JonathanManske.com

Taking Orders From a Mindless Idiot

There is nothing like taking orders from a mindless idiot to
put your mind at ease. source unknown

(I don’t remember where I heard this or who it came from.  I do remember that it was in reference to serving in the army.)

Overwhelm:  It’s part of being alive.  Sometimes we have so much to do that we get overwhelmed.  Typically when this happens we start to spin our mental wheels which makes us even less productive.  When this happens, it is time to put a mindless idiot in charge.

Imagine being a lowly private in the army.  If the sergeant tells you to go to the kitchen and peel potatoes, guess what you do?  You go to the kitchen and peel potatoes.  You do not have a discussion with the sergeant about how your talents are best suited to other enterprises or what you would prefer to do.  You go peel potatoes until you are told to do something different.

If you relax into this, your mind experiences ease.  You don’t need to worry or think about what you need to do next or about what else you should be doing right now.  Plain and simple - your world is peeling potatoes.

Well, you don’t have to be in the army to experience the ease of taking orders from a mindless idiot.  You can purchase a mindless idiot at any grocery store.  It is called a kitchen timer.

Then the next time you experience overwhelm, you can cede your power to the mindless idiot.  Make the timer your boss.

Imagine that you need to follow up with some prospects, schedule some appointments, answer emails, write a proposal, pay some bills, clean your desk and . . . all of a sudden you are feeling overwhelmed.

Pick one of your items (calling prospects) and then set the mindless idiot aka the timer for 20 minutes.  Now you know what you are supposed to be doing for the next 20 minutes.  Until the timer buzzes, you are calling prospects.

If another idea comes up, set it aside because right now the mindless idiot has instructed you to call prospects.

After the timer rings, pick another task and then repeat.

An added bonus to this is:  completions/goal achieving.  Every time the timer rings, you have set and achieved a goal.

Imagine that you have a big task at hand, one that is less than exciting - eg organizing your receipts for taxes.

If you use your mindless idiot, you can have several completions along the way - versus just grinding the task out.  These mini-completions will give you more energy to complete your task.

Wishing you great joy and success,

Jonathan Manske

What others are saying about you says more about them than it does about you.

Although this sounds good in theory, it often breaks down in practice.  We have all been hurt by words.

A friend of mine recently delivered a program to fifty people.  Forty nine of the evaluations were very positive. One evaluation was critical.  Guess which one my friend focused on?  Not surprisingly, the critical words hurt.

Undoubtedly you have done this same thing, focused on a minority negative opinion.  Consequently you have been hurt by words.

What we often forget is that the words that come out of a person’s mouth, say a lot about them.  Who are they being and thinking that they see the world that way?

I can look out my window right now and say, “Wow, it looks like a wonderful day.”  I can also say, ” Uhhmm, it looks cold out.”  It is the same day!

These two different mindsets/perspectives will create two very different starts to my day.  The first fills me with optimism and good feelings.  The second fills me with wanting to go back to bed.

These two sentences also comment on the state of my being.  I’m either being optimistic or pessimistic.

Back to my friend:  I invited him to consider what the negative review said about the person who gave that review.  Who was the reviewer being that she would see the world that way?  What was going on in her that she would say the things she did?

My friend got it.  That review didn’t have anything to do with him and yet he was taking it personally.   (Now obviously this would be different if the majority of the reviews were negative.  Then he should take a look at himself.)  All of a sudden the words did not hurt anymore.

Action steps

Whenever you experience being hurt by words, stop and ask yourself, ” Is this saying something about me or about them?”

If it is saying something about them, why would you take it personally?

Chances are that if you see it is saying something about them, you will move into compassion rather than hurt.

Wishing you great joy and success!

Jonathan Manske