9 Tips for SuCCess From Mother Nature

OR

Tips for SuCCess in Business – How to Defeat Overwhelming Obstacles

by Janus Moncur, CPC – The Co-Creative Coach™

It’s been quite a few years since I’ve had the pleasure of shoveling snow. The last time was during a snow storm that hit on Christmas Morning, leaving huge drifts.  My star Leasing Consultant and I met our crack Maintenance Team at the historic old community we ran together to shovel out our Residents. My Maintenance Team didn’t expect me, or really need me, and I didn’t end up doing much of the work… my point, it’s been a LONG time since I’ve tackled snow.

So as I peered through the window, looking for some semblance of pathways for escape, I had to sigh…no getting out of this one…I knew I had to take responsibility…it was up to me to bundle up and bust us out!  As always, Mother Nature gave me plenty to think about and I share that with you.

1. Set Your Attitude – Never take on a project with a negative attitude. You won’t be able to call on your good energy to help you and you will make the job miserable to do; for you and anyone else that may be around you. It’s not dreaded snow shoveling, it’s just a great overall cardio workout.

2. Have a Plan – With a plan you can work smarter, not harder – and in snow, every shovelful can seem like moving boulders.

3. Don’t get too Cocky – You may be confident and that’s great, but if you get cocky, Mother Nature has ways of slapping that right out of you – usually in the form of a snowplow wisking back by to re-plug the end of your driveway.

4. Slow and Steady Wins the Race – You remember the Tortise and the Hare? Same theory applies here. Don’t charge in and burn yourself out. Just follow your plan, shovelful by shovelful.

5. Do not Stop too Long and Look and Fret - It is great to survey your work after you are done, but if you do that too soon, you may be disappointed and want to give up. Just revert back to number 3 above.

6. Be Flexible – Be willing to change your plan if it makes better sense to do so. What is the original mission? To be able to escape? Then do I need to shovel the WHOLE end of the driveway? Or just enough of the end to get one vehicle out? You may have to fight OCD tendencies but you will thank yourself later.

7. Use Good Form – If you plan on rolling out of bed the next morning without insurmountable soreness or feeling like you’ve been bucked off a wild Mustang, then make sure to bend your knees while shoveling. Use your knees to lever you instead of your back. It is the same form you would use to clean a barn.

8. Use Proper Tools – Using the proper tools for a job helps tremendously. Using a garden spade just doesn’t work as well as a large, curved, sharp-edged snow shovel.  Better yet, invest in a snow-blower!

And last but not least:

9. Delegate – Isn’t there someone who you can hire to do this job so you can get on with more important stuff? Make friends with the neighborhood kids. They might come in handy when lawn mowing season starts!