Stop Tolerating Things that Drain away Your Time and Energy

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?