groundwork

As we enter the New Year, and everyone starts setting goals, there are some thoughts I’m compelled to communicate with transparency. 

Soooo, here I go: I’m not always the most organized person. I like everything to be clean, but organization is not my strong suit. Yikes! Here I am at 41 years old with the bad habit of leaving clothes out or forgetting to put my earrings away or putting my keys in the wrong place when I arrive at home. I’ve certainly improved in my organization practices over the years. But now, I have a not so mini me with the same practices, and she outdoes me. It’s terrible!

You don’t actually realize how your actions impact your life until you see it mirrored in someone you love. After seeing how my patterns can impact the lives of my own children, I find myself advising them to do as I say, and NOT as I do (at least where my organizational skills are concerned). That is easier said than done because our behaviors are often much louder and more effective than our voices ever will be. 

When I have stopped to think about the origin of this organizational issue of mine, I’ve often thought that it is because I didn’t have time or because I wasn’t good at being organized, but that’s just not it at all. I, Tania Castillo Doyley, realized that I didn’t put some things back because it required that I turn my brain off to the next task and give thought to the small, menial one. I avoid the importance of what I consider to be mundane. How’s that for honesty? Chasing the extraordinary has kept me from pursuing what I perceived to be ordinary. 

Here’s the problem with that: Groundwork is important. It’s not just important. It’s essential. The groundwork is the foundation to build on. The mundane practices are the ones that lead to the extraordinary practices. Forgetting the groundwork is like decorating an unfinished home. It’s like expecting first place without training for the race or speaking without a topic. Ignoring the foundational focus is a harmful practice that ultimately slows progress and affects one’s long term well-being. The groundwork is essential to the process of accomplishing big things.

Luke 14:28-30 says “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!”

That is what I’m attempting to teach my mini-me. That’s what I am working on. I have a responsibility to create mindful practices that will ultimately become my new, GOOD habits. What new, GOOD habits are you forming?

Questions for Reflection:

1. What necessary tasks or responsibilities do you avoid?
2.  What’s the root cause of your avoidance?
3. What mental adjustments do you need to make to change your behavior and create new patterns? 
4. How does your avoidance affect your life and others’ lives?
5. What kind of impact will a positive habit change create in the world around you?