by: Michael Cheney
This is a classic momentum-killer that you will have used, just like me, on numerous occasions. The first step to recognising and solving a problem is to own upto it right?
Have you ever seen the kids’ TV program Sesame Street? There’s a character on there called The Count. He’s like Count Dracula and he..well, he counts. "1 - 2 - 3 ha ha ha!"
What’s so wrong with counting you say?
Nothing. Nothing unless it is killing your momentum and stopping you getting what you want from life. Which it often does.
I’m going to use the task of writing as an example in this case but it could be any task that involves the risk counting - earning money, writing words, making phone calls, creating sales appointments, losing weight etc..
So, in this example, let’s just say you’re writing an article or a book - you’re going great guns and surging through the writing at high speed, you’re on a roll. Then you hit a block of some kind or your focus is momentarily taken away and you pause for a moment.
HERE COMES THE COUNT..
Rather than use the Law Of Momentum to get instant momentum and get the book finished you think;
"I’m going to see how well I’m doing and count the number of pages I’ve done."
So you leave your creative zone and your mind goes into number crunching mode. It’s important to note that once you cross boundaries like this with your brain it’s not easy to get back into that creative zone again.
So anyway, you count the pages. 32 pages. Not bad, you say to yourself. But because your brain is now in number-crunching mode it wants more tasks to do in this mode. So you say to yourself;
"I wonder how many words I’ve written?"
So then you run a word count. 11,283 words. Not bad. What does this tell you? Precisely nothing.
Your brain is still in analytical (rather than creative) mode so it wants you to give it more ‘food’ i.e. analytical tasks. So you say to yourself;
"I should probably just run a word check on what I’ve done so far."
Now, let’s just recap a moment. Ten minutes ago you were in full creative flow. The book or article was being created. You momentarily lost your momentum (it only takes a moment to lose it, or to create it) and then you got taken over by the blood-sucking Count Dracula.
You did a page count. You did a word count. You did a spell check.
Now you might say - so what?! Just 10 minutes lost right? No. Not just 10 minutes - you just lost your creative juices and the creative power that you had in full flow. The ideas that you were meant to write before you lost momentum may NEVER come back to you again. Those could have been million dollar ideas - they could have made the difference between the end product being a success or a failure and you lost them for the sake of counting.
HOW TO STOP THE COUNT DEAD IN HIS TRACKS
Now writing a book is one thing and it’s disruptive enough doing that but what if Count Dracula sinks his teeth in when it comes to earning money? Or when you’re trying to lose weight? When you spend more time on the scales than you do in the gym?
You need garlic, a stake and a cross.
GARLIC - THE SMELL OF SUCCESS
To stop yourself being distracted by counting, measuring and analyzing focus always on the success that your task will bring. See, hear, feel and SMELL what that success will be like for you. This will have a powerful pull on you and drive your actions accordingly.
STAKE - THE INSTANT KILL
As soon as you find yourself doing more counting than achieving - kill the activity instantly. Just picture Count Dracula sinking his teeth into your neck and sucking out your blood and life. Stop him dead in his tracks.
CROSS - KEEP THE FAITH
Just believe that you are on the right track. If you look deep inside yourself you know in your heart of hearts how well you are progressing with something without actually having to take time out and start counting, counting, counting.
