A Snow Story

Every driver out here has his favorite SNOW story(or several)and here is one from driver Skip...

 

1993,I had a job after Christmas,I loaded out of Atlanta that was late(loading)along with about another 24,000 pounds of stuff going to Albuquerque,Denver,and parts unknown(getting old,don't remember)that was going to Pagosa Springs,Colorado....You guys ever look where Pagosa Springs is?Right at the bottom of Wolf Creek Pass(yes,that same pass from CW McCall’s song).It seems it's in a bowl.....8000 foot mountains all the way around,except one small pass south west of town..Funny thing about this is,when fronts come up from the gulf of BAJA,they can't get past any of those mountains except the small pass down there and the fronts just go around and around....DUMPING SNOW ON Pagosa Springs....WELL???

 

 

I managed to drop a piano in Albuquerque on Sunday,early,and drove on up to Pagosa.I found a place to park on the east end of town...Great place to park,Restaurant had Elk Steaks,beer store across the street,video tape store next door...Life is good...only to find out a MAJOR winter storm is due in tonight.....DANG!Whutever...The next morning I woke up and climbed out of the closet,to discover,the hood on my truck was so covered in snow,it blocked the windshield....DANG,looks like no drop today....I put on my snow suit and climbed out of the truck into 4 feet of new powder....and called the shipper at 8am only to get reamed by her for not being there last week.Gets better,there's so much snow,the town is shut down and all I can do is watch video's and eat Elk steaks....LIFE IS GOOD!

 

4 Days later(gained 10 pounds there food was good)they had plowed one lane up the hill to her neighborhood,and 1 lane up to her house..My trailer cannot make any of the turns and we get a shuttle truck to drop....I got it done and the went back to the same parking spot......Wolf Creek pass had some snow slides and was not open......For another 4 days....Dang!They had to blast the pass and when I finally got through there it was driving in a tunnel,high side was 16 feet of snow wall,low side was 12 feet....Wish I had pics.....

Get Up in the morning....

The Winner’s Mindset

There is a sense of control acquired from beating the inner voice. If your mind wins the battle between victim and success, things start on a high note and usually only get better.

 Recognizing the voice is your best defense against him.

When the alarm goes off and the voice tells you that you went to bed far too late to get up this early, or that five more minutes won’t hurt, DON’T LISTEN!

Those who stay in bed won’t be competition for the big guys, but they will have to watch out for you.

 When you are in charge of the inner voice, there will be no stopping you.

More Time

If you were to get up just one hour earlier each morning you would gain 15 days in a year. Scary when you put it like that. How many days of our lives do we waste sleeping? I don’t know about you, but I have too much I want to achieve to waste my life in this way. If you are time deficient, sleep less. We only need six to seven hours a night. Any more is wasting life.

Get Active

The morning is a great time to exercise. It sets you up for the day with energy, focus, and enthusiasm. Some mornings when I come back from my new habit of running, I feel invincible. Stress has to work a lot harder to get hold of me, and all my relationships are happier and calmer. Exercising in the morning will make you more productive and contribute to making you more successful.

Quiet Time

With three boys in my house, I rarely find quiet time. If I want to meditate or do something undisturbed, I do it early morning. Rising early gives me the time to fit it in. You could also use this time to write, paint, or do something else creative.

Persistence

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Calvin Coolidge

 Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.

Napoleon Hill

 

Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.

Colin Powell

 

SETTING EXPECTATIONS

Setting expectations for our customers in vital to a successful and happy experience-


Setting expectations is one of the basic fundamentals of management; yet, many managers fail to do this very important step effectively. Setting expectations first requires planning.

 The more time you invest on the front end, the more effective your team will be when it is in operations mode.

 The second component of setting expectations requires communication skills.
 People cannot read your mind, so to get your team on the same page as you, you must communicate your expectations clearly, in a way they can be heard, and often several times before they become internalized by others.

Provide Structure

 Providing structure starts with defining a direction and setting clear boundaries.
Your direction might come from your boss, your customers, your own vision for the future, or even from the collective wisdom of your team.

However it comes about, it needs to be clearly articulated and spoken about often. It ensures you are all on the same page in terms of what needs to be accomplished.
 Next, setting clear boundaries requires defining what is within the scope of work and what is not, what appropriate behavior is and what is not, and what productive work is and what is not. Sometimes this feels bossy; as if you are telling people what to do.

 But when people have guidelines within which to operate, they are actually more empowered to act, take initiative, and innovate. -

More on Expectations

Clarify Roles

Take a second look at job descriptions and job duties. Do they match the work that is actually being done? Are they an appropriate fit for the structure you have set? Generally, you can expect a job description to accurately describe 50-75% of the role. The rest may require adaptability as needs arise and priorities shift. Keep in mind job descriptions are the baseline minimum expectation. For those on your team seeking advancement, a career development conversation should focus on above and beyond.

 Set Motivating Goals

 It is incredibly important to get goals right.

 When goals support key initiatives and are aligned with the department or organization’s strategic goals, they have a lot of power to direct work almost effortlessly.

 And when work piles up, stress mounts, and we start to lose sight of how to prioritize, goals can refocus our efforts and help keep us on track. To be motivating, goals should make a difference, be fairly urgent, have a measurable accomplishment tied to them, and sound challenging.

Give and Receive Feedback

Nobody is perfect; a conversation that includes two-way feedback is one of the best ways to ensure continued improvement, upward progress, and ultimately, better performance.

 Additionally, an honest conversation where you seek and accept feedback without defensiveness or excuses builds trust and your relationship with your team.

Be the Change

You hear it all the time....I wish people would be nicer?...why can't people just treat others with respect? ...why don't people care anymore? ... What happened to good old fashion customer service?

Be the Change.

Start with yourself, what could you have done different today? Could you have spoken better to that person that you may have disagreed with? How was your tone or body language
Did you show that you at least give a dam about their side or their feelings?

It is easy to join the parade and complain and whine- be the change-


 

Two Things

Love this quote....




"Two things define you. Your patience when you have nothing and your attitude when you have everything"

NUFF SAID

Let's work the problem people

There are some great lines  Apollo 13- one is " Let's work the problem people".

When NASA discovers there they " have a problem" people's immediate reaction at the Space Center was to start pointing fingers at who's blame it was or what happened.
The leader stepped in and shouted' let's work the problem people"..Failure is not a option".

That is a great lesson for us all, when things start to go wrong...and trust me you will definitely have plenty of these days, do not immediately start to use your tie pointing fingers and blaming others....work the problem.

There will be time to reflect and to try to see how to prevent that same situation in the future.
But at that moment where you find out that there is a problem get to work at a solution.
Work as a team.

What Apollo 13 did was never sort of miraculous and they did it as a TEAM.
People put aside their own agendas and personal feelings and worked together to do the impossible.

Lesson learned-

Expectations

Setting the table is most important- for the customer, for your labor for your employees-


 Be clear on expectations –

 If people are going to be responsible, they need to clearly understand the expectations of their commitment. Many times our frustrations with people not being accountable is due to a lack of clear expectations.
Make sure people know why the goal is important, what the deadlines are, and what constitutes success. If the situation requires you to follow through with negative consequences, do so.
 Don’t make hollow threats.

Value

Do not educate your child to be rich. Educate him to be happy. So when he grows up, he'll know the VALUE of things, not the price.

Try to remember what is truly important, let that be your compass. We get so wrapped up worrying about money we can very easily lose sight of the simple values in life.

If we allow our values to be our compass the rest will fall into place.

Some things are out of our control, actually most things are out of our control but holding true to our values is completely in our control. It just may not always be the easy road or the most profitable road at the time but by standing by what you believe and what is right you can never lose.

Live by that, pass that on, teach your children that and you will be better for it.

Ask yourself , what does being successful mean to you? Stick by YOUR morals, try not to judge because we all fail. We all get caught up in the " money" world.

It does not matter when we awaken to find our inner compass again, what is important is that we recognize it and reach for it. Then pass it on.

What do YOU value?

We Appreciatte you

As we come to the end of National Driver Appreciation week we wanted to just say once again that we all appreciate all of the sacrifices, blood, sweat and tears that our drivers have endured through the years.

Paul Arpin, a ex-driver himself, always thought the world of his drivers and he more than anybody appreciated their hard work. Having driven a truck and been on the road himself he never forgot that they- YOU- are the backbone of the company.
That is why right up till the day he passed he stayed involved in Operations and watched over all his drivers.

His philosophy lives on, at Arpin you not just a number- WE CARE- we all may make mistakes and along with you we may not always approach every situation in a text book manner but I can guarantee that we will give at our best and always do our best for you. And we know that our drivers will always do our best for our customers.

Thank you all and GOD BLESS.

Use Words That Matter

Use The Right Words
You've asked questions and have a good grasp of the other person's situation. Now, it's time to select words that really make your ideas pop. Do what good writers do and pick words that stimulate and connect. Here are some examples:

Feeling words: Impress, thrill, intrigued, lively, brisk, grasp,
Words that attract the sense of hearing: resonate, harmonize, tuned in, clear as a bell, loud and clear

Visual words: pinpoint, bright, focused, imagine, reveal, picture
You get the idea. Words matter.

Toss out the professional jargon and focus on the senses of your listener. Then, imagine the thrill of knowing your sharp idea made the right impression.

The Year was 1997

Breaking News in 1997:

February 5 -The so-called "Big Three" banks in Switzerland announced the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.

 

 

 

July 17 — The F. W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.

 

U.S. President & Vice President : Bill Clinton & Albert  Gore, Jr.

 

Time Magazine Person of the Year: Andrew Grove, CEO of Intel Corp.

 

Cost of Living:

Gasoline: $1.22 per Gallon

Movie Ticket: $4.59

Postage Stamp: 32

Eggs: 88 per dozen

Fresh Bread $1.17 per loaf

 

Technology:

 

Microsoft becomes the world’s most valuable company, valued at 261 billion dollars.

 

Netfix is introduced.

 

The domain Craigslist.com comes online.

 

Popular Quotes:

"Oh my God! They Killed Kenny” -South Park

“There are some things that money can’t buy. Fore everything else, there’s Master Card.” -MasterCard

“I’m king of the world.” - Leonardo DiCaprio, in Titanic

 

Popular Movies:

Titanic (Academy Award winner) -Men in Black -The Lost World: Jurassic Park -Liar, Liar -Air Force One-Good Will Hunting

Second shots

We all make mistakes, that idea is to learn from them and to try not to repeat them.

The problem is our society and business are getting more and more difficult at giving second chances.
We now have to have background checks done regularly and if something shows up negatively it may impact rather you pass or not which can be unfortunate because as I said we all mess up.
If you are a driver and have too many speeding tickets or fines it will effect your overall CSA score that will follow you and make it very difficult to get a job.

Point being is it is more imperative than ever to think before you act. In today's society and especially with today's technology it will follow you. Yes, it is unfair in many cases but it is where we are at today so especially if you have young ones you best start pounding it into them now.
It will follow them.

Everybody deserves a second or maybe even a third or forth shot, sometimes we do stupid things. Some of us take longer to learn than others and have to experience the hard way. It does make you a bad person and I do not think you should have to carry that cross for the rest of your life. Most good lessons are learned from screw ups. Sometimes you need to see the hurt or the effects of doing something stupid or wrong in order to really absorb it.

Give people around you that second or third opportunity but also remember that someone is always watching and what you do may stick with you for a long time.

Feedback

Feedback is good....


Listen and absorb the feedback, even when it stings. Stay silent, and stop judging what you’re hearing or reading for now. Let it settle before you act, and think carefully before you reject it.
Stay open and ask yourself “is this true for me?”. You are what you believe, and if you’re willing to change your beliefs, new worlds can open. What you are reacting to is simply others’ perceptions of your behavior. What beliefs are keeping you from really absorbing their message?

Become curious about the feedback you receive. Sometimes this is enough to stave off defensiveness. The questions you ask yourself or others about their perceptions may assist you in recognizing that you may need to change.

From Road Driver- Skip...

I HAVE to jump in on this one....I had a crew on this last drop that was to say the least....BEYOND the best crew I EVER used in the entire North East...Let me get into details....This job has to be the most difficult I've ever encountered...EVERYBODY,at origin dropped the ball,got a call from the shipper at destination asking if my guys would mind MOVING a 6 bed room condo worth of stuff(she was moving into a furnished condo)into the basement into storage before we spent 2 days getting her stuff inside....It gets worse,I'm at residence at 6:30 am looking at where I'm supposed to park....Full of cars,and even my 28 foot pup can't get in front of that place to park..I park around the corner,no parking,but,30 feet from my shippers front door...That worked out like a fart in church,less than 10 minutes,I get threatned with towing...The officer goes away,telling me to figure it out,he will be back...The shipper gets there about 7:30,and the games begin....There is a security gate at the other end and,IF,we can get some cars moved,I'll be able to get into a 1 lane drive,right up to the back of this condo....The guys got there at 7:30 and sat with me until.....THE FREAKING LOCAL CREW(who started at 4 am)gets the remaining stuff out of the condo....Nobody complained,had anything bad to say(except me)and we simply waited....When we finally got backed in,the driveway was gravel,and with a hard wood floor,you can imagine the problems....I watched each one of the crew,EVERY time they picked something up from the drive,lean it over and brush the rocks off the bottom....R-E-S-P-E-C-T....Caring about my shippers stuff.That's not all...The second day,she had a maid crew,unpacking and was busy trying to run that crew and mine...These guys never got upset about not knowing where things went,they simply carried the carton,or whatever inside and foud her,sometimes dealing with 4 additional flights looking for her.....We know,that's BS,but we do what we have to.....The Agent was Derosier's in Stratford,Connecticut...AND a Thanks needs to go out...

The Most Important Ingrediant

After all is said and done I absolutely believe that the most important ingredient to success in life is RESPECT-
It is amazing the results that you can get and the bonds that you can create when you simply RESPECT the other person.

I promise you that in the end it will always pay dividends and just make you feel better about yourself and what you do.

The hard part is respecting those that you disagree with or do not show respect for you.
It does not work that you only treat the people nice that you agree with or that are nice to you.
But that is where the cool part happens, if you do not allow their negativity to envelope you or change you and you continue to respect them you will win in the end.
Sometimes they will come around.. eventually, sometimes they won't.
Either way you stayed strong and did not permit them to bring you down.

It really is not that hard, stay positive and remember all the good things around you.
In the end we are just visiting this place and it goes by like a blink of an eye.

Respect everyone and give them a smile and move on.
 I promise you that you will be the better for it.

Do The Right Thing

Do the right things, even when no one is watching.


Have integrity and character to complement your ability to get things done. It’s easy to do the right thing when you have an audience, but it takes courage and strength of character to do the right thing when you’re alone.

 Stay true to your values even when everyone around you is floundering, or when popular opinion goes against what you know in your heart to be right.

4 Essentials of Humble Leadership

1. Be open to ideas.
You don't know everything, so realize when you need outside opinions. "Rely on those who have relevant qualification and expertise," say Dame and Gedmin. "Know when to defer and delegate." And remember: The best ideas don't always from the 'experts.' Listen to your employees, especially those who rarely get the microphone.

2. Don't buy your own lines.
When you're promoting your company, you naturally focus on the good, and that's right for some scenarios. But be careful of dwelling only on your successes or of thinking that you're light-years ahead of the competition. "Drinking in the glory of a triumph can be energizing. Too big a drink is intoxicating," the duo warns. "It blurs vision and impairs judgment."

3. Serve your employees.
One of your most important roles as a leader is to help your employees, guide them and pull them up. A leader's job is to serve, not to instill servitude. "Employees quickly figure out which leaders are dedicated to helping them succeed, and which are scrambling for personal success at their expense," Dame and Gedmin write.

4. Learn from Einstein.
Humility will let you stay curious, ask questions and ponder the reasoning behind things you do not understand. Education is a continuous process, and curiosity will lead to knowledge. No matter how much you know, there's always more you can learn about your industry or related businesses. But don't take it from Dame and Gedmin -- take it from Albert Einstein, who once said, "I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."

Driver Appreciation Week

This week is National Driver Appreciation Week

Without drivers our economy would come to a stand still
Everything do and buy probably got to you buy a truck driver.

Drivers make America Run !

They work hard and are very responsible people.

Of coarse in the Household Moving Industry a driver does a whole lot more than driver.
As I have said on many past post they are many things rolled into one, driver, mover, accountant, counselor, mechanic and much much more.

We all should take the time to say thank you to drivers this week in particular.

Thank you gentlemen ! God Bless and God Speed !

Remembering Bob Hope

Some famous one liners from the great Bob Hope......

ON TURNING 70
'I still chase women, but only
Downhill.

ON TURNING 80
'That's the time of your life when even your birthday suit needs pressing.'

ON TURNING 90
'You know you're getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.'

ON TURNING 100
'I don't feel old. In fact, I don't feel 
Anything until noon. Then it's time for my nap.'

ON GIVING UP HIS EARLY CAREER, BOXING
'I ruined my hands in the ring. The referee kept stepping on them.'

ON NEVER WINNING AN OSCAR
'Welcome to the Academy Awards or, as it's called at my home, 'Passover'. 

ON GOLF
'Golf is my profession. Show business is just to pay the green fees.'

ON PRESIDENTS
'I have performed for 12 presidents and entertained only six.'

ON WHY HE CHOSE SHOWBIZ FOR HISCAREER
'When I was born, the doctor said to my mother, 

Congratulations, you have an eight pound ham.

ON RECEIVING THE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL
'I feel very humble, but I think I have the strength of character to fight it.'

ON HIS FAMILY'S EARLY POVERTY
'Four of us slept in the one bed. When it got cold, mother threw on another brother.'

ON HIS SIX BROTHERS
'That's how I learned to dance. Waiting for the bathroom.'

ON HIS EARLY FAILURES
'I would not have had anything to eat if it wasn't for the
Stuff the audience threw at me.'

ON GOING TO HEAVEN
'I've done benefits for ALL religions. I'd hate to blow the hereafter on a technicality.'

Don't Sweat

Don't sweat the small stuff and remember, most stuff is small.

The most boring word in and language is " I "

Nobody is indispensable.

Life is full of surprises, just say " never " and you'll see.

People are more important than things.

Persistence will get you almost anything eventually.

Nobody can make you happy. Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

There's so much bad in the best of us and so much good in the worse of us that it doesn't behoove any of us to talk about the rest of us.

Live by what you trust, not what you fear. ( This one could be my favorite)

Character counts. Family matters.

Baby kittens don't begin to open their eyes for six weeks after birth. Men generally take about 26 years....or longer.

Sometimes there is more to gain in being wrong than right.

May you live life so there is standing room only at your funeral.

Forgive yourself, your friends and your enemies. You're only human.

Stay Calm and Carry On

Stay calm and carry on... easier said than done sometimes but certainly words to try to live by.

Life will always throw you curve balls and as drivers traveling through different cities and towns and States, working with different people daily and dealing with people at possibly their most stressful time you certainly know this.
And for those that work in a office environment or manage people you know this also,  every day is an adventure. To be successful and more important to be happy you need to learn to roll with it.

Take a breath and try not to act out or have knee jerk reactions. Again easier said than done but I believe similar to a athlete that relies on muscle memory you can train your brain on how to react.

It all comes down to habit. When you do over react try to recognize it and learn from it.
We are only human , we will have days that you get frustrated quicker than others but again try to recognize those days and talk slower, take a break and remember to watch your breathing.
May sound silly but it works.
When you get worked up your rate increases and you breath faster and you react different.

Do the best you can and back away and think about the situation before you react. You will be better for it.

Stay calm and carry on.

The 7 Secrets of Highly Happy People

Secret #5

Highly happy people realize the importance of being open to others rather than shutting down.

Humans are social creatures, and happy people tend to have strong bonds of friendship and closeness with family and friends. They seek support in good times and bad. Their network increases with passing years, valuing seasoned relationships while opening themselves up to new ones. They value relationships and do not take them for granted. They find they feel best when helping and giving to others, and allow others to help them, too.
The one thing that highly happy people do not do is to spend much energy trying to protect themselves from being hurt. Rather, they have enough confidence in themselves that looking to others for warmth, comfort and support has more potential to make them stronger, not weaker. They trust others, but realize the foundation for trusting others is trusting themselves. Using the analogy of a being a passenger on a rowboat in the middle of a lake, you will be more likely to trust the person rowing if you can swim.

Secret #6

Highly happy people are not bitter, but get better by forgiving. 

Realizing the difference between condoning behavior and forgiving it, they don’t hold grudges because bitterness only hurts them – not the other person. They have long accepted the notion that people can only be as healthy as they are inside, and can not give you what they don’t have to give. It’s like expecting a door to be a chair, and expecting to get eggs at a hair salon. It just won’t happen.
They observe too many wasted years that people spend wishing, expecting, condemning and being angry because their loved ones, co-workers, friends and society can’t give them what they want or deserve. Rather than getting caught in the way others and even life itself ‘should’ be, they adjust their expectations, and let go of the rest. Sometimes that entails setting much better limits with toxic people in their lives, and in the case of abuse, to discontinue a relationship altogether.
Highly happy people extend the courtesy of forgiveness also to themselves, and forgive themselves for not knowing then what they do now.  

Secret #7

Highly happy people live life looking and moving forward, not backwards. 

Highly happy people learn from the past, they don’t live in it. They don’t get stuck in ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda’ thinking. They forgive themselves for not having the foresight to have what is now so obvious in hindsight. Instead of focusing on wondering, “Why,” they focus on, “What’s next?” They also do not live wishing for the ‘good old days’. They are too busy making memories now to live in the old ones, no matter how good they were. Old snapshots have a place in life, but they don’t want to be stuck there.  Powered by yesterday, with an eye on the future, today becomes the place to live.

Imagine yourself driving a car. You would not get very far driving through the rear view mirror!

The 7 Secrets of Highly Happy People

Secret #3

Highly happy people fully realize that there are some things they will never get over.

People who are highly happy don’t expect life to always go smoothly, and realize that life’s happiness does not go on without interruptions: that in fact, a full life has times of great sadness. They are the last people to tell others to, “Get over it,” and are also patient with themselves in navigating through challenging times. They realize that there are some things so terrible in life that the best we can do is get through. They regard life-altering events – such as death of a loved one, a huge failure or career setback, relationship break ups, health challenges and life altering disabilities – as some of the issues that sever life into “before” and “after.” Rather than rail against life’s injustice, highly happy people learn that there still can be beauty and happiness after loss. They refuse to let major setbacks define the rest of their lives, and they find beauty on the other side of even a major trauma and loss. In essence, they deepen rather than weaken.

Secret #4

Highly happy people know the difference between ‘denial’ and ‘optimism’.

Highly happy people are not ones to live in denial when things bother them, but rather they are open and honest to themselves and others, and do not hide from themselves or their feelings. They have confidence in themselves that they can make a positive spin on almost anything that happens, without pretending to feel something they don’t. Rather than shrugging their feelings off, or pretending that they don’t care, they address their feelings and thoughts head on. Instead of blocking difficult thoughts and feelings with a ‘don’t worry about it’ mentality, they have faith in themselves to work though difficult feelings and find a lesson or silver lining. They don’t have ‘all or nothing’ thinking where they either gloss over their feelings or judge or berate themselves for feeling down. They focus more on how they get up after falling rather than how they fell down. They tend to ask themselves, “What did I learn?” Rather than, “What was I thinking?” 

The 7 Secrets of Highly Happy People

Secret #1

Highly happy people stop looking on the outside for what they need to find within. 

They understand material things, and even people, could never be the key to their happiness. While they realize the importance of loving and supportive relationships, they never expect to find themselves in someone else, and never lose themselves trying to find someone else. In fact, highly happy people realize that over-dependence on others is actually the fast track to unhappiness and even relationship problems. They know that depending on others for happiness can be the source of unimaginable conflict, bitterness, blame and perpetual disappointment.
Highly happy people also are not fooled that ‘things’ -  such as fancy cars, expensive clothes and posh vacations – are the places where true happiness is found. They know all too well that when you base your happiness on mostly outside things, you can still feel empty within.

Secret #2

Highly happy people really, really like themselves.

Happy people have a foundation of self-love. Those who listen to negative messages in their head that they are not “smart enough,” attractive enough,” “lovable enough” and just plain not “good enough” end up spending their lives wanting to be someone else. Rather than be the best they can be, unhappy people spend futile time comparing themselves to others.
On the other hand, happy people would agree that it is wiser to compare themselves only to themselves and measure their progress over where they were yesterday. Yet, they are not unrealistic and expect their self-love to improve in a straight line.
Happy people know that comparing self-worth to others is risky business – there will always be someone wealthier, prettier, more popular, with smarter kids, better jobs and nicer cars. They realize that if you measure yourself against someone else’s yardstick, you will always come up short. Therefore, instead of trying to be like someone they admire, they learn from them.
People who are happy with themselves don’t need power over others to feel good about themselves.

They also live by the motto that, “No one has power over you unless you give it to them!”

Wrapping up Procrastination

5. You May Be Perfect, but… Let It Go

It’s also okay to give yourself permission to do the best job you can rather than always striving for perfection in everything you do at work. Sometimes this perfectionism can lead to procrastination as we put so much stress on ourselves that we can just give up on the job completely or leave it until another day.
It’s okay to be human, make some mistakes and complete a task that is very good, even if it’s just shy of being perfect. You may surprise yourself when you let go of the idea of being perfect and find that your work and your productivity is pretty darned good.

6. Put Down the stick

Stop beating yourself up about making mistakes or your procrastination habit and don’t let others do it either. The last thing you need when trying to get over a difficult habit or pattern is negativity, from internal or external sources.
Learn a little tenderness with yourself as you are growing out of both your perfectionism and procrastination. Reward yourself (but not too much) when you move forward and re-commit yourself (a lot) when you start to fall back. If you are patient enough with yourself you will get where you want to go.

7. Change Your Thinking and Change Your mind

Most of our procrastination is about our thinking. We put up mental blocks that get in the way of getting things done. Sometimes our thinking gets us so worked up that we start avoiding tasks that just have to get completed.
The secret to avoiding procrastination is to change our mindset and reset our brains so that we can actually accomplish what we set out to do. Change your mind and your thinking and your body will follow.

More on Procratination

2. Set Priorities and Stick With Them

Next start your day off with a “to do” list that prioritizes your most important tasks. As your day progresses you watch for some tell-tale signs of procrastination.
These might include leaving an important item on your list until the last minutes of the day when you run out of time to complete it or starting in on a job and then getting up for a cup of coffee or checking your e-mails before you get it done.
If you are going to avoid making procrastination a habit you need to stay focused on the job at hand and not give in to the many distractions that can take you in another direction.

3. Deal With Your Time Management Problem

If you are still struggling after you admit you have a problem and just can’t get your priorities completed you may have a time management problem. You may still be a procrastinator too but get yourself a good time management book and start following some of the techniques they suggest.
You may never be perfect at time management but you will be better and that will certainly help you deal with your procrastination.

4. Eat the Elephant in Small Bites

Another good suggestion is to take large or particularly difficult tasks and break them down into smaller and more manageable pieces. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
This will get you moving and as you complete the smaller pieces you will feel good that you are accomplishing something and eventually you can cross that job off your list. It’s very important to focus on starting the work rather than finishing it.
Thinking about all of the work involved in completing an onerous task can get you down and discouraged. Instead of thinking about the finish line, just get up and running in the race.

Procrastination

1. Admit You Have a Problem

The first step to avoiding procrastination is like many other situations: admit that you have a problem. Take a look at your work habits and determine why you are putting off doing some particular tasks.
You might find that you are not deliberately avoiding this work; you just can’t seem to find the time to get it done. If that’s the case then you don’t have a procrastination problem you actually have a time management problem. That’s good news because it’s easy to fix by setting priorities and sticking with them.

2. Set Priorities and Stick With Them

Next start your day off with a “to do” list that prioritizes your most important tasks. As your day progresses you watch for some tell-tale signs of procrastination.
These might include leaving an important item on your list until the last minutes of the day when you run out of time to complete it or starting in on a job and then getting up for a cup of coffee or checking your e-mails before you get it done.
If you are going to avoid making procrastination a habit you need to stay focused on the job at hand and not give in to the many distractions that can take you in another direction.