Parties Get Your Butt in Gear

Our niece coaches a women's hockey team at Stevenson University in Maryland. Students from the hockey team, golf and basketball teams and a few non athletes from the school volunteered to come to Houston to work with Habitat for Humanity. They spent the last week up early every morning working til dinner time rebuilding homes devastated by Hurricane Harvey. They did their own fundraising to make enough money to make the trip - 28 of them in all. My niece asked my husband if he would cook for them on their last night and of course he said yes. He spent two days cooking brisket, chicken, pulled pork and stuffed jalapenos along with his famous macaroni and cheese. I contributed chocolate chip cookies and brownies. But I also did a few major things to the house that I had been procrastinating on. 


Our back yard has been in need of a landscaping makeover. I called our friend/landscaper and asked for a yard update. I was delighted he was able to spruce up the place in time for our party. I also got into some boxes in the garage that had been sitting there for quite some time. Some boxes contained CD's from years of teaching fitness classes, others had old workbooks from business classes, and a few were full of pictures from the beginning of time - our time at least. I was amazed how many I was able to get through - with all of the "stuff" ending up in a save, dump or donate pile. Uplifting! The third area I was able to take action on was the old patio table and chairs. The chairs were starting to rust a little as well as the table though they were still functional and looked fine to the casual observer. When I looked up patio tables to find a new one, conversational patio sets also came up. I already had a few wicker chairs with cushions and decided to add two more with a love seat and ottomans. There was also a table that went nicely with the set. And there you have it - a "new" backyard ready for summer parties.


What I love about having parties at the house is that it almost forces you into doing things you know that you want to do or need to do but just haven't found the impetus to get them done. They become a driving force - a strong motivator to get things done. You find more energy than you ever had to make it to the party deadline.

There are so many things we are procrastinating on for different reasons. There is risk in not getting things done. Maybe that potential loss is enough to get you moving. If not, how could you apply the party lessons to your story? There are a lot of why's and what's behind it. Part of it is the deadline staring you in the face. Part of it is the way you want things to be when you are done making your adjustments. What will motivate you to stop procrastinating and finally get those things done at home or work?

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Do You Want a Cold Towel Now or Can You Wait Until Later?

A few years ago my girlfriends and I went to the San Luis Hotel in Galveston to celebrate one of our birthdays. While we were sitting out at the pool on a delightfully hot July afternoon, the waiters walked around passing out super cold, wet and wonderfully scented towels to refresh ourselves with. What a grand idea! It sparked an idea for my indoor cycle class. I ordered a bunch of washcloth size towels from Amazon, rolled them up and soaked them in eucalyptus scented water and put them in the refrigerator to cool. The next time I taught class I brought them out midway through class. What a hit they were - especially for those that just get red and overheated and don't sweat much. The reaction was so positive, I continue to bring them every Sunday for my spoiled indoor cyclists. 

I have a few members that really need the towels to cool down in the middle of class. The rest of them are fine waiting until the end. While I was walking around the room at halftime with the towels asking if anyone needed one right now or did they want to wait, I was reminded of the marshmallow experiment and shared it with the class. In the Stanford marshmallow experiment they offered children a choice between a reward now, or if they waited about 15 minutes they would get two rewards. The rewards were marshmallows, cookies, or sometimes pretzels. In the follow-up studies they found that the children who were able to wait longer for the two rewards tended to have better life outcomes in reference to education, health and other measures. So I teased the class about their wanting the towels now and a few said - never mind - they could wait! 

It is an interesting experiment that can be applied to our lives in many ways. The waiting or not waiting can be a risk. Will we miss out on some important opportunity by waiting or will we miss out on personal growth by jumping in right away? Weigh the situation and decide the best move forward for you. 

I’ll Do It If You Do It

I am partnering with a new group of trainers, coaches and consultants. We had our first in-person meeting the other day at an interesting restaurant venue I'd actually been to before with the kids. It's called the Conservatory. It's housed in a neat old building that has a variety of fast food options from Italian with pizza and meatballs to BBQ, sandwiches and soups.  Everyone in your group can get a different kind of food for lunch and grab a table in the common area to enjoy lunch together.

Since I'd been there before I knew they had beer and wine too. We were seated at the table sharing and enjoying our different selections when I decided a glass of wine would be perfect with my Italian meatballs, so I got up to find the wine. When I returned to the table with my glass, several others at the table commented on what a great idea that was and some ended up getting wine too. It was like I broke the ice or the boundary and it made it ok for everyone else now.

It's actually very common for people to be thinking about doing the same thing - but not stepping out there or taking a chance until someone else does it. Check out this story regarding a paper airplane game. 

One of the most results-producing and fun exercises I’ve made a part of my presentation games is the paper airplane game. The point is to get participants to think outside of the box, and open up their creative thinking while enjoying a fun game with a little competitive spirit mixed in.

Groups are divided into teams of four or five players with each team given a stack of different colored paper. A starting line and a landing zone are marked on the floor with masking tape. The team players are not allowed to cross over the starting line when launching their airplanes. Only planes that are completely in the landing zone count, and the goal is to be the team with the most paper airplanes in the landing zone at the end of the time. Teams are given two minutes to play the game. 

The first time I played this game, my inclination was to pick up the entire pack of paper and throw it into the landing zone. But I told myself it was the paper airplane game and we had to fold planes before throwing, so I proceeded to fold planes. Then a minute later another team picked up their entire pack of paper and threw it over the line to win. I was appalled they’d “stolen” my idea! Of course, they really hadn’t; I was just upset with myself for talking myself out a great idea. 

Until we see others do something we hold ourselves back. We watch what they are doing and model their behavior. 

So - what are you holding yourself back from doing? Are you waiting for someone else to do it first? What will it take for you to be the first one? What are you missing out on by not taking that first step?