A while ago I wrote a post titled Doing Dishes Proves Commitment to Details. It was an extrapolation on a FEE article about keeping a clean kitchen as a sign of successful entrepreneurship. Although some of the lessons are about paying attention to detail, and having pride in a clean kitchen, there’s another lesson cleaning dishes, or doing chores in general, can teach. That lessons is how to overcome a large task.
Cleaning, Raking, Doing Chores
When you let the dishes pile up, the leaves clutter the lawn, or laundry turn into a large load, you’re faced with an obstacle. How do you go about tackling this obstacle? Although you’d like to put it off, eventually you have to tackle the challenge. Instead of looking at the entire pile of dishes you may focus on a dish at a time. Wash here, dry there, put the dish away, and move onto the next one. Eventually, the pile of dishes will be clean and put away.
Life as an Obstacle
In life you will also face obstacles like a pile of dishes. They may come in other forms, like changing cities, changing jobs, or finding a significant other. Instead of looking at these things as obstacles, you should look at them as opportunities to apply the one-dish-at-a-time method. If you are trying to change cities start small. Make it your goal to research one piece of information on changing cities everyday for 30-days. Upon day 30 you’ll probably have enough information to make an informed decision.
Breaking down big obstacles into smaller chunks helps in a few categories. For one, consistently doing something forms a habit. It also teaches you that obstacles are nothing more than a chance to expand and adapt.
My biggest obstacles are my driving force. They are what propel me forward. I am constantly looking for ways to take the pile of dishes in front of me and get them all neatly put away. However, a lot of times it’s harder than wanting the dishes to be clean. Stepping back, and thinking as life situations as obstacles, helps guide me towards my goals. The Obstacle is the Way.