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http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/how-to-do-what-you%E2%80%99ve-always-wanted.html

March 16th, 2010 in Lifehack
How to Do What You’ve Always Wanted

I’m willing to bet that there’s something you’ve always wanted to do.

It could be that you’ve always wanted to write a novel. Maybe you want to visit Africa or want to see the Northern Lights. Perhaps you’d love to open a little coffee shop or brasserie in your neighbourhood or maybe you’ve had brainwave for a neat little product that just might change the world.

You’re not alone. We all have things we dream about and things we’d love to do, and it’s rare that these things ever see the light of day.

Fear steps in – sometimes in the guise of practicality and sometimes wearing the hat of playing it safe – and provides all kinds of reasons why you can’t have what you want.

So you persuade yourself that it’s a pipe dream and that it could never actually happen because you wouldn’t know where to start, couldn’t afford it and it probably wouldn’t work anyway. You lose faith in your ability to make your dream reality, and lose a little faith in yourself in the process.

The tragedy is that the more you apply a filter to what you wish for and train yourself to think small, the less confident you become in your ability to do anything that matters very much. Worse than that, you set yourself tiny dreams that aren’t hard to reach, and you reach them.

But hang on a second. What if those big things were possible? What if you really could make some or all of it happen? What if it turned out that you did have what it takes to see something special come to life? Wouldn’t that be something you’d leap at?

Here are my 3 steps to doing what you’ve always wanted to do.
1. Open it up

First of all you need to do some leg work. Investigate what might be needed to get going, look for resources that can inform and help, seek out other people who might have done something similar and talk to those who’ve been there, done that.

There’s no risk here – it’s simply learning about what’s involved, picking up the key strategies that have been used successfully before and gathering together the ideas and resources that you believe will help you to get things moving.

Write down all the questions you have about what you want to do and then go answer them. It’s possible that as you open things up you find that the reality isn’t what you expected and that it isn’t really your thing after all. That’s fine – now you know. But the opportunity to answer the questions you have and fill in those blanks is invaluable, and you might just find yourself getting pretty darn excited about what you’re discovering.
2. Make your choice

You’ve opened it up and answered a heap of questions you had – now you need to make your choice. There are 2 ways to help with this decision making.

1. Look at what really matters to you, not what doesn’t matter. If engaging with this project is something that really resonates with you then listen to that. If you’ll grow and get enjoyment out of doing this, no matter how it turns out, then listen to that. Don’t let any fears you have squash and stamp on what matters.
2. Consider where your priorities are and what might need to change. You have other things going on (your family, finances, career, hobbies, relationship, etc) and you need to be clear about what’s at the top of your list. You need to figure out what compromises you’re willing to make in terms of the time and energy you have available, and you need to figure out the boundaries and deal breakers of your priorities. You might find that your priorities are such that now isn’t the right time to get going with this, but that doesn’t have to be the end of it. Just figure out what criteria needs to be satisfied for you to start.

Once you’ve figured those 2 things out, make your choice and commit to it. That commitment is what will carry you through, and it’s an attitude and a way of behaving that shapes your experience and behaviour as you go forwards.
3. Do one thing

When you’ve made your choice to start, do one thing today. Just one thing. Then do one more thing tomorrow.

That’s all.

Do one thing, then another, then another (no matter how big or small) and you’ll make progress. By doing just one thing a day you’ll be 365 steps forward a year from now. Don’t get overwhelmed with the apparent size or complexity of what you’re tackling. No task is bigger than your capability and you just need to chunk it down into bite-sized pieces and tackle each one in turn.

And if something doesn’t turn out the way you expected or hoped, don’t sweat it. You have the next day to try things a different way or tackle things from another direction. You’ll never be able to control how everything turns out so don’t beat yourself up – just keep checking where you are, making your choice and taking another step.

These 3 steps can be applied universally to do the things you’ve always wanted. So tell me, what do you want?

[I do it a little different, same principal.

Take a stack of blank paper, shut off the computer, and all the tv/radio/people chatter, you want to dig in your mind and it is difficult to do while the tv is brainwashing it.

First, almost an index page, what is the problem here?

Then a how to fix it page and after that the pages will grow.

Use lots of paper, for if the problem has many solutions, it is best to keep them separate.

You need to have a list of pro and one on con’s for every thing you dream up.

Often you will be surprised at what you want to do, when you can see it in black and white.

Then you can start listing the steps you will take to get there.

There is no reason for chasing a worry around in your mind, for they say if you can’t make a decision in 15 minutes, then you do not know the answer and will have go searching for it.

This works on big projects, such as “Do I really think that I can justify the cost of a greenhouse?”

Easy, yes, I promise you that I can twist the facts to show why I should have one.

I once got Bill to build the second one here, convinced him that we would need safe housing for the goats and chickens so we could guard them, it the hoards of Californians reached us and as we are 350 miles from downtown Los Angeles, it could be done.

I think that was about the time that Reagan bombed Gaddafey. sp.?

If that had not worked, I would have thought of another good reason.

It works, because it cleans/empties out your mind and then as it is happening, you have put it on paper, which will put it in order, the garbage at the bottom of the stack.

Don’t throw any of it out, save all the pages for a period of time, for sometimes, you may go back to them.

If you get stuck with it, take the top choices and give them a number value 1-5, list all the questions you can think of for each main thought and then be honest and give them 2 columns, again pro and con and figure out where they fit, this is a plus of 1, low and it is a 4 for high.

You may be surprised when you see how you value the answers, for the totals may not be what you expect.

LOL, the things that I come up with late at night...

granny]

http://myfinancialjourney.com/archive/frugal-cure-for-a-sore-throat

Frugal cure for a sore throat
Posted by MFJ under Frugality , General
[218] Comments

I’ve been sick for most of the week and last couple days I have had a really bad sore throat. I had been sucking on cough drops and other common things to try to relieve my sore throat, but it kept getting worse and worse, to the point where I could barely manage to swallow. As a kid I had tonsillitis and strep throat probably on average 5-6 times a year, but back then it was taboo to take your tonsils out so I spent a fair share of my time at the doctors office and on amoxicillin and other antibiotics. Well I hadn’t had strep in a long time and was worried that this had to be strep again. I was just dying so as usual I went to the internet to find a solution.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and I am only posting this because I heard such great things about it and had such wonderful results myself, please consult with your physician before trying this magical elixir.

What I found was what appears to be a pretty fail safe cure for a sore throat over at earthclinic.com. They recommend that you you gargle with Cayenne Powder. Now before you think it’s crazy, go ahead and read the 135 people or so that have commented on the site about their amazing results. Believe me I was a little skeptical at first too and the thought of gargling with cayenne pepper powder makes you cringe, but honestly it is not that bad, not even near as bad as a common sore throat. You don’t really taste the cayenne at all and the only part that burns a little is when you spit it out the tip of your tongue burns a little bit and if you get it on your lips it will also burn a little, but nothing unbearable at all and nothing that won’t go away with a quick rinse of fresh water (note don’t gargle the fresh water as you want the cayenne to stay on your throat and work its magic.)

My Recipe
I don’t think there is really a science to this thing as if you read around there are tons of different recipes and all seem to have very good results. So here is what I did to make my cayenne sore throat elixir.

* 1 standard drinking glass of hot to warm water
* 1 teaspoon of cayenne powder
* a couple pinches of salt for good measure (most people say its not necessary but it won’t hurt)

That’s it! Just simply take a mouthful and gargle away. There are two things that I want to point out though. One you will need to constantly stir the elixir right before you gargle as the cayenne likes to settle at the bottom and two you may want to gargle with your eyes closed as maybe I’m just a bad gargler, but one time I did gargle some of the mixture into my eye (note: cayenne pepper in the eye burns)

My Results
Like I said I was to the point where I could not swallow anymore. Within minutes of gargling the cayenne powder and water I could feel a marked improvement. I kept gargling my glass of water and cayenne powder on and off for about 45 minutes and my sore throat kept dissipating and dissipating. When I woke up this morning I noticed two things. One my sore throat was essentially gone and two my sinuses and throat were completely free of any kind of gunk you get when you are sick. I feel so clear and so good I just had to let others in on this little miracle. Certainly this remedy should not take the place of seeing your doctor if your conditions do not get any better, but for about 10 cents of cayenne powder it’s worth a try to see if you can save a costly trip to the doctor. I can’t think of a cheaper remedy to a common ailment that has such excellent results. In fact the next time I get a head cold I am going to try some cayenne gargling because it really does clear everything out and the process is not nearly as bad as it sounds. I honestly feel amazing today compared with how I felt last night and the 3 days before that.

Other options from Earth Clinic
Hot Apple Cider Vinegar & Cayenne Pepper
I did not try this one, but it seems to have similar success. This one you actually drink rather than gargle and again people feel great. The recipe is found on the same page as the cayenne gargling.

Again all of the credit goes to the wonderful people at Earth Clinic for posting this cure and commenting on the results.
Cayenne Pepper – It’s the cure for what ails you (other supposed benefits of cayenne)

Again consult your physician before using cayenne and I have no personal evidence that any of the below are true

* Improved blood flow (note: it does thin your blood so don’t use before surgery)
* Improved digestion
* Relieves chronic pain including
o Pain for diabeties
o headaches
o toothaches
o post-surgical pain
o Muscle pain due to fibromylagia
o Nerve pain
o Osteoarthritis pain
o Rheumatoid Arthritis pain
* Relieves gas
* Raises metabolism
* Stop heart attack (again don’t believe everything you read and consult with physician just reporting because I found it in quite a few areas and found it interesting)