The No Excuses Project: Finding the strength to climb mountains
August 4, 2010 by Juliet Chase
Filed under No Excuses Project
Excuses come easy for things that are a means rather than a goal. That’s where truly being fit falls for me – I basically couldn’t care less. Until it means not being able to get to that mountain side where rumor has it rare gems still hide deep in the earth. Then I really care! So how to keep that in focus on an average day when all other priorities seem higher?
The first thing is to combine it with other projects from the obvious (losing weight) to the less obvious like treasure hunting. It’s a little like parking at the far end of the lot to get more walking in, not a huge deal but it adds up.
The second thing is to up the effort of working out (more inclines, and the like) and lastly to spend one day a month (the whole day) out doing real exertion from hiking to whatever – pack a lunch and plan to sweat.
The hardest part is simply to fit this in with everything else – getting rid of excuses doesn’t magically create more time in the day. It just means you don’t waste what you have.
Believe it or not – this post concludes the year. Next week I’ll do some wrapping up and reflecting on what I’ve learned.
Holding myself accountable
- The garden – I could wish it looked a little better but basically things are on track
- The house projects – progressing slowly but also in the works
- Chores – doing better
- Treasure hunting – amazing what you can do by mail these days. Making definite progress
- Travel – trip all booked for a week in San Diego; that will probably be it for this year.
- Friends and family – a little behind in email but otherwise on track
- Romance – doing a little more inner work in that area and feeling good about it
- Writing – a bit behind here
- Photography – progress on getting things out and researching more opportunities
- Jewelry – an off week except for identifying next steps
- Losing weight – a much better week for exercise and hey, the jeans are fitting better already
- Medical – off the dentist for that crown this week (next doctor after that’s all concluded)
The No Excuses Project: The dreaded DIY home project
July 14, 2010 by Juliet Chase
Filed under No Excuses Project
I think it’s simply human nature that those who undertake home improvement projects will always have at least one unfinished, 5 just started and 20 more on a list somewhere. It’s just when the unfinished one lingers for ten years that there just might be a problem. An uncomfortable space, or one with uncomfortable reminders, can become a nagging voice against everything else you’re trying to accomplish.
Just a few of the excuses I’ve used to avoid dealing with peeling wallpaper and the like:
- It will take too long
- I don’t have the right materials
- I don’t know where to start
- I have too many other projects
Next week: making more progress on home projects
Holding myself accountable
Photography – progress on editing images, now just need to take some new
Writing – small steps towards an outline, a necessary first step
Jewelry – whew – turned out being late was actually early so on target for now
Losing weight – a little more exercise but more to do here
Checkups – ah the dentist just can’t wait to see me again but making progress
Friends and family – made this a higher priority and did a little catching
Romance – sometimes going for something means turning away from what won’t work
Garden – staying on course
Travel – working out the details for some long weekends
Treasure hunting – looked into what else might be nearby
The No Excuses Project: Writing for profit
June 30, 2010 by Juliet Chase
Filed under No Excuses Project
Maybe because it can be done basically anywhere, for any length of time, makes writing even more prone to excuses. There’s really no good reason why anyone that’s said that they want to write a book hasn’t done so already. Getting published is something different; actually writing the thing is completely under your control. I know this and yet untold projects sit in an outline or first chapter state waiting for me to simply focus and finish.
Writing is something I very much want to be part of my overall career mix – from blogging to writing novels, photography books and so on. But somehow getting those projects completed is lagging, to say the least.
There aren’t really any new or special excuses at play for this one – the old stand-by’s do the job just fine:
- I’m too tired/ not in the mood (meaning I don’t feel creative)
- It’s too big
- It will take too long
- I don’t know where to start
- I’m not good enough (a couple more books on the subject will help, right?)
- I have too many other projects
- I’ll lose interest before it’s finished
Next week: How I’m going to turn this around and fit it in with everything else
Holding myself accountable:
The garden – needs weeding but is otherwise doing ok
Jewelry – is on track for now and the priority for this coming week
Photography – continues to take a back seat, not a good thing
Travel – the fund is growing, plans are being made
Romance – possibilities are emerging
Treasure hunting – not on the current agenda
Chores – holding their own
Family and friends – doing ok
Losing weight – somewhere in the middle on this one
Medical health – off to the dentist next week
The No Excuses Project: Traveling the world
June 2, 2010 by Juliet Chase
Filed under No Excuses Project
It seems like big trips to new places are one of the most common sinkholes of excuses. You got the idea into your head that it would be fun to see the castles on the Rhine in person and then suddenly it’s ten years later and you still think it would be fun but you haven’t done anything more about it. I know that’s true for me and while I’ve managed some of the trips I’ve wanted to undertake, some others have been hanging on the list a little longer than I would like – who knows what adventures I’ve missed by spending more time with the excuses than planning the trip.
Here are the ones I know I’ve used in this arena:
- I can’t afford it – self-explanatory but it’s still an excuse
- Help will not be available – I’ll have to pay full price AND get stuck in a foreign country
- It’s too big (there’s a lot to plan and coordinate)
- I’m scared
- I have too many other projects
- The timing isn’t right (this will be so much easier next year…)
- I don’t know what to do (where to start, where to go?)
- It will require too much risk (safe is boring but…)
- I don’t have any experience (yes, that is the point but it’s also scary)
- I’ll compromise because I’m not confident enough to fully commit (such as going someplace where I won’t have to face driving on the left…)
That’s quite a list of powerful excuses – but they are standing in the way of fabulous adventures.
Next week: what I’m planning to do about getting more travel in on a regular basis
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Holding Myself Accountable
- Garden: Mother Nature has been conspiring against me lately but I’m on track with my committments
- Photography: Behind this week a little
- Jewelry: Definitely behind and will be the focus of this coming weekend to catch up
- Treasure hunting – the weather did not cooperate so there’s been a slight postponement
- Family and friends – doing ok
- Romance – releasing my inner Frenchness which I’d been misidentifying as flaws
- Chores – making progress, not completely there yet but progress
- Losing weight – getting more exercise and refining the diet this week
The No Excuses Project: Chores still need to get done
May 12, 2010 by Juliet Chase
Filed under No Excuses Project
There’s nothing glamorous about taking out the garbage or loading the dishwasher. It’s even hard to relate that to making that trip to Italy happen or retiring to Baja. But. not getting them done, at least the basics, does keep you from achieving those goals. Partly because the rest of your life doesn’t flow as smoothly and partly because the guilty part distracts you from those projects every time you walk by the dishes on the counter or that pile of unironed laundry.
I’m as guilty as most of putting these things off with an easy excuse until they grow overwhelming and turn into a project of their own. In the past, it’s worked to assign a chore to each day of the week instead of doing everything on the weekend. That won’t work with my current schedule so well so I have another approach. Simply finish what I start – if I run the dishwasher that means putting everything away when it’s done, laundry gets done, folded, ironed and put away the same day adn so forth.
That may seem simple but it’s a committment none the less and designed to root out the ‘I’ll do it tomorrow when I’m not so tired.’ If you’ve never ever said that then I’m pretty sure you can ignore this entirely!
Next week: Keeping up relationships with family and friends
Holding Myself Accountable
First off, I made myself a chore chart – not that different from the one when I was six that resulted in a trip to the toy store when I got enough stars. Most of life relates to when we were six. This one I did in Excel but this way I’ve got a single point of reminders of what I’ve committed to.
- Gardening: This one is going smoothly; hanging baskets planted and everything fertilized
- Losing weight: funny how that chore chart made me hit the treadmill immediately – all in all, better
- Photography: next set of pictures selected for the book
- Jewelry: working on improving some techniques, a little low on the marketing efforts
- Romance: well, I’ve enlisted someone else to keep their eyes open so I guess that’s a start.
- Treasure hunting – found a new hunting buddy so that may help get me out there a bit more…
The No Excuses Project: everyday chores
May 5, 2010 by Juliet Chase
Filed under No Excuses Project
I am not a neat freak nor is that required to achieve grand things in life. But if you, like me, periodically stare at a stack of dishes that could have, should have, made it into the dishwasher the night before it’s worth considering how much time and energy goes into repeating “I need to get to that”.
From dishes to running to the post office, chores are inevitable and shouldn’t always take priority but… neither should the excuses run rampant. It seems to me that the excuses around chores are some of the most insidious because they’re some of the most well-practiced – starting in early childhood:
- I’m too tired (the all time classic)
- I have too many other projects
- It’s too big
- I’m not in the mood
- Nobody will notice
- I don’t have the right equipment/supplies
- I’ll do it tomorrow
If those sound familiar or you know you literally pout while taking out the garbage then excuses are holding more power than they should.
Next week: getting the chores under control
Holding Myself Accountable
Gardening – the plan is still working…
Photography – time to pick up the camera again
Jewelry – a bit behind but committed to new designs this week
Treasure hunting – I made it to the beach and found a giant iron stake (I’m very good at finding those…)
Losing weight – well, doing better on the exercise
Romance – hmmm, might be avoiding this one just a little but not completely
The No Excuses Project: The jewelry career
April 21, 2010 by Juliet Chase
Filed under No Excuses Project
Maybe you are also one of the people that needs multiple interests going to be happy. Jewelry design is my second career passion joining photography. I could wish investment banking were a passion instead of ‘artistic’ pursuits but maybe that will come in due time. For now figuring out how to juggle everything without letting the excuses get the upper hand is critical.
Excuses I’ve used here are legion:
- I’ll do it tomorrow (when the garage will be less dark and cold)
- I don’t know what to do (how do you market something no one has seen before?)
- It will take a long time (compliments do not pay the mortgage)
- I don’t have the right equipment (actually this can be true, the secret is drawing the line between need and want)
- I don’t have any experience (I didn’t go to school for this…)
- I’ll lose interest before it’s profitable (ok, it hasn’t happened yet but surely there’s a limit to the designs I can come up with)
- It’s too big (there’s the making and the marketing and the selling and so on)
- It’s not my nature (how come teenagers can pay for college with just glass beads?)
Have you noticed that the more important the goal the more excuses it generates? It takes work and patience to peel back the layers.
Next week: getting jewelry made, no matter what
Holding Myself Accountable
An interesting week overall – here’s the summary:
Losing weight: ok, not as much exercise but a doctor visit that revealed low iron levels; sometimes it’s not the excuse that keeps you down.
Photography: Really taking action! an exhibit call, a new gallery proposal, and a charity event
Gardening: I like the new plan – vegetable garden is turned over, everything is fertilized and Spring is here.
True Love: I’m a little stuck – still working on my thought process and planning to do some re-reading for inspiration and the next step.
Treasure Hunting: I’ve got the tide tables for the whole year printed out and highlighted for weekends with low tides – it’s an at a glance plan for the weekend.
The No Excuses Project: Making time for treasure hunting
April 7, 2010 by Juliet Chase
Filed under No Excuses Project
Hobbies are important – basically having something in your life that you judge by how much you enjoy doing it and not where it takes you. But for those of us with pressing goals they can be the first thing that goes by the wayside. The excuses just help it stay there because most everyone still wants to see improvement in themselves – play a better round of golf, knit a more complicated pattern or hunt down an even rarer stamp.
My hobby is treasure hunting- metal detecting and gem hunting in the wild (as in still in the ground) I’m not very good at it (an excuse to avoid practicing) but I have a blast because the potential is always there – despite the lack of Spanish galleons or pirates in my part of the world. Treasure hunting falls into that limitless category of things I mean to get to – but the fact that the metal detector is still on it’s original set of AA batteries doesn’t make me happy.
You might not think there would be that many excuses for something that’s not attached to a major goal. I still managed to find a few that I’ve used to avoid pursuing this hobby:
- I’m too tired (maybe I’d better save it for a day when I feel great and have nothing better to do)
- Doing this will stop me from doing more important things
- The timing isn’t right (the tide is high, it’s raining, etc.)
- I’ll lose interest before it’s profitable (it could be years before I graduate from pennies and coat buttons)
- I don’t have any experience (I don’t know the secret places to hunt)
- It will take a long time (it’s usually at least a full day commitment)
Next week: how I plan to create some balance in my life and fit in some treasure hunting.
Holding myself accountable
A quick look at how things are going so far:
Gardening – the new schedule seems to be working; got the dahlias planted and started to clear the vegetable garden
Romance – working on owning my previous choices as having been the right ones for me at the time – nothing to apologize for, even to myself.
Photography – doing much better at just having some fun and trying new things and most importantly taking more pictures
Exercise – getting more in; but still need to do better.
The No Excuses Project: The imperfect garden
March 10, 2010 by Juliet Chase
Filed under No Excuses Project
Although I have a secret yearning for a lush and perfect cottage garden like the kind you see on estate travel shows I also know that’s requires more patience than anything else. At the same time there is weeding, fertilizing and pruning that needs to happen to get it there. Getting the bare minimum done happens but along with that I discover that I’ve been using excuses to avoid doing more – every time I think a task will take four or five hours I find that I’ve accomplished most of it inside an hour. How much more would happen if I estimated the task accurately? Even though my garden isn’t critical to work or love I consider it a key part of my home environment – a messy garden is no different than leaving clothes on the floor. It’s unsettling and leaves me feeling critical of myself. It should be something that is joyful, not guilt inducing.
Most definitely my number one excuse is ‘it will take a long time’ followed by the timing isn’t right – usually because it’s raining or I will need to clean up to go somewhere later. Not a long list of excuses but powerful ones in my personal arsenal.
Next week – the strategy to being a better caretaker
Holding Myself Accountable
So how is it working? I think I’m doing a little better:
- Photography – I’ve got a rough draft of my first book essay, which is 600 more words than existed last week
- Weight & Exercise – while I haven’t fit in the exercise consistently I’ve done some and I’ve got the month’s food prepped in the freezer. Now that meals are just a microwave away I should free up that 30 minutes in the evening for moving
The No Excuses Project: moving past the excuses on weight
March 3, 2010 by Juliet Chase
Filed under No Excuses Project
So what am I going to do about all the excuses and constraints on getting more exercise? Like photography, I’m simply going to set my sights a lot lower. Instead of the 2.5 hours a day I know it took in the past, I’m going to commit to 30 minutes every day. Nothing fancy but I’ve got a treadmill, a hula hoop, weights, and the neighborhood. Between those I should be able to keep myself occupied and moving.
I’m also not going to ‘diet’ but instead make enough meals and snacks to stock the freezer for a full month of Monday through Friday. Like brushing teeth I think it works better to make it so routine that you don’t even notice you’re doing it. This last will actually help move other goals forward (thus eliminating an excuse) by freeing up more time every weekend.
My health is absolutely a priority, but it can’t be the only priority which is why I’m taking a more moderate approach. Cross your fingers for me that I can stick to it!
Holding Myself Accountable:
I’m keeping up with my plan for photography – I’ve selected the images for the first book chapter and gotten some bizarre and fun shots in my yard over the last week.
