Eat that frog!

2nd January 2017

If you get tired, learn to rest - not quit.

I had one of those days yesterday where I ate the big green ugly frog, if you've never heard of that saying, it's based on a book called 'Eat that frog' by Brian Tracy, I have mentioned it in years gone by on this blog but not lately.  In a nutshell, there's an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that it's probably the worst thing you'll do all day. Using 'eat that frog' as a metaphor for tackling the most challenging task of your day - the one you are most likely to procrastinate on, but also probably the one that can have the greatest positive impact on your life - Eat That Frog!

Mine was a huge frog in the form of sorting my room!  WOW, who knew it could take that long, I threw everything on my bed and thought I can't stop now until the bed is clear.  I hovered the floor first, then I started sorting and ironing, putting things in bin bags I don't intend to wear anymore and then mom came up and we sorted through her clothes too.  We now have 8 big bin bags of stuff ready to go to somewhere else leaving us space in our house - it felt really good.  My back was in bits when I'd finished and I actually fell asleep for half hour in my chair but it really was worth it.  I now have enough work clothes for a good month I reckon and with this being a busy month, that's a blessing.  Today's frog is the kitchen, a good new year cleanse, the floor on my hands and knees job, I love a good clean kitchen, don't enjoy doing these jobs but do love how they look after.  I'd kept on top of the kitchen all through December then Christmas happened, so it's time to get that tidy back.

To help me get through the tidying I put on an audio book, I do enjoy listening to books, I do it when I walking Alfie, in the kitchen cooking, sometimes in the car, it's a great way of making use of time spent doing other tasks.  It's also a great way of stopping yourself from thinking or overthinking stuff according to the brilliant book I was listening to yesterday, I've not quite finished it, I'm on Chapter 31 of 38, it's called " Stepping out of the cloud" by Emma Triplett and I absolutely recommend it to anyone with depression or anyone who maybe feels low, even if you just find yourself saying 'When I'm in the right frame of mind' sometimes, because this book gives you plenty food for thought and tells you how to be in the right frame of mind all the time!  I like that idea, she's reminded me of lots of stuff I already knew but given me ideas and things to think about that I didn't know, or hadn't thought about before.   It's a really easy read too, okay I'm listening to it on audio but it's easy to process.

She talks about her depression, now I don't think I've actually got as far as 'depression' but maybe I've just never let myself give the way I was feeling that label!  Or maybe I stopped myself and made changes before I got quite that far.  The reason I say this is because she talks about her depression and how she got there and I related to it in so many ways, hers was work related and she ended up off work with depression, I resigned from my role before I got that far.  I felt how she felt when she arrived at work in the morning, this is a good 13 years ago now and I'm so glad I did walk away because who knows, I might have ended up on medication like she was.

She says about how she felt like she was stuck in "I can't", then one day realised "I have to", until that because "How can I" and she worked her way out,

Like I say I've never been full on depressed but I do have down days and low moments and I already do a lot of the things she talks about to stop me getting any lower, I will definitely use some of the other ideas and I think I'll need to have another listen to the book also as a reminder now and again.

It'll cost you £2.86 on kindle, or on audio at the moment it's £9.51 but your first book is usually free with audible.co.uk so maybe take advantage of that offer.

Anyway, I'm in a bloody good frame of mind now thanks to listening to it, thanks to tidying my bedroom and of course thanks to getting my eating back on the healthy trail, yesterday was frittata and baked beans for breakfast, then I worked solid until I roasted two corn on the cobs and had them with a huge salad, I was starving but tired so didn't want to start cooking something complicated.  Having said that I did put a beef stew in the slow cooker which I'll have today.  At teatime I had a crumpet with a cheese triangle followed by an early night, oh I slept, I really did - I'd earned that sleep.

Honest I can't recommend this book enough if you want to be in the right frame of mind, she's put so much together in one book, stuff I've read in lots of different books in the past but then added her own take on it and more, really, really good.

Today's frog is my next move after a mug of tea of course and I'm thinking No Count Big English healthy style, thanks to the new Smart Start booklet for the idea, egg, beans, bacon medallion, crumpet, tomatoes, mushrooms - yep that will keep me going for a long time whilst I clean that kitchen and finish that book!

I feel good - how you feeling, ready for day 2 of 2017, Happy Monday BeYOUtiful, why save the 'Happy' for New Years day when you can wish everyone a happy day every day.