Cleaning House

Have you ever had the feeling that there aren’t enough hours in the day?  It can be stressful.

Often times it can be a result of having unfinished commitments or loose ends.  A loose end is an unfinished or incomplete commitment.  These can be external or internal, meaning that it could be a promise we made to ourselves to complete and we haven’t followed through.

These loose ends take our attention and energy away from where it should be.

You probably have more “loose ends” currently in play that you realize.  Consider how many things you feel even the smallest amount of responsibility to change, finish, handle or do something about.

To manage these commitments well there are three steps:

  1. Write down all the items that need attention.  Make a complete list.  If it’s a partial list you haven’t allowed yourself to remove them from the back of your mind.  You’re telling yourself you still need to think about it!  Give this list regular attention and keep sorting through it.
  2. Clarify what your commitment is and what you have to do to make progress toward fulfilling it.  Make sure that anything you write here is within your control.  You may find you’re worrying about things that are not within your control, and so are not resolvable.
  3. Keep organized reminders of the actions you need to take and review regularly.  Stay on top of what’s required to be done, so that you can continue to make progress and tie up the loose ends.

To do this for yourself, take a moment right now to write down the project or situation that is most on your mind at the moment.

Describe in a single sentence your intended outcome of the situation.  What would need to happen for you to check this off as “done”?

Determine what is the very next physical action required to move the situation forward and do it now.

You may find it takes just ten minutes to resolve a nagging loose end and reduce your stress levels.  This will allow you to let go of the situation and make you more able to set and reach goals in the future.  Without clearing up loose ends you can end up reacting to life’s unresolved matters instead of flowing with it.

The six signs that something is not resolved are – regret, remorse, shame, anger, denial and continuing sadness.  If you see these signs present recognize them and that you have an issue to resolve.  But go easy on yourself too.  Understand that you always do your best, even when you know you aren’t.

The biggest step you can make is to take action and take it immediately.  So get out the pen and paper and write down your loose ends and start resolving them.

For more information about how coaching can hekp you achieve your goals more efficiently, please call or email me.

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This entry was posted in 7 Criteria, Be Inspired, Coaching, Goals, Honest, Leadership, Personal Coaching, Time and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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