Tweet

Stop Tolerating Things that Drain away Your Time and Energy

Written by: Joan Bolmer

Article Overview: Tolerations are like a dull headache or stiff neck that never quite goes away. You learn to live with it and each day you climb over the annoyance and get your work done anyway. It is not until something happens to remove the headache or stiff neck that you realize how much energy and pleasure has been sapped from your daily life. The sad thing is that, removing these tolerations is not all that hard or expensive, it just requires awareness and a decision to be done with “it” or “them” and taking action. So TODAY is the day and NOW is the time to uncover your tolerations and start reducing and eventually eliminating them from your life!

Stop Tolerating Things that Drain away Your Time and Energy

Tolerations are like a dull headache or stiff neck that never quite goes away. You learn to live with it and each day you climb over the annoyance and get your work done anyway. It is not until something happens to remove the headache or stiff neck that you realize how much energy and pleasure has been sapped from your daily life. The sad thing is that, removing these tolerations is not all that hard or expensive, it just requires awareness and a decision to be done with "it" or "them" and taking action. So TODAY is the day and NOW is the time to uncover your tolerations and start reducing and eventually eliminating them from your life!

To help you to get started with identifying your tolerations I suggest using The Clean Sweep Program (see 'Free Stuff' on my website). The Clean Sweep Program gives you 25 items in each of four areas of your life to get cleaned up; physical environment, personal well-being, money and relationships. All are big toleration areas for most people. As you go through the lists think about other things, which are not handled in your life and add them to your list.

The first week pick the easiest one item from each life area and just DECIDE to GET IT DONE! Now you have some success and momentum built. Take advantage of your momentum and the second week pick the next easiest items to "cure" that week.

Some items take longer than others or need to be done in steps. The important thing is to make some progress each week on something even if you cannot complete it right a way. Sometimes awareness alone is enough to get rid of a toleration without much attention or effort at all. Yeah!

Stop complaining and make strong requests regarding what you want. If employees or your kids are unwilling to comply with your requests then some consequence may be in order. See Correcting Behavior Problems (under ‘People Skills' on my website). With a spouse or live-in significant other some negotiating may be necessary.

Consider whether something you are tolerating gives you juice. I had an art major roommate in college who just could not "work" unless her work area was a physical and visual mess. My other two roommates and I thought we might have to evict or kill her before she got done with her senior thesis. But a messy environment is what gave her juice.

Finally be willing to spend the money necessary to get the toleration handled. One of my clients was preparing to sell her home. This, of course, required fix ups and the repair of a zillion little things. When she was done she wasn't sure she wanted to move because it was "so nice now". She did sell her home rather quickly and then had to do the same thing to the new one. So why not have everything possible, in your life, the way you want it NOW?

Related Articles
  The Energy of Tolerations!
  WHAT AM I TOLERATING - Zapping your energy drains
  What You Tolerate Can Hurt Your Business
  Three Steps to Stop Energy Drain
  Are you tolerating Abuse?

Article Tags: annoyance, behavior problems, clean sweep, consequence, dull headache, free stuff, momentum, money, physical environment, pleasure, relationships, sad thing, stiff neck, sweep program, today is the day, toleration



Related Forum Posts
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - We've also expanded the list for Contest and All-Time Leaders. It's great to now see David and Yinka on the All Time list and recognize the contributions they've made to the forums!
No B.S. Time Management - A great book I read on Time Management is No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs by Dan Kennedy.
Decide your market first - Stop for a second and decide exactly who it is that you want to sell your product to. Once you've done this you'll have a far better idea of where to find them and what it is that they're interested in Cheers
Other Great Books... - Feel The Fear And Do It AnyWay - Susan Jeffers How To Stop Worrying And Do It Anyway - Dale Carnegie ('What's the worst that could happen - the worst?' Then prepare yourself for that and reality is such a relief!).
Re: Seth Godin: Star Fish v Long Tail - Thanks for sharing, David. I always enjoy the interest it brings me when I read these types of things. Things that make you think to consider other possibilities, no matter how obvious they may seem. Cheers, Emma


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Build Corporate Credit for Your Small Business

The Importance of Master Data Management (MDM)

Unspoken Yet Important Rules for Book Proposals

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.