I was just going over some of my old articles and came across some more useful advice when dealing with our ‘full plates’. Here is an excerpt from that article followed by a link to the full ‘meal’:

You Don’t HAVE to Be Super Human

Yes, Maggie and I have a full-course meal in front of us. There may even be enough left over for a ‘doggie-bag’. Here’s how we help each other stay out of over-commitment and overwhelm.

* Realize it’s going to take time. A baby takes up to a year or more to learn how to walk. In some cases, it may even take longer. Just as you wouldn’t give up on that baby, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give up on yourself. I probably won’t realize a profit from my new venture for another 6 months to a year! Maggie’s courses will finish in another two years. You can’t hurry time. It is what it is. Accept it.

* Balance the essential responsibilities. I work mostly from home now. It’s natural for me to do a lot of the housework such as grocery shopping, cooking, laundry and light cleaning in between my writing assignments. I also see that the girls get started on their after-school routines before mom comes home. For now, Maggie is the primary bread winner. Be a team and rely on each other’s strengths. Know that in time, things will change. Make adjustments and keep moving forward.

* Take a break – be kind to yourself! Maggie and I enjoy going for walks or watching a movie together with a fresh bowl of pop-corn and a drink. Quiet and simple works very well for us. On the other hand, you may be like my step-daughters and won’t be happy unless you’re in a room crowded with happy, boisterous people. (oh dear, we must be getting old!) Find whatever works for you and schedule it at least once a week. I know you don’t HAVE the time. Somehow, you must MAKE the time.

Compared to 20 years ago, we are all living seemingly super-human lives. Our expectations for ourselves and for our families in many cases are extremely unrealistic. Remember to be kind to yourself. Do what you can do. The light WILL shine upon your path. Things WILL get easier. And one day…

oh, don’t you just Love That Feeling?

http://lovethatfeeling.com/blog/are-you-trying-to-be-super-human/

Excellent points, Russ. And I especially like your comment from that same article:

Four years ago, before I had my ‘instant family’ I could fix anybody’s family problem, big-shot-teacher-with-no-kids that I was. Now there isn’t a day that goes by where Maggie and I don’t have at least a dozen things to deal with ranging from discipline and behavior challenges, to making ‘tough-love’ decisions, “Eat what’s already on your plate before…” That alone is exhausting!

Yeah, it’s really tempting to offer advice to others, when we’re standing outside looking in, thinking we’ve got it all figured out. What’s the old Indian proverb? “Until I’ve walked a mile in your moccasins I should keep my big fat mouth shut” – or something like that?

Oh, just what we need right now Russy, a Devil’s Advocate.

Hey, I’ll be one of the first to side with Charles about having too much on your plate and being totally unfocused. I think a lot of us DIY entrepreneurs tend to be that way, sometimes out of necessity; sometimes because we are control freaks; most of the time, we simply over-estimate our already stretched-out super-human abilities in this I-want-it-all-and-I-want-it-now world. We kid ourselves into really believing that we can Be, Do AND Have it all.

Still, there are people who appear to be able to do it all. Take Paul Evans, internet marketer extraordinaire of Nicheology fame. Here is one very busy and industrious dude. He reminds me of the old Army commercial, “We get more done before 10:00 AM than most people do in a day.”

This can be most annoying to us humans.

For all I know, Paul could be just another sleazy snake-oil salesperson with a gaggle of ghost writers at his beck and call, cranking out squeeze pages and other erotic enticements that have us reaching for our maxed-out credit cards behind our spouses back just this one last time.

But damn… Paul has shown me way too much common sense in his approach to work. And most of his BEST stuff… he GIVES IT AWAY FOR FREE! Take his report for example, called “Income DNA”. He talks about how YOU can raise your own income DNA – NOT like HE does it… NOT like some other guru does it… but in a way that is best for YOU!

You can download that free report right here: http://www.lovethatfeeling.com/incomeDNA.zip

It’s a quick, entertaining and most informative read. Paul’s common sense will bring you back to reality if you have already swallowed the crap line, “You CAN Be, Do AND Have it all.”

YOU CAN’T!

Admit it and accept it, as Charles so clearly explains here, too.

HOWEVER… (here’s where the Devil’s Advocate part kicks in)

After you read Paul’s report, you’ll realize that you can accomplish MORE of what you want to BE, Do and Have than what you are getting right now. LOT’S MORE!

HOW?

Well, you’ll just have to read the quick, entertaining and most informative report for yourself because as Paul so correctly points out, “We are ALL different!”

OMG – Maggie just HATES it when I do that! She calls these, ‘Cliffhangers’.

All I can tell you is that you will *KNOW* for yourself what you need to do.

AND… you will be inspired to DO it!

http://www.lovethatfeeling.com/incomeDNA.zip

All the best from Toronto,
Russ

That’s a really useful report, Russ. Thanks for the link. Paul included two really good quotes in it that I love:

“The wayside of business is full of brilliant men who started out with a spurt, and lacked the stamina to finish. Their places were taken by patient and unshowy plodders who never knew when to quit.”
- J.R. Todd

“Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them.”
- Joseph Joobert

Too many times we imagine a success, but when we set off on the path toward it, we find difficulties along the way that we didn’t expect. And so we begin whining. We can be such delicate little flowers sometimes, when what we really need is to be tough instead. Not tough as in abrasive and pushy, but tough as in durable and resilient. Tough minded. Not easily worn down or eroded away.

And you are so, so right. It seems I’ve always known (and for most of that time hated) that the secret sauce of succeeding at anything is mechanical, deliberate plodding. Staying focused. Nose to the grindstone.

Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, titled his autobiography “Grinding It Out,” a double entendre on grinding out hamburger meat, but also the need to keep on going, no matter what. I’ve heard many people say something like, “Well, maybe the world works that way, but I hate it… and I’m not going to stoop to that level.”

Sorry folks – if you’re thinking that’s integrity, it’s not. It’s denial. It’s a refusal to adapt and adjust and use everything around you creatively. It’s a the pouting of a spoiled child crying “the game has to be MY way or I’m not playing.”