Been to the post office lately?

I have.  Yesterday, in fact.  I had 3 packages to ship out-of-state, and I decided to do it the old-fashioned way: at the post office.

Thinking I was sly, I selected a small neighborhood retail station that I figured would be quick.  (Or as quick as you can expect on December 14th!)  I knew not to arrive at opening – there would be a mob of folks hitting the station before work.  And I knew not to go around lunchtime, either.  Target: 10:15AM. 

When I arrived, there were only 15 people in line ahead of me.  Not too bad, right?  The way the line curved, it was difficult to see to the counter area, but I could hear a well-natured, high-energy postal employee chatting it up.  So I figured I was in the right place. 

Fifteen minutes later, I had moved about two feet in line.  But it was far enough to see the counter area.  And Mr. High-Energy.  Despite the three cashier stations at the counter, his was the only one open!

I was frustrated.  That little voice in my head chastisted me (don’t act like you don’t have one, too):

“Great idea, coming here! What were you thinking! Why did you choose this post office?  Why didn’t you get those packages ready last week?! What made you think mid-morning would be the best arrival time? Why don’t you go to another station? Why not spend the extra money and go to the UPS Store?”

As much as I don’t like to hear that little voice sometimes, at least it’s in my head.  No one else can hear it. 

Unfortunately, the other folks in line with me - who I had already determined were retirees, based on earlier conversation - shared their thoughts out loud. 

“This is ridiculous! One window open at Christmas? They should staff better.”

“I can’t believe this.  How long is this going to take!  They make budget cuts and we have to pay for it.”

 ”They need to open more windows.  Don’t they have more workers back there?”

 Although I had been willing to deal with a long wait, I wasn’t sure I was willing to deal with a long wait while listening to these people. An internal battle over whether or not to bail ensued.  I gritted my teeth & stayed.

In between joking with customers, singing along to piped-in music, and doing the jobs of three people, Mr. High-Energy explained to someone that his other two team members had called in sick for the day. Someone in line commented about how cheery he was, considering the situation.

“Well,” he said. “I can make it a terrible day, or I can make it a great day. Not much sense in the first choice.”

Turns out I was right after all:  I was in the right place.  With that reminder from Mr. High-Energy, I switched from gritting my teeth to focusing on my to-do list for the day.  And there was no more grumbling from the other folks in line, either.

I’ve been procrastinating.  Big time.

I’m so close to completing the editing of a video product I’m about to launch.   The exciting thing is that releasing this product into the marketplace will enable me to better leverage my time, since the product can share my expertise with entrepreneurs I normally cannot reach due to geography and time limitations.  And because I’m committed to keeping the price significantly lower than my in-person consulting rates, I see it as a win-win for me and my clients.

But I digress…..

For the past week, I knew all I needed to do was review the lesson audios and cut out certain spots where I babbled on too long or didn’t quite make my point clear enough – and then plug in a few new audio clips.

Simple enough, right? Nope!

Here’s the bottom line: I can’t stand doing tedious little detail-work like that! (Which is probably why I put it off until the night before I committed to delivery!) 

There’s just something about doing this type of work that just makes me antsy. After 15 minutes of poking around in the editing program, I went to my contact database and started searching for people who I could hire to do this!

Yep, that was pretty much my reaction to this portion of the project….hire someone.

I instantly felt guilty and heard the voice going, “Jennifer, you’re being ridiculous- just do it yourself, it won’t kill you!”

I should be able to spend just one quick hour doing some work on my laptop, for a project that I’m passionate about, right?

Again, the answer is no!

I quickly called my mentor, concerned that the activities I excel at, along with my strengths, seem to lie in a narrow little niche, and that I really need to expand that channel in order to achieve greater success.

First she disagreed.  Then she gave powerful advice.

She said, “Jen, it’s not that you can’t do the work, it’s that you are fully aware of what it costs you to do it.”

That made me realize that what I was calling “being lazy and stupid” was actually my keen awareness of the fact that we all have our own unique abilities, and that when we focus specifically in those strengths, powerful results occur.

And when we operate outside of those unique abilities we can quickly become drained and de-motivated.

Maybe I can handle the drain and de-motivation, but why put up with that?  A quick fifty bucks to someone within my network bought an hour of his time and completed the editing in 25% of the time it would have taken me to do it on my own.  Do the math - I definitely came out ahead!

My point? To best leverage your time and energy, find an alternate solution for those activities that drain and frustrate you.  Forcing yourself to muddle through them is a waste of your time & energy and cost you income-generating opportunities!

Why is it more challenging to get a little exercise a few times a week than it is to brush your teeth twice a day, every day?

Short answer: the power of rituals.

I recently listened to an interview with Tony Schwartz, the co-author of “The Power of Full Engagement.” He explained that a ritual – defined as a carefully defined, highly structured behavior – pulls at you to perform a task, whereas “willpower” and “discipline” require that we push ourselves to a particular behavior.

Schwartz revealed that conscious will and discipline are in limited supply, and that the “secret” power of a purposefully established ritual is that it ensures you use as little conscious energy as possible.

So that explains why I have beautiful pearly whites, but I still get winded going up a flight of stairs!

What rituals do you practice that serve you well?