How to Accomplish Tasks You Dislike

Many entrepreneurs I know get into the business so that they can do what they love. Many have told me that at their corporate jobs they usually spent 40-50% of the time doing something that they actually enjoyed, while the rest of the time was spent in meetings, planning, writing TPS reports, and engaging in all sorts of corporate administrivia.

Naturally, newly minted entrepreneurs think that the only business activities they will have to participate in are the ones they actually like. Unfortunately, they are in for a rude awakening. As they start operating their businesses, new business owners are chagrined to discover that they will have to engage in some activities that are very similar to those they were doing at their corporate jobs: accounting, marketing, PR, and administrative work for their businesses. In fact, new entrepreneurs discover that they end up having to perform even more uninteresting activities than they did in their corporate jobs. Unfortunately, completing these tasks is a must. Your business will not do well if marketing, accounting, and administrative items are not taken care of.

Naturally, faced with doing tasks they don't like business owners procrastinate and become very good at wasting copious amounts of time. At the end of the day, nothing gets done. Not even tasks that are fun.

AvocadoConsulting.com has created a plan designed to help you identify and conquer unpleasant activities. This ensures that they will get done and you won't spend any more time on them than it is absolutely necessary:

* Identify tasks you dislike doing. These are the ones that make you cringe just from thinking about them, take you forever to accomplish, and rev your procrastination mode into high gear

* Decide on what it will take to accomplish them:

1. Break them up and do them for just one hour (but do them!) every day.

2. Pick a special day of the week (Monday is a good candidate, since it doesn't have a good reputation already) and allocate it to tasks you dislike. Spend the rest of the week completing other activities.

3. Identify rewards you can give yourself when you complete each one of these tasks. Give yourself an hour off to go out and get a cup of coffee, eat a piece of low-fat chocolate cake, or read that magazine that you've been neglecting for a month.

* Outsource. You can't get someone else to go to the dentist for you (and get the same effect), but you can get someone else to perform many of your business tasks. Get an accountant to do your accounting. Hire a professional organizer to help you organize your office and your documents. Find a virtual assistant for help with administrative tasks.

Take action today. Identify tasks you dislike doing, figure out how to go about completing them, and go do them. Right now.

Biana Babinsky helps coaches, consultants, and other solopreneurs create passive income streams, get more clients online and make more money. Get her FREE Special Report, "Top 5 Ways to Increase your Online Sales" by going to http://www.internationalpractice.com/free_newsletter.html and get her "Complete Step by Step Online Marketing Course", the ultimate how-to guide to marketing your business online at http://avocadoconsulting.com/rlinks/zcourse

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How Could He Give Us Up

“How could I give you up...?" (Hosea 11:8).

James Dobson wrote an interesting book, Love Must Be Tough. God has to be tough at times, too, with his stiff-necked and stubborn people, which includes us all. But how our hearts melt when we read, "My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred" (Hosea 11:8b). We forget that our Father has feelings, too. Humans give up on each other when it seems hopeless, but God goes on loving and giving and forgiving.

Years ago one of our sons had been giving us trouble. One day he asked our forgiveness. To quote verse 8, my heart was overwhelmed. We both wept. How could I not free him, for that is really the essence of forgiveness. "I delight in mercy," says our God of the Old Testament. I certainly delighted in telling this precious son about a God "who removes guilt and pardons sin ... Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency..." (Micah 7:18). Thank God that He chooses to grant us mercy instead of the full measure of justice. He says to us all, "How could I give you up?"

“Oh, prodigal, you may be wandering on the dark mountains of sin, but God wants you to come home! The devil has been telling you lies about God; you think He will not receive you back. I tell you He will welcome you this minute if you will come. Say ‘I will arise, and go to my Father.’ There is not one whom Jesus has not sought far longer than that father. There has not been a day since you left Him but tie has followed you. I do not care what the past has been, or how black your life, He will receive you back. Arise, then, O backslider, and come home once more to your Father’s house” (D. L. Moody).

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Here To Stay

I am disturbed by the tendency of some people to view Christianity as a trend rather than a way of life. Some take it to the next level and try to make it some sort of a secret club. If you doubt me, just look at the reaction to the 2004 election results. It didn’t take the media long to start harping on how “Evangelical Christians” turned the tide and were trying to establish their morality through politics. Pretty soon, newspapers and magazines were filled with angry diatribes of how we had no right to push our beliefs on them, and how we are trying to establish a “wacky theocracy.” The only thing more disturbing than this are the people that pick and choose popular aspects of the faith that they believe promise a quick, miracle cure for their problems. They will accept good things like peace, grace, and salvation, but ignore the difficult things like patience, obedience, and sacrifice. The first time they have to wait or give up something, they’re out of the game.

I am not going to get into politics here, but I will admit that people are adamant about their opinions on religion and politics. I even had a psychology teacher in high school that warned all of her students to never discuss either of these topics unless they are looking for a fight. So many of us have found this to be true. Nothing makes people mad faster than questioning their morals. Yet Christians are called to spread the good news of Christ throughout the world. So how are we supposed to do this if we aren’t allowed to talk about it? Many people believe their own life should be a testament to the teachings of Christ, and they shouldn’t need to talk about it. While we are supposed to demonstrate our faith through our actions, it’s not enough.

I found through experience that if you live right, you are eventually going to be questioned about it. Christ says, “You are the light of the world … Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14; 16 RSV) People are going to see this light through your words and actions and wonder what it is about. Sometimes it’s in a good way, like when people ask me why I’m happy most of the time. Sometimes it’s in a bad way, like a situation a few years ago when I complained about morals being compromised at work. In both instances, that light was shining through my actions, and people wanted to know why. These are the times when we are given an opportunity to share our faith and open this light to others.

We must be ready to tell people the truth about our faith, and let them know that it’s no secret society of passing trend. Paul tells us, “let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer every one.” (Colossians 4:6 RSV) This wise man knew through hard experience that the news of Christ would always light a fire in people: Either to accept Him and serve the Kingdom, or to anger them and try to shut you up. When people see the light of Christ, they are either drawn to it or desire to put it out!

People do come down hard on Christianity, but the truth is that we’re here to stay. In the days of Christ’s ministry, the priest and many other people of the old Jewish tradition did not like Him and wanted to silence His message. They liked the elite status they had as the chosen ones, and weren’t happy about having God’s love and approval opened up to everybody. There are many instances in the gospels where they questioned Christ’s teachings, tried to trap Him in twisted words, or outright argued the validity of His message. He made uniting with God too easy, and that was the excuse used to crucify Him. What they forgot was that Jesus is eternal, and He is here to stay. His resurrection brought about the very thing God intended for humanity, which is our salvation and unity with Him through believe in Christ. He lives on in His believers through the Holy Spirit, and Christianity has been spreading ever since. In fact, it seems resurrection has become a theme in Christian life – every time the world has tried to bring us down, it rises again somewhere else. Despite the fact that every disciple was murdered except John (who was exiled) it kept growing. Every martyr of the faith gave it strength to revive and spread through the ages. Satan couldn’t stop Christ’s purpose, and His victory means this world can’t stop it. It’s like the church sign I saw one day that read: WE ARE THE CHRISTIANS SATAN WARNED YOU ABOUT. We’re still going strong and just like Christ’s message, we’re here to stay. He even promised that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Mark 13:31 RSV)

You have to accept the fact that people bound to this world will try to make your faith a liability, but you should always stand firm in it. You can never do wrong by doing right. Remember that suffering for doing right is temporary, while the reward is eternal. This world will pass away, but the Kingdom is permanent. Our job is to plant the seed in others; their job is to accept or reject it. If they accept it, you have started a wonderful work. If they reject it, “shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them” (Luke 9:5 RSV) and move on in search of others that are willing to hear you.

Christianity may not be the quick fix or miracle cure that this world wants, but its benefits are far more lasting and open to every human being on the planet. I can’t imagine a better deal than comfort for this lifetime and rejoicing for eternity. People everywhere are always looking for good news that will make their lives better, and the message of Christ is the best news they can get!

Sherri Fulmer Moorer is a freelance Christian/Inspirational writer from Columbia, SC. Her writing focuses on applying faith to everyday living situations, and is based on her own personal experiences and the experiences of those around her. Her goal is to show people that the battles they face in life are shared by others, and how the Lord can use their experiences to build faith. She is the author of Battleground Earth - Living by Faith in a Pagan World (PublishAmerica 2004), which is a book about spiritual warfare and discovering faith in day-to-day living. For additional information, please visit the Battleground Earth web page at http://hometown.aol.com/bgearth/index.html

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Have You Had Your Corners Knocked Off Yet

In 1971, after four years of service in the U. S. Army, I enrolled in the University of West Florida at Pensacola, paying my way with G. I. Bill money. In order to gain some accounting experience and stretch the money a little, I entered a Cooperative Education program sponsored by the University. In this program I studied at the University for a quarter (they used a quarter term, not the semester), and then worked in the accounting department at the Air Force Armaments Testing Lab (AFATL) at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) for a quarter.

A student named Bill worked the same schedule as I did. However, where I had spent an extra semester at Florida State University (learning to shoot pool), and then 4 years in the military, Bill had gone straight from high school into Pensacola Junior College and then to the Unversity of West Florida. I was about five years older than he was.

Our first day at Eglin AFB, we met briefly with Mr. Cecil Bray, Deputy Comptroller for AFATL. He was very kind an informative, and after a few minutes of chit-chat, he looked at Bill and told him what his assignment was going to be for that quarter. He then picked up the phone and called someone to come get Bill and take him to the office where he would be working. He continued to chat with us, and in a few minutes, someone showed up and took Bill in tow.

So far, Mr. Bray had not said anything to me about my assignment. Now, with Bill gone, he seemed to relax a little bit. He looked at me and explained. He had a department which he thought would be of great value to both of us to work in. It was a new Job-Order Cost Accounting section which was developing a program for tracking project costs at the lab. However, he went on, the crew of accountants developing the program had been hand picked for the project because they were the kind of people who would seek new solutions to new problems. Free thinkers, in a way. I gathered that they were a bit unorthodox in their outlooks, and had been given a bit of a free hand to create this new program.

As Mr. Bray prepared me for this assignment, he made a comment that I have remembered for over 30 years. He looked at me and said, "Young Bill, there, is a good kid, and I want him to have a chance to work with the Job Order Cost Accounting section eventually, but I think he would be scandalized at the way things are done down there. You, on the other hand, have had the corners knocked off."

Having "the corners knocked off" can be a virtue, it seems.

When we are young and idealistic, whether in age, or in experience in a new project, we have a lot of sharp corners. As we come in contact with ideas, particularly those that may not be in total agreement with our preconceived notions, contact between these strange ideas and our sharp corners can tend to spin us off course. Once we've had "the corners knocked off", we are a little better able to stay on target.

In time, as we gain experience in life, or in our special project, having had the corners knocked off allows us to proceed forward without being directed away from our path.

When someone joins a network marketing program or an internet business, there will be a lot of what some people call "negative feedback" and something the sales people call "rejection". When we are new and prickly with all our corners, chance encounters with things that we see as failure can divert us. However, once we have learned a little, usually from these negative encounters, we lose some of those corners, and the successes we encounter help polish us.

In network or internet marketing, as in life, the things that seem to hurt us at first, can often actually be seen to be, as the philosopher Nietzche said, "make us stronger."

We will fail. We will receive negative feedback from relatives, from well-meaning friends, and from the public at large. Those who suceed, however, will be those who simply see all this as nature's way of streamlining us for success.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Donovan Baldwin is retired from the Army after 21 years of service. He has worked as an accountant, purchasing agent, optical lab manager, restaurant manager, instructor and long-haul, over-the-road truck driver. He has been a member of Mensa for several years, and has written and published poetry, essays, and articles on various subjects for the last 40 years. He has been an active internet marketer since 2000, and now makes his living online.

To learn more about improving your marketing performance, please visit http://marketingsecrets.xtramoney4me.net. To read more articles by the author, please visit his blog at http://donovanbaldwin.blogspot.com/, or http://xtramoney4me.net/internet_marketing_links/articles/index.html

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Harold Ford Ad Nothing

There has been a lot of talk regarding Senator wannabee, Harold Ford, from Tennessee. He is in a very tight race with his Republican challenger, Bob Corker. The usual election stuff comes out with ridiculous claims or hyping up some things and downplaying other things. It is common in any race and if it did not involve an important job- US Senator- the ads would be good for Comedy Central.
But one ad from the Republican National Committee has some fuming. After hearing about this advertisement for a bit, I'd finally got to watch it.

The reaction? Is that it? It shows a group of people sarcastically calling for things people would not call for. For instance, one fellow says he hopes his guns are taken away because he "has too many." A woman says she would "like to pay higher marriage taxes." Things like that. Basically, it is alleging Ford stands for these things. Of course, it should be up to the potential voter to know about the candidates long before some shaky political ad comes along. Often, the candidates hope you are clueless. Thus, you can be led like sheep. The ad is no different than a million others.

Then there is the "big whammy" of the anti-Ford advertisement. It shows a guy discussing Ford's alleged "porno dealings." These dealings were no more than him going to a Playboy-sponsored party of some kind. Who wouldn't want to go? An attractive woman then flirtatiously looks into the camera saying, "Call me." Wow!

Democrat supporters, including Ford himself, called for the ad to be pulled alleging some sort of "racial" tones since the woman is white and Ford is mixed-race. Even the Corker camp is saying it is too much and should be pulled. Meanwhile, the election is just about here.

Like many cries of "racism" it is highly exaggerated. An attractive white woman winking saying "call me" hardly has much overtones. In fact, one wonders what the reaction would be if it were a black woman doing the same thing? Cries of "racism" would just start all over again. Some would yell why the ad had to have a black woman instead of any other woman. It is the routine; rather boring, indeed.

Meanwhile, you see advertisements of sleazy back alleys showing what abortion would turn to if a certain candidate were voted in. Rants of "back of the bus" for black people if certain politicians or Supreme Court candidates were allowed in. Grossly exaggerated stuff.... as usual.

Vote how you wish to vote. Political advertisements are good for humor. Its content maybe should be looked at as an extra reason to vote for or against someone. But one must get the facts through personal interest and reading various information on a candidate you could simply could get on the Internet. Once television and radio get involved the hype becomes ridiculous. In the meantime, I am looking to get into a Playboy-sponsored party.

Robert Carberry is a writer from New York

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Fulfilling Your Special Purpose...

If it is true that everything happens for a purpose and you happened the day you were born. It is then safe to say: you have a purpose to fulfill or achieve. But have you ever stopped to wonder what that purpose is? The reason you belong, live or work where you do? Why you are alive? "When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it."-- W. Clement Stone.

Know that no one is indispensable. To be in control you need to have the ability to hold on to the source. Procrastinating would puts off our dreams - maybe for a few hours, years or forever. When we delay our dreams, it results to delay in fulfilling of our purpose. This means waste of time and missing out on life. “There are two great days in a person's life -- the day we are born and the day we discover why.”-- William Barclay

Believe in yourself. Your purpose in life is usual found in something you love and take great joy in. As joy is a natural expression of one who is fulfilling his or her purpose. What offers you peace? There you will find clues to the destiny that you are trying to reach, your mission in life. “This is how you will begin to manifest and live your wishes and dreams”.-- James Blanchard Cisneros

Though, you may lack certain personality traits compare to others. But it is not natural to live lacking for things. Forget about the “gifted” or “wiz kid” complex. We all have hidden treasures lying within us. You need to psyche ourselves up enough, to believe in our potentials, live our dreams and fulfill our purpose.

As you work on it, remember these:
• Know that no one is entirely useless. Even weeds in the garden help the flower grow.
• Reach within, listen to the whispers of your heart, and bring what is within into the world.
• Set goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and in time)
• When you get information knowing what to do with the information and then act on it.
• Don’t allow procrastinating keeps you from ultimately fulfilling your goals.
• Avoid ego's traps- Pride is a ride you have to know how to drive.
• Do not concern yourself with comparing yourself to your sibling or colleague.
• Avoid the temptation to engage in self denial, to pretend that nothing is wrong when it is.
• Be self assurance that nothing is beyond the scope of achievement if I dare to try.

"Every once in a while I get an idea stuck in my head for no apparent reason. Right now, that idea is providing encouragement and positive feedback - believing in the dreams of others, and telling them so”- Curt Rosengren. I believe in you to have your purpose !

This article is brought to you by Ola Olabimpe. A creative motivational writer for a FREE motivational self improvement ezine. She is a lover of quotes and would find lots of it in her writings.You can read and enjoy our weekly ezine on http://www.mindjuicezine.com Mind juice is sent via email and the site is regularly updated with absolutely free and just about anything that has to do with self development! SO kick start every week with a handful of inspiration visit http://www.mindjuicezine.com Now!

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Fired or Downsized

Last time the used car salesman pitched a lemon at you, he called the high price tag an "investment." Didn't sound so bad did it? He gift wrapped his words.

When you were fired, they called it a strategic downsizing. Now that didn't make you any better off... but it sure sounded nicer than being "fired"

Euphemisms are efficient linguistic tactics to counter objections. The key is to redefine certain words in an antagonist's statement such that his objection no longer seems so overwhelming.

Through redefinition we create new "frame" meanings about a behaviour by re-labeling a key word that's part of the belief statement. The relabeling frames the entire belief statement with a new meaning.

Redefinition asserts that "X doesn't mean Y, it means Z" Since X=Z and not Y, we now have a totally new belief statement. hopefully a more empowering one.

Here are some questions you can test yourself with to increase your flexibility at reframing: What meanings have other people given to this objection/ belief?

What other meanings could I attribute this behavior?
What value could this belief have in other nations or cultures?

The secret to reframing: Simply replace one of the key words in the argument such that it subtly changes the sentence's meaning.

1. "It doesn't mean x, it means y"

2. "It doesn't cause x," it causes y"

3. "If you really want to see a case of x, consider."

Let's do some reframes, after all, practice makes perfect.

Objection: You were too tough on your employees; it's unkind! How do you expect to motivate them?

Answer: I agree that they might be hurt at first. But tough words also have its place. In this instance, I'm actually not criticizing without just cause. I'm simply expressing my feelings so they'll know where I stand. Would you rather I lied? You believe in assertive conversation, don't you?

Objection: You're tardy for the umpteenth time. You don't care about me.

Answer: My being late doesn't imply I don't care. It means I had a lot of things to do at work today; it also means I want to get everything out of my mind so when I get home I can fully relish being with you and show you how much I truly care!

About the Author:

Joseph R. Plazo is a busy man. He had been directing multiple enterprises since he achieved financial independence at 22. While juggling corporate endeavors, he writes books and relaxes with active sports. Airsoft is his passion.

Today, he connects with men and women all over the world to spread the revolutionary gospel of savvy semantics and behavioral change technologies. His rallying cry is Make Life Magic!

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