On my bucket list for years has been to write a book. I sat down with the intention to write the book dozens of times before actually starting it. I kept telling myself that an opportunity will arise any day now, and I will have a 5-hour block of time open up and off I will go. Lo and behold for over 3 years, that magic time block never showed up.
Don’t get me wrong; I am really good at time management. I have a Dynamic Time Schedule that Dr Tom and I refined that incorporated “Writing time”. Yet when that time came each week I would conveniently work on something else. Never the book itself. (as an aside if you do not have a Dynamic Time Schedule, aka DTS, – talk to Dr Tom ASAP)
So what was missing? It wasn’t a “core value thing,” as the book lined up with my core values perfectly. It wasn’t a family thing as my wife supported me 100%. In fact she would often ask me “when are you gonna start that book Jay?” Then one week everything came together.
You see, part of my DTS is to spend time running and listening to audio books. Within a week I had read 2 books that converged into me pursing my dream for real. The first book is written by Brian Tracy called “Eat that Frog.” The short of “Eat that Frog” is the idea that everyday we each have one task that is more challenging than any other. His analogy is that the one most challenging task of any day is like eating a frog. To clarify; if you knew that you had to eat a frog today, wouldn’t you make the first thing to do everyday? I mean who wants to do laundry knowing you are gonna have to eat a frog later, right?
So I started making a list on an index card every morning with the frog I had to eat and I really started getting stuff done. Yet I wasn’t pursuing my dream of writing a book. That’s when, on a run a couple days later, I started listening to “Start” by Jon Acuff. Jon is also a writer, and he was having a recurring issue with his writing time overflowing into his evening family life. Realizing he was going to miss his daughter growing up, he started to wake up every morning at 5AM to write. This was his way of insuring his evenings were clear to spend with his family.
To quote Acuff: “I realized that if I couldn’t get up a couple extra hours to chase my dream, then the dream wasn’t really worth pursuing.” That’s when it hit me like a thousand pound gorilla: my frog was my dream! I needed to wake up early and write, eat the frog, or the dream wasn’t really worth pursuing. Today, most mornings start for me at 5AM, and not only am I writing the book, but I have an editor and contract to publish the book when it’s done.
My dream isn’t a reality yet, however I am well on my way and it feels great! As a result of eating my frog first thing in the morning, despite a little less sleep, I have more energy and better productivity. On top of that, everything else on the index card seems to flow throughout the day. I believe the reason for that, is that as we express our unique authenticity to the world and our greatness shines, the result is that life becomes magnificent. My questions to you: What is your frog today? Is your dream worth being uncomfortable? & What changes are you willing to make to start pursuing that dream today? Get to eatin’!