h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have a Toastmaster speech to give this evening. I started to write it ar 9pm lst night, after I got little to bed and after I had assembled my resource information.

My speech is going to be entitled something like 'The martial art of getting things done'.

The major point of this speech is that to get a successful outcome, you need to know exactly what the successful outcome of any project would look like. In a lot of what we do, we actually don't - and it's often not as easy as it might sound, knowing exactly what it would look like. The second thing, once having determined what it would look like it to work out what the next action to get you on the way is. Then doing that for everything that's outstanding in your life and writing it down and regularly reviewing it.

Doing the preparation has made me realise the extent that I don't have clearly visualised outcomes. For doing the work about the house, for instance. I have real difficulty in visualising what it would look like when it's completed. No wonder I have difficulties getting started - I don't know where I'm going.

This last weekend, we worked on little 's toys - we threw away a bin bag full and took several carrier bag's worth to the charity shop - stuff he's grown out of or doesn't play with. We're in the process of a bigger clear up, and next on the list is my papers, and then the cellar and the loft. We've already started scraping the paint off the banisters, so they will look really nice when the rails are stripped back and the uprights are painted. I've sorted out someone to redo the water-damaged ceiling, to put a new internal door in and to put paper up in the lower half of the hallway. Things are beginning to shift!

Fascinating

I can't imagine not knowing where I'm going with most things. I guess I might be a bit of a control freak At least I do always have a vision of what things will look like, or where an end point may be.

Things can be quite overwhelming if you don't have a vision, or an endpoint. Once you have that, you're right; you can plan the first step, or break the process down into bite-sized chunks.

Having said that I usually have a vision, it doesn't hold that reality matches the vision at the end of the day Flexibility is the key word to life.

For people like me, having a project with no vision at the end can be amazingly liberating For me, Australia's like that Let go of the plans. Let go of the dreams. Grab the opportunities that life chucks in my direction Seems to be working so far.

Good luck with the speech

It's a bit touch and go at the moment, Fb. I was called to little 's school as he wasn't well. He's got toothache. I've visited the chemist and got some painkiller for him. I'm going to have a bath and decide whether he's fit to go out. I suspect he will. I've done work on this thing at the moment - I don't want not to know when I can give the speech - there's a lot of competition for slots early in the new year. After my next one, I can apply to be an Accredited Toastmaster!

And yes, for me visualisation is hard. Thinking about the house project, I can't see exactly what I want my dining room or bedroom to look like. I've been procrastinating about some things - repairs because of fears about the cost - and quess what - until recently, I didn't know how much they were going to cost. I just thought it would be too much. There's other uncosted stuff which I need to find out about. And partly, I haven't got costs on stuff because I don't know of any reliable people. See, at the base of all this is fear. I do know, though that sorting my conservatory out is going to be expensive, possibly prohibitively so.

I'm a typical worn-down Mum. I've discovered that there are so many right ways to do something (all of which slightly affect the eventual outcome) that I accept any result, as long as it's finished. A definite idea of what it should be like when finished? Why is it so absolutely necessary?

Just a thought. Someone might even ask you that, if you are allowed to have questions put.

Hello,

We haven't spoken for a while but your post struck such a chord with me I had to reply.

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Well here are my stumbling blocks:

How about new shower cubicle and possibly shower - it leaks;

New kitchen window- the double glazing has misted up inside big time, and I have difficulty seeing my badgers!!;

New carpets - worn thin from constant pacing or fidgeting of spouse and sheer wear and tear because we are home all the time;

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Same here, there are so many cowboys about I dread it.

The cost, the upheaval , the mess and dust are all making me procrastinate too!! PHM's emphysema makes DIY work out of the question, and I worry about the effects of dust etc. on his health. I know I will reach a point where I will take the bull by the horns and do it, I just wish I knew when!!

with your speech and your efforts to sort your life out.

Websailor

Hi TC,

Interesting point. My take is this:

For some things it's perfectly OK to have some flexibility in the outcome. For instance in buying an outfit, or choosing a holiday. I may go out with the intention of buying something for a particular occasion, or just for the office, however my choice will be depend on what there is in the shops and on what fits me, or suits me. In practice, I can't tell until I go out and find out what's there. I have some practical difficulties in that I'm not a mainstream size. Most outfits are made for someone who is taller than me, has a different hip/waist ratio and a different bust/hip ration too for that matter. Then there are materials and colours that suit me and some that really don't. With going on holiday, I tend to decide to enjoy whatever happens. I'm really glad I'm not one of those people who can only enjoy something if everything goes right. There's often only one way everything can go right and millions of things they can deviate from a fixed view.

On the other hand, if I want to decorate a room and I haven't a clue how I would like things, then I find it difficult to get started. Or I'll find myself doing things over and over. I have painted my dining room a number of times and found each time that it doesn't work. It would be helpful for me to have a reasonable idea of how I would like it to look in the end.

Hi Websailor - have you made any enquiries about cost yet? I've found that when I put my mind to having something happen, things move helpfully for me. For instance, when I had the problem with the leak in the ceiling, one of the people at work told me that her husband did plastering, which I hadn't previously known, so he was able to quote. Again, at the Toastmasters meeting, someone came to me and told me she knew a reliable tiler and that she was an interior decorator as well as a teacher. It always feels better to me when things come to me, rather than me having to go and find them. On the other hand, when my dad told me that he was having difficulty getting a plumber to come to see him to do a small job, I went on the web and found him a plumber locally (they live on the Isle of Wight), who he phoned and who came very quickly, so I was able to do the same for him. I find that intention is a powerful thing (like belief). If I see myself as succeeding, it makes my chances much better. Conversely, if I see myself as failing ...

Self-belief works wonders, doesn't it?

How did your speech go, ZSF?

Hi Fb! Yes, doesn't it.

My speech went far better than I'd a right to expect given how little preparation it had. It was much tighter than some of my previous ones and I got some really good feedback. The person evaluating me said it was one I could take to other Toastmaster Clubs, which I think was a big complement. I'm now thinking about my Number 10 speech, after which I can apply to be an Accredited Toastmaster (ATM).

I should have said that the aim of a number 10 speech is to inspire. I'm considering either something on the theme 'The love you seek is the love you are' - about how you need to love yourself before you can love anyone else or receive love from anyone else. An alternative theme might be 'Letting Go' - about not holding on to stuff that no longer serves you.

I like the idea of a speech about loving yourself before you can truly love somebody else

ZSF = ATM

Actually I've just been told it's a CTM - Competent Toastmaster! Reminds me of CDM (Cadbury's Dairy Milk - remember the advert? http://www.cadburydairymilk.co.uk/EN/CDM100/history/1965/advert.htm )

... or 'Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be" - Abraham Lincoln. And of course, he's right.

I'm a Competent Sailor Oficially I mean ... I got a certificate to tell me so

Competent is good

Mind you, I am a bit disappointed I don't have a friend who's an ATM

- you mean you wanted a hole-in-the-wall friend?

strikes a chord with me; I find the problem is often knwoing which 'jobs/tasks' are those that for which you need* to have a clear outcome, and which that clear outcome s isn't needed... for me in some things, unless I've a really* relaly* clear idea of what the end will be its difficult getting going; like the moment, I need to do some tidying and orgnaising of 'stuff' in the bedroom, as I cna't get my head round the job to figure out before* I start what the end result will be exactly* I've not managed to get going with it; in relaity the only way to tackle it is to just dive into the drawers and cupboards and chuck all the 'stuff' on the bed, then figure out tthe specific outcome of it, and exactly what will go where, what can be gotten rid of etc ... for the same reason I've not managed to get half the decorating and other internal changes in the house I want done done, as I haven't a clear picture of the outcome... in that case though, I relaly* don't want to start without the end result in mind, as the result would most probably end up a load of half painted, rooms unusuable and with holes in walls etc

Hi 2legs,

I got some stuff out of my wardrobe yesterday - skirts I haven't worn in a long time, which will probably go to the charity shop at the weekend. I often look in my wardrobe and see 'nothing to wear' - probably because what's there either no longer fits properly, or can only be worn on special occasions, so there is a lack of everyday stuff. You can imagine how frustrating that is.

Half-painted rooms. My bedroom at present has splotches of colour on the wall. The present blue colour doesn't really work. I admit to needing help to visualise how it would look if it was done really well. Hopefully my friend from the Toastmasters Club can give me some ideas. I did have someone who works for another authority who is an interior decorator who said she would come over with her pattern books, however this hasn't happened. She's too busy. Interestingly, I'm finding that the more I concentrate on what I want, the more things come to me, rather than me having to go out and find them.