This week’s thought might seem a little simple and mundane and yet there is a deeper message here.
We engaged a repair man to fix the windows in our new house.
With some brute force from Ross to get them open and a large screwdriver or pole to hold them open, I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed to clean, what I estimate was 40 years of gunk and grime. Yuk. Double yuk.
I didn’t want the repairer to spread all that debris over the floor.
It took me weeks to systematically get them all cleaned and it was only last weekend that I figured out a better method for cleaning them.
Now you might ask, “Why didn’t I engage a professional window cleaner to clean them?”.
Two reasons:
1. I didn’t expect they would take as long as they did to clean, and
2. The renovation budget was way over maxed out, and
3. I just thought of number 3, we were out of time to organise a third party.
For the first half of the windows, I struggled to scrub the build up of grime off the frames. I applied as much pressure as I could and went over and over and over the frames and they hardly looked any cleaner. Very frustrating.
So, as often happens, when things aren’t working out how we want, we ask “How can I do this better? Is there an easier way? There has to be a better way to do this?”
I looked in my cupboard. I found a cream cleanser and some Gumption. I decided to give the cream cleanser a go.
OMG! This stuff glided on and off. It wasn’t perfect but it was so much better than the earlier results I had achieved.
Not only was it quicker, it also increased my enthusiasm and motivation to get the rest of the windows cleaned.
When you have the right tools, the job is easier, gets done quicker with better results and is more motivating.
Now to the main point. How long do you struggle with something before you finally go looking for a better way?
How often do you “go it alone” without asking for advice from others who may have more knowledge or experience than you?
Your task this week is to look at your list of jobs and choose one that you’re struggling with or frustrated by the lack of results and send your brain looking for the answer to the question, “what’s a better way to do this?”
Try it. Your brain is a goal achieving machine. It must answer any questions you ask it. So ask better questions and do it quicker.
It’s so much easier and so much more rewarding when you have the right tools.
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