It’s the last day of GO Month, and I’m here to help you succeed and celebrate. Oops, it’s actually the first day of February, and if you missed an article from me yesterday, I hope you’ll forgive me. I was out celebrating!
Did you know that celebrating is part of your organizing process? SORT and Succeed helps you overcome the two biggest obstacles to getting organized:
getting started and feeling finished.
When you accomplish an organizing goal (like writing a whole month of daily organizing articles or, you know, organizing your junk drawer), you get a reward. It’s built right into SORT and Succeed as Step 5.
When you finish ANY SORT and Succeed project, tell your brain that YOU DID GOOD and YOU CROSSED THE FINISH LINE.
This isn’t just a reward. It’s brain science. You are training your brain to respond positively to organizing projects and results.
No perfection required.
Even if you complained the whole time.
Even if you cut corners to get done.
Even if you still have more work to do elsewhere.
Even if it doesn’t look magazine-perfect.
Even if nobody else notices.
Take a moment to celebrate.
Yesterday, the last day of January, I had to make a choice to stay in and publish an article before noon…or go on a fun winter walk with my bestie.
Procrastination? No way. I was celebrating 30 consecutive days of article writing by treating myself well with a much-needed outdoor walk. I celebrated without apology. I wanted to lead by example and wrap up this month, January 2021, #GOMonth, with this one last article…
to remind you to follow through with Step 5 of SORT and Succeed.
You’ve probably trained a dog with small treats. You don’t wait until bedtime to give treats for learning in the morning to shake or rollover. You have praised your kids for learning how to help around the house. You’ve praised your spouse and rewarded them for running a race or reaching some goal. You’ve probably even said nice things to that annoying co-worker. Why do we do this naturally for others? Because it leads to more great results. We’re wired to learn! Our brains will repeat actions if we get treats, and the treats don’t even have to be big ones.
We talked about picking your rewards way back on January 3. Did you think of some good rewards for YOU? So many of you shared what your rewards were this month, large and small:
- painting your nails
- a fish tank for the kids
- a new dishwasher
- a new set of cannisters
- takeout dinner
- catching up on a knitting project
- starting a scrapbook
- buying new furniture
- and so many more…
Don’t Wait to Reward Yourself
Folks tell me they will reward themselves when their house is perfect. When they finish that BIG project. When they take care of something else. But life is short. Your brain needs to hear from you NOW. Celebrating your organizing projects isn’t self-indulgent; it’s scientific!
Today is a good old-fashioned winter snow day, and I am celebrating a certain point of completion on my current client photo project by teaching my kid how to make snickerdoodles. It was a mid-day reward in more ways than one. It’s a good thing I’ve been out shoveling to work off my reward. 🙂
So get off the organizing treadmill. Get started with Step 1 of SORT and Succeed. Feel finished with Step 5. It feels great!
On this last day of January (or roughly so), good job on getting organized! Can you share your reward in the comments below?
I was on vacation for all of January. I read this book and I am life changed for the better. I am so excited to begin to sort and succeed.
Linda, thanks so much for your feedback. If you would be so kind as to leave a review where you bought the book, I would appreciate it. I hope you are in our Facebook group, and I hope you’ll share your progress with us there.