Swoosh or Just do it

As a sufferer of the Leonardo da Vinci Syndrome I always feel a little guilty when I read things like this. Despite the guilt, I feel strengthened by the fact that Leonardo did not enter history as a loser. The funny thing is that I share quite a lot with Leo (I can call him that). We’re both ambidexter, share an interest in everything ranging from art to science and both have had the luck of finding sponsors (Leo’s and mine) that enable Leo and me to indulge our fascinations. The hard part for me is the distribution of time over all these great interests. So I might implement some of the following suggestions. From the referenced article (as a reminder to myself):

1. Set your wake-up time a half hour earlier tomorrow and keep the clock at that setting. Use the extra time to think about the best way to spend your day.
    
    
2. Memorize and repeat this motto: “Action TNT: Today, not Tomorrow.” Handle each piece of incoming mail only once. Answer your e-mail either early in the morning or after working hours. Block out specific times to initiate phone calls, personally take incoming calls, and to meet people in person.
    
    
3. When people tell you their problems, give solution-oriented feedback. Rather than taking on the problem as your own assignment, first, ask what’s the next step they plan to take, or what they would like to see happen.
    
    
4. Finish what you start. Concentrate all your energy and intensity without distraction on successfully completing your current major project.
    
    
5. Be constructively helpful instead of unhelpfully critical. Single out someone or something to praise instead of participating in group griping, grudge collecting or pity parties.
    
    
6. Limit your television viewing or Internet surfing to mostly educational or otherwise enlightening programs. Watch no more than one hour of television per day or night, unless there is a special program you have been anticipating. The Internet has also become a great procrastinator’s hideout for tension-relieving instead of goal-achieving activities.
    
    
7. Make a list of five necessary but unpleasant projects you’ve been putting off, with a completion date for each project. Immediate action on unpleasant projects reduces stress and tension. It is very difficult to be active and depressed at the same time.
    
    
8. Seek out and converse with a successful role model and mentor. Learning from others’ successes and setbacks will inevitably improve production of any kind. Truly listen; really find out how your role models do it right.
    
    
9. Understand that fear, as an acronym, is False Evidence Appearing Real, and that luck could mean Laboring Under Correct Knowledge. The more information you have on any subject – especially case histories – the less likely you’ll be to put off your decisions.
    
    
10. Accept problems as inevitable offshoots of change and progress. With the ever more rapid pace of change in society and business, you’ll be overwhelmed unless you view change as normal and learn to look for its positive aspects – such as new opportunities and improvements – rather than bemoan the negative.

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