"Do Two Things You Don't want to do"
Just for Today Reading
According to The Office of National Statistics, Today, Monday 6th January, 2014. (Feels weird writing that year) was officially the most depressing day of the year.
It's the first working day of the year as it stretches out ahead like an omnibus of Eastenders. Most people are either poor from over spending, porky from over eating or lethargic from over drinking. It's full blown reality.
For me all the ingredients were in place for a proper Blue Monday. A solid Man Cold. Back that was still out, neck cricked, pissing with rain, tired/lethargic and to top it all off I developed the shits over-night. Can you give a man anymore misery God?. In case I wasn't suffering enough, a touch of brown Laser was the brown cherry on the icing on the brown cake. Grim.
Us Men don't need much to feel sorry for ourselves. Any of those ailments in isolation would usually be enough to send me straight to the sofa for a day of Homes Under The Hammer, Flog It, Escape To The Country and Magnum PI. But all four? Fuck me it was like sickness Armageddon. Where's that remote control and Kleenex?
At this point the self employed out there who are prone to bouts of procrastination will identify. I debated long and hard whether to go to the office or sofa? It was a tough choice.
This is where I realise the difference between me and the ultra successful. They do not debate, they do. They write lists, action plans so they have goals and tasks for the day. Ticking them off one by one until they achieve. Their mantra being;
'What are you doing today that will take you closer to your goal?'
Unfortunately my in built mantra is,
'What are you doing today that will take you closer to the sofa'.
Bit of a malfunction in building a multi million pound empire don't you think?
However in the spirit of 2014 and my attempt to challenge this stupid sodding ego I remembered my Just For Today card and one of the phrases on it, 'do two things you don't want to do.'
Clearly one of these two things was to go to work. So I went and with a decent attitude. Yes I felt rough. Yes I was in pain. Yes my head was saying, 'fuck that, go to yoga lay on the sofa all day. Your ill. It's a freedom pass'. But off I toddled and weirdly I felt OK about it.
I'm not sure if it was the chanting/meditation on Saturday night but I felt OK. Reasonably chirpy inside. It was a case of having 'smart feet' and letting the head follow. Apparently remarkable things happen when you get your 'shitty head out of the way'.
I'm not sure if it was remarkable, the law of the universe, law of attraction, God, circumstance, Karma or just what happens in life but I got two calls from recruitment consultants about jobs up for grabs in the sporting world I had applied for months ago and forgotten about.
One in Football in Singapore and another in Athletics. They had around 100 applicants last year and had interviewed a handful of proper senior executives but they didn't have 'the spark' apparently. So they went back into the list for a few more and called me. Nice one.
The initial Ego reaction was, 'cheers then, 2nd choice' and 'I'll never get them anyway'. I don't have to try to get that initial reaction. But as I'm told, act on your 2nd thought not your first. So I chatted away and some interviews may or may not come from it. We shall see. But not a bad start to Blue Monday was it? Fuck depression I'm doing OK thank you very much.
I ground out a few hours in the office, felt ill, left early (as is your want when self employed), retreated to the sofa for an hour and then did the 2nd thing I didn't want to do today, went to a meeting.
It was fucking miserable outside, cold, wet, dark. My house was warm and the sofa oh so snugly. I was ill, Minder had just started on ITV 4 and the meeting was miles away (It is 1/2 mile from my house but may as well have been 1000 through land mines and hurricanes in my lazy state)
However I employed smart feet and went. It turned out to be a good meeting, well needed and I took a guy who was in the madness out for tea afterwards. The best way to stop thinking about yourself is help someone, so I did, getting home at 9.30pm feeling pretty clear of head and decent inside.
For me it wasn't Blue Monday. It was a good example of positive action making my mind feel better. Despite the ailments I feel good. I hope it lasts.
If you don't feel top tip tomorrow, try doing two things you don't want to do. Smile at someone you wouldn't normally smile at. Open a door. Let someone out in the traffic. Tell your boss his breath stinks. Whatever. It doesn't have to be a grand gesture or action. Try something small and see how it goes. It may not immediately pay off but it's better than being a miserable bastard right? God knows I need that sometimes.
Together We Are Stronger
Nicholas Evans
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