I’m Back

November 3, 2007

My commitments with the H&R Block class are almost over - at least until December.  I can’t believe how long I’ve been away.  I’m ready to get back to work on my busness instead of someone else’s.

One of the milestones I’ve reached during this time involves a deeper understanding of learning vs. doing and how that has lived itself out in my life.  For those of us who love learning, it can easily supercede getting anything actually done. 

Knowledge is great and necessary, but it can also be our biggest obstacle.  Sometimes we are too smart for our own good. This has been clear in the tax class I’ve been teaching. People tend to miss what they are looking for by overthinking the problem. They end up reading more into things that are actually there. 

In preparing for the exam, I found myself redirecting people to focus their efforts on the task at hand.  They worry about getting the complex issues down. I direct them back to the basic, foundational principles.

In reality, you can’t master the complexities before you get started. You have to get started before you can really figure them out.

The similarities in their efforts and my own thoughts and actions haven’t escaped me.  The reality is that I have more than enough head knowledge to get the show on the road. It’s just that I’m struggling in applying it. 

Some of it is information overload. I’m working through this in a few ways.

• I’m shaving off the unimportant stuff and learning to make priorities. Part of this is developing a sense of what I want and don’t want. I’ve read a lot about goals, mission, and vision statements, but it is still hard for me to get my mind around it. FranklinCovey systems have helped a lot with that.
• I’ve started a mastermind group. That has been invaluable from the get go.  I’m amazed at how it has helped me pinpoint my direction more clearly. Talking it out and getting ideas and feedback are bringing about real change.
• I’ve implemented a brain dump process since thought clutter really holds me back. I’ve had very good success with mindmaps in the past. Lately I’ve found free flow writing does the trick for me. Writing gets info out of my head, organizes it and lets me actually see what’s going on in my noggin. 

Change is a long process, but it is well worth the effort.  Even though I started this blog with a focus on changing how we think, it has become very clear that changing how you act on your thoughts is a bigger part of the process.

Here’s to your journey,
Deborah

Posted in H&R Block, action, effort, goals, planning, taking action, vision