Have you heard of the concept “Eat that frog”?

For those not familiar with it, let me introduce you. Eat the Frog came from the very productive Brian Tracy’s book of the same name.

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Eat the Frog

The idea is that when you have a list of things to do, every day you should get the worst one done first. Often this is the one that has been on your list for a while, the one you keep putting off; either because it is a job you hate (accounts, anyone?), a job that brings a whole whirlwind of emotions (PIPs form, anyone?), or one you are putting off due to imposter syndrome (writing a new course, anyone?)

We keep putting it off because the very idea of it makes us feel depressed, worried, anxious or just because it’s your accounts and let’s be honest, even accountants hate accounts.

The theory is if we eat the frog, get that awful job done out of the way, then the rest of the day has got to be a breeze, right?

Now, what about if you have more than one “frog” item on your list.

Well, the best advice is to get the ugliest one done first.

What’s the Ugliest Frog to eat?

On my list at the moment is get the monthly accounts up to date, finish writing the content for a course I am going to be offering and complete a PIPs form for my son.

The PIPS form is a reality check and I am not a fan of those (who is?) so I have compiled lots of notes and guides to help me complete those, this requires a clear day on my calendar so I can focus solely on that and then have time to do something for me to cheer me up. I have scheduled this so it gets done.

The one I have put off the longest is the accounts, so they are the ugly frog I need to clear.

As difficult as it is to create the course, write the content and put it all together, the thing stopping me is Imposter Syndrome. Who am I to teach people? However, I had a breakthrough this week when I sold the idea of the course in a different way to a group of people, starting with the reason why I am the right person to teach people about this subject and the feedback was just amazing. Now I need to think of it is a positive thing for me, my business and also just how lucky the people taking it will be.

Eating the frog takes practice. We have often spent days, weeks, months and in some cases, years putting things off. One friend had to ring the CSA to get the ball rolling on child support, she had put this off for such a long time because she was dreading how the call would go. I challenged her to “eat that frog” and she rang me later that day to say how easy it had been and how she wished she had done it months ago.

Often we imagine 1001 scenarios as to what could go wrong and this causes us to delay doing it. I worry that I will put the numbers in the wrong column in the accounts, I worry that I won’t be able to explain my son’s challenges on a PIPs form and I worry that no one will buy my course. It’s called being human. We’re all guilty of it.

Today, I challenge you to look at that list of things you want/need to do and choose the ugliest frog on there. Get it done and let me know how it feels.