Pay Yourself for Food Preparation

Today I attended a seminar that lasted from 8am-6:30pm. I stayed up late last night (I was wound up from the weekend) even though I had to wake up early because I was meeting a friend at 6am. Needless to say I got up as late as possible in order to get as much sleep as possible so getting ready this morning was very rushed.

Because I didn't take the time to fix myself breakfast, I ended up buying a hot dog and drink at the location where the seminar was being held. This cost me $11.

At lunch time we tried to walk to a local Chipotle and Burger King, but by the time we'd gotten there other people from the seminar were already there. Each line was about a block long... not counting the folks waiting inside, so we decided to walk back to the convention location for lunch. The lines there were also extremely long. I ended up with a BBQ hot dog, fries, and a drink to the tune of $19. What a ripoff!

If only I could time travel I would have gotten up just 15 minutes earlier and made myself breakfast and lunch. That 15 minutes would have saved me almost $30! If I had paid myself $30 to make my food for that 15 minutes that adds up to an hourly rate of $120! I know I'm not making $120 an hour after taxes at my current day job.

If only I'd gotten up 15 minutes earlier. I could have used that $30 to buy myself something fun or invested in my future instead of wasting it on food that gave me a tummy ache. I ate $30 in food for breakfast and lunch and now my pockets are empty and my heart is full of regret.

Superheroes-- I now grant you the power to feed yourself from your own kitchen when you can rather than paying someone else a ridiculous amount of money to feed you. Take that time to cut coupons, shop with ads, and prepare your own meals rather than relying on convenience. I don't think that extra 15 minutes of sleep made any difference in how I felt today, but the quality of food and the guilt for spending so much money definitely did make a difference in how I felt. Stay strong, Superheroes!

Tackle Overwhelming Tasks- Superhero Style!

Have you ever gotten motivated to get a task accomplished, such as cleaning a certain room or closet, but as soon as you actually lay eyes on the mess you decide to turn right back around? It is very overwhelming to have a large pile of clutter between you and being stress free.

Sometimes all it takes is breaking a large, overwhelming task up into smaller and more manageable chunks. A common tip is to tell yourself that you'll work on it for a certain amount of time and then you can stop no matter what. This method works for me in most cases, but sometimes the huge pile of junk is a bit larger than my confidence in my ability to get that task accomplished.

That being said, I have another method. I call it the "Rubbermaid" method. What you do is you take the large, overwhelming mass of clutter and you divide it into several boxes. Once you see how clean the space is without all of the clutter it should motivate you to continue with the task. In fact, when I do this, I fall so in love with the clean, barren landscape that I end up cleaning it up further (dusting, etc.) and vowing never to buy clutter again!

Please make sure you have containers to divide the items up into. If you try to take everything out planning to put it all back in, all you will end up with is a huge, overwhelming mess on the floor. It will zap the motivation right out of you, trust me.

Now that you have some containers of junk, you'll need to be tough with yourself. It would be too easy to just haul those containers to the basement and start a new colony of junk using the newly found space you have. Resist the temptation and make yourself a plan to go through each box in a timely fashion. Be ruthless and get rid of all that you can possibly part with.

Superheros, today I grant you the ability to nab all those bad guys (clutter), place them in separate cells (containers), and interrogate those bad guys one by one to make sure they really belong where you found them (or in your house at all for that matter!). Remember to be ruthless when using this method- you do not want bad guys in your home- all they do is cause bad feelings such as guilt or being stressed and overwhelmed.

Don't forget your superhero smile when you see how nice your place looks without all that clutter!

Be Addicted to Computer Games and Still Get Things Done!

I know that many of you out there are addicted to games of some sort, whether it be video games, computer games, or Facebook games- and I'm here to tell you it's okay... if you use them right.

Yes, Superheros! I said it is okay to play computer games! What you need to do is use those games to motivate you. For example, in many Facebook games there are timed events such as crop growing or building. In many articles on getting organized they advise that you should clean for just 15 minutes to get yourself motivated. Well I say why not grow a crop for 15 minutes while you clean?

What you will find is that even if you set the action in motion on your computer for only 15 minutes, you will find yourself cleaning for more than 15 minutes most of the time. Having trouble tearing yourself away from your computer or video game? Make a deal with yourself that if you clean for 15 minutes straight you can play for 15 minutes guilt-free.

There have been studies done that say that computer games lead to depression or vise versa. If you're feeling depressed, perhaps it's because you're not getting anything accomplished. It's time to become a Superhero. When Superheros get down in the dumps, they use it as motivation to set goals and make their world a better place.

Today I grant you the super power of being able to build buildings or grow full vegetables while you clean house! How many people can say they've done that? Have fun, Superheroes!

Today I Don't Feel Like Doing Anything!

"Today I don't feel like doing anything. I just want to lay in my bed."

The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars is pretty much my theme song every day. It wasn't until I started channeling my Superhero powers from within that I started being proactive and not reactive. For example, some of you my remember that Superhero me ordered a box of contacts from 1-800-Contacts before I had even run out. That's why when my box of contacts came in the mail today I had a huge grin on my face. I usually have to spend a minimum of one day at work wearing glasses because my lazy bum hadn't ordered any contacts yet. This superhero thing is really working out for me.

By getting yourself motivated to get up off the couch and get some things done, you're looking out for the future version of yourself which makes life a heck of a lot easier.

If you're constantly working for future you, you should always be wearing a grin. Pick out your clothes the night before. Contribute to your company's 401k or an IRA. Don't lose that feeling that you get when you realize that the Superhero you from the past was able to time travel and give you a nice gift to make your day.

My fellow Superheroes, I grant you the Superhero power of time travel! Make it your Superhero-ly duty to do as many things possible for future you. As an official Superhero you will not be stressed or overwhelmed. This will be a snap. Tackle those tasks you've been avoiding. In fact, start one NOW!

Spring to Action!

I was feeling particularly achy and run down at work last week, so I decided to go to a quiet room to rest for my morning break. As soon as I laid down to rest alarms started blaring. I quickly got back up and began to wander down the hallway after all of the scurrying people. "THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" someone yelled.

My heart began to pound as I made my way down the stairwell. Once I reached the first floor I ducked into the first available room. We were under a tornado warning.

Several tornados touched down near us, but thankfully none of them hit us directly. This evening thinking back on the whole experience, I realized that once that alarm went off I was no longer focused on my pain and exhaustion. I was extremely alert and the pain was the last thing on my mind.

This got me thinking... how come when my alarm goes off first thing in the morning to wake me up I do everything possible to avoid getting up? A superhero would surely not ignore the alarm calling him or her to prevent the next crime! Why is it so hard to have an attitude like a superhero- springing out of bed and into their day?

Even my dog Abby will spring to action when her "pack" is on the move. She will go from a dead sleep to a dead run every time I go to stand up.

Superheros- your duty the next time you wake up is to spring to action! Get right out of bed and greet the day with a powerful smile tomorrow when you wake up (the kind of smile that says, "I know I'm going to win."). Have that sense of urgency right off the bat that will help you sail through your day, passing any challenge with flying colors.

Let me know how you did! Were you able to spring out of bed? How did you convince yourself?

Making Contact

As I wrote in my last post, "Superhero" me took on the battle of cleaning my bathroom and ordering new contacts.

When you're looking at a mess through the eyes of a superhero, it is nothing at all.  I was able to work on my bathroom and within 10 minutes I couldn't believe that I was in the same room that I started out in.  As a superhero I was quick- didn't have time to be a perfectionist so the task did not take me as long as the regular me would have taken.  Regular me had walked into the bathroom several times earlier in the day to tackle the task, but due to an overwhelming amount of stress would turn right back around and park it in bed.  A superhero deserves a clean, shiny, clutter-free bathroom!

The contact ordering issue has been an ongoing battle.  I use daily contacts and before I know it they're all gone.  I have been meaning to do a price comparison with 1-800-Contacts, but every time that crossed my mind I always told myself I would do it "later."  What ended up happening is that I would run out of contacts and have to wear glasses (yuck) until I finally gave in and went to my eye doctor to buy more.  I'm sure I have been wasting a lot of money doing it this way.

Superhero me laughed at the wasted money.  After making sure I had my eye doctor's name and contact information (no pun intended), I did the superhero feat of punching those numbers into my phone.  It was tough to give the representative my true identity since I was in superhero mode. :)

The representative at 1-800-Contacts was extremely nice and professional.  She took my order quickly and I felt very satisfied with the experience.  This got me thinking about the way I treat people.  For the most part at work I remain friendly and professional.  However, at home I let my guard down and often take out my frustrations on those that I love.  I don't treat them with the continuous love and respect that they deserve.

My fellow superheros... your mission for today is to keep your superhero mentality and treat every single person you come into contact with using that same friendly, caring tone that I received when I called 1-800-Contacts.  Do not lose your friendly demeanor- even with that driver who will inevitably cut you off.  You know it is the right thing to do and I know you can do it, Heros!

Be sure to reply to this post with your experience of being "super" courteous with those you came into "contact" with.

Modern Day Superhero

I was just reading "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki and one of his steps to develop your God-given powers really got to me:

"Heroes make things look easy.  It's the making it look easy that convinces us to want to be just like them."

I am very good at making excuses.  Especially since I suffer from chronic pain and getting anything done (even the simple things) is quite a chore.

I am constantly looking for outside sources of inspiration because my inner reserves have been all dried up.  What would happen if I try to escape from being me and pretend to be a superhero who can suddenly have all the energy in the world and can finish the task for me?

I am going to start today with two simple tasks:
1. Clean my bathroom
2. Order new contacts

These seem like very basic things to most people, but when you've hit rock bottom even the simplest things can bring up a tidal wave of stress that can be quite overbearing.

I'm off to be a superhero.  Did this work for you?  Please reply!