy Davis, a.k.a. "The Resilience Guy"
“To-Do” Lists
Most of us have some sort of “To-Do” list that we keep at hand—or at least keep in mind. We use this list to organize and prioritize the things we need to accomplish each day. As new tasks surface, we add them to our list, and as we complete them, we cross them off.
Most of us discover that some things get onto our “To-Do” list, only to remain there indefinitely. These unfinished items become a weight on our shoulders, or a proverbial millstone around our neck. When we let our unfinished tasks linger, our “To-Do” lists have a way of becoming never-ending.
Why Separate Your Self-Care from Your “To-Do” List?
If you want to successfully take on some new self-care daily practices, the most self-defeating thing you can do is add them to the bottom (or even to the top) of your “To-Do” list. Doing so only makes the overall burden of your “To-Do” list greater.
When the weight of your list gets to be too much, you are likely to abandon it. At that point, everything goes, including your self-care practices. That’s because the latter became distasteful by virtue of your unconsciously associating them with whatever other uninviting obligations were stuck on your aggravating “To-Do” list.
Because we are all creatures of habit, you are then likely to start over, with a brand new “To-Do” list, and you are likely to repeat the cycle of building up an impossibly long list, and finally discarding it all over again.
Your “Already-Done” List
The secret to establishing and sustaining healthy self-care practices is to keep them on a different list, separate from your “To-Do” list. In line with paying yourself first, I call this other list your “Already-Done” list.
By taking care of the most important things first, you can have them “already done” before you set about tacking the tasks on your day’s “To-Do” list. This will set you up to go forward with greater energy and stamina, clearer thinking, and a more creative approach to solving the challenges that the day will present you. It also gives you a delicious taste of success—before you even get started.
Doing self-care practices consistently over time usually requires this change in your thinking about how you go about paying yourself first. When you truly make your own self-care a top priority and put it ahead of your “To-Do” list, you give yourself permission to take the time to “fill up your fuel tank” before you set out on the rest of your day’s adventures. You will have already set yourself up for success.
“To-Do” List versus “To-Be” List
Another way of thinking about your “Already-Done” list is to hold it as a “To-Be” list. Before you set about doing what you have to do, it’s wise first to set yourself up to be just how you need to be in order to succeed at doing what you have to do. Once you are fully “ready to go,” you will be able to proceed through your day with power, grace, creativity, and effectiveness. That’s a formula for having fun.
A small upfront investment in your own well-being can go a long way in making your days significantly more productive and more enjoyable.
The Self-Care Daily Accountability Log
As for putting an “Already-Done” list in place, I recommend that you take advantage of a simple tool that will help you keep your focus on your intentions to pay yourself first. I call this tool the self-care Daily Accountability Log.*
When you start your days by doing your self-care practices first, and then writing down the results you are creating for yourself in your daily log, you can enjoy a measure of continuous personal success even before you tackle anything else. Moreover, you can enjoy the satisfaction of having documented the fact that you have fully honored your commitments to take great care of your mind, body, and spirit.
I encourage you to experience both the power of holding yourself to the highest level of personal accountability, and the fulfillment that flows from consistently putting your own self-care first.
When you savor the benefits of these experiences, you will most likely discover that you have greatly increased both your resilience-readiness and your ability to thrive—especially in stressful times.
* To download a free copy of the Self-Care Daily Accountability Log that Sandy Davis created and uses in all his resilience-readiness programs, go to: http://www.resilienceworks.com/download.asp
Relevant Quotations:
"Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied." Herophilus
“Don’t wait for a crisis to discover what is important in your life.” Anonymous
"There comes a time in the spiritual journey when you start making choices from a very different place…. And if a choice lines up so that it supports truth, health, happiness, wisdom, and love, it's the right choice." Angeles Arrien
"Obstacles can't stop you. Problems can't stop you. Most of all, other people can't stop you. Only you can stop you." Jeffrey Gitomer
“Losers make promises they often break. Winners make commitments they always keep.” Denis Waitley
You are welcome to re-publish the above article in its entirety either on a web site or in a blog, providing you do not change the article and you include the following attribution in its entirety:
Copyright © 2009 Alexander M. (Sandy) Davis. To find out more about Sandy Davis and the resilience-related products and services he offers, visit http://www.ResilienceWorks.com. To subscribe to his free monthly e-newsletter, send an e-mail to Subscribe@ResilienceWorks.com. To reach Sandy directly, send an e-mail to Sandy@ResilenceWorks.com. FYI, he’s “The Resilience Guy.”
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