TeamWorx Blog

Laugh Challenge - Day 4

2010-05-04T15:36:00.000-04:00

The Ponderings Challenge for the month of May is to laugh. When I'm in the mood for a good laugh, but need a bit of inspiration, I'll turn to YouTube. The other day this cat video had my entire family rolling in laughter. Check it out!

Complain Challenge - Day 30

2010-04-30T13:27:00.000-04:00

It's the end of the 30 day complain challenge. This challenge was not difficult for me. Just having the awareness of this challenge stopped my complaining before giving it voice.

Now if I look back at the previous two challenges (joy and perfectionism), I'm still struggling with perfectionism. As an Enneatype One, this may just be the way it's going to be and I suppose accepting that is in it's own way letting go of perfectionism!

Complain Challenge - Day 19

2010-04-19T15:21:00.000-04:00

My folks are selling their home and since settlement is this week we had a number of vendors to contact to stop or transfer service. Most of the calls went without a hitch; but one vendor I ended up calling 3 times before I got a customer service person who was friendly and helpful. The first two were curt and ended up advising a course of action that was way more complicated than needed. One of my hot buttons is poor customer service and when I receive it, I do voice my complaint immediately. In this case, the complaint had no effect on the first two reps. It wasn't until I called the 3rd time that my complaints were heard and responded to promptly and professionally. I thanked the 3rd rep for his excellent customer service and hung up the phone feeling much better about the vendor. The complaint was voiced, heard and resolved. Yea!

Complain Challenge - Day 7

2010-04-07T11:57:00.000-04:00

Since starting the complain challenge on April 1st, I've noticed a number of small complaint thoughts creep into my mind that I've been able to delete. I've also noticed some nagging complaints that just won't go away. Most of these complaints are directed at me and my business which is totally non-productive. So, for the last 7 days I've been observing these complaint thoughts, trying to do so without judgment. Finally, today I'm noticing that these complaints are not as loud as they were a week ago. YEA!! Perhaps these thoughts will be gone all together by the end of the month. Wouldn't that be nice?!!

Joy Challenge - Day 31

2010-03-31T10:19:00.004-04:00

Today is the last day of the JOY Challenge. And what a great day to end the JOY challenge --- it's sunny outside and tonight is the last yoga class of the 13 week winter session which means we'll be doing restorative poses. Yea! Restorative yoga poses are yummy! What a great way to wrap up the month with Joy!

Joy Challenge - Day 21

2010-03-22T16:55:00.001-04:00

There have been many joyful moments since my last post 2 weeks ago. To share just a few ... one big JOY was a spontaneous, romantic getaway to celebrate our 17th anniversary. It was the weekend of the torrential downpour, but that didn't dampen (pun intended) our time together.

Sometimes the joy experience was initiated by a simple thing, such as one of my favorite tunes playing on the radio. And of course, having the magnificent weather this past weekend and being able to work outside was quite a joyful experience.

Also, I've been continuing to pay attention to the previous challenge regarding perfectionism and it's been a joyful experience to notice that I have been relaxing my standards around issues that are not critical.

Joy Challenge - Day 7

2010-03-07T22:03:00.002-05:00

It was a beautiful weekend. The skies were clear and the temperature was warmer than it's been in a while. We finally got a chance to hike. Hiking and being in nature is almost always a joyful experience. Good for the body, mind and soul! Hiking is an easy and fun way to add joy in my life.

Joy Challenge - Day 5

2010-03-05T14:16:00.001-05:00

A year ago today I was in the hospital emergency room just about to hear 3 words that would change my life ... "it's inoperable cancer". The doctor who delivered the news had no bedside manner which made the event more devastating than it had to be. Luckily, a day later I would meet my oncologist who assured me that all was not lost. I went through 6 treatments of chemotherapy with few negative side effects. I was in remission by July and was still in remission when I had my last PET scan on 12/28. There is no guarantee that I'll stay in remission; but, who has guarantees in life?

I am joyful today as I think back to last year. I'm so grateful that I had a caring doctor, a successful treatment and the tremendous support of family and friends. I feel joyful to be alive!

Joy Challenge - Day 1

2010-03-01T22:25:00.001-05:00

So JOY is the Ponderings challenge this month. Seems easy enough to create more joy. But today my mood was not in the best place and now it's the end of the day and I'm tired, so joy is not happening today.

Or perhaps it can happen. I enjoy crawling into our cozy bed at night and reading a good book, especially with one of our cats curled up on my lap or close by. So with that said, I'm going to do just that! (I'm already smiling inside.)

Perfectionism - Day 26

2010-02-25T20:05:00.004-05:00

Paying attention, on a daily basis, to how often perfectionism appears in my life has been an interesting challenge resulting in some unexpected discoveries ...

A perfectionist viewpoint is with me all the time, especially in regards to me. I'm 10 times harder on myself than I am on others. (A good thing I'm not this hard on others or I would never have any friends!) This is quite tiring.
Stopping at 80% was easier than expected for some things and quite challenging for others. The more important I judged the task, the harder it was to settle for 80%.
For the tasks I completed at 80%, doing this saved me time and energy and, most importantly, it felt very freeing.
What surprised me most is that I sometimes experienced a physical response to perfectionism as a burning, heavy sensation in my chest (4th / heart chakra). If I had to label the emotion related to this sensation it would be disappointment and/or anger. This emotion fits with my Enneatype One perspective. I'd like to explore this further AS LONG AS I don't set unrealistic standards! :-)

To wrap up, this was a valuable exercise. It taught me a lot about myself and gave me hope that I can relax my standards which will not only save me time and energy, but will create a lighter, more joyful experience.

Perfectionism - Day 18

2010-02-17T22:41:00.002-05:00

It's been a week since my last post and a lot has happened in that time to test my resolve to let go of perfectionism. In some cases I was able to relax my standards and in others I tried but in the end I stuck with my standards. Some things are hard to change.

So when my son had his birthday last week we had to let go of our original plans due to the snow storm. In this situation, even though it wasn't the perfect day we had planned, we altered our expectations and ended up having a low-keyed, but nice, birthday celebration.

The real perfectionist challenge came on Sunday when my sister and her husband visited us for my birthday. We hadn't had a chance to clean the house since we were so busy shoveling the snow, so I suggested they not come out. Then my sister reminded me that I'm working on relaxing my perfectionist standards this month, so I consented and said, "OK, come on out." They said they'd be here in a little over an hour. When I got off the phone and informed John (my husband) that they'd be here shortly, he enlisted my son's help and they both went through the house like a hurricane giving the house a quick clean. Here I was thinking I was going to relax and not fret about the messy home only to find out John wasn't comfortable with that. Oh well. My intention was there; but, I've got to admit, it was more relaxing to have them visit us in a clean house!

Perfectionism - Day 11

2010-02-10T23:15:00.002-05:00

We were hit with another snow storm today. I love the snow and enjoy being snowed in once in a while. To look outside and see everything covered with a thick coat of white is beautiful. So when I bartered with my homeschooled son, Zach, that he could put his studies aside today if he went outside to enjoy the snow, I found myself cringing when he trudged across the center of the yard, messing up the "perfect" landscape. OK ... I know this is silly but it gave me another chance to notice how often perfectionism appears, even in unlikely situations. When I said to him, "you've messed up the snow", he said, "you're kidding ... right?" Ummm, well, not really, but, since he put it that way it made me aware that I have standards for even how the snow in our yard should look. YIKES! After this awareness struck me I smiled as I watched Zach and our cat, Lucky, play in the snow. Seeing them fully enjoying the moment reminded me that playing in the snow IS perfect!

Perfectionism - Day 7

2010-02-06T22:04:00.002-05:00

It started to snow yesterday and by the time it stopped today we had over 2 feet of snow! I enjoy being out in the snow, even if it means that I'm shoveling. Usually I shovel our entire gameroom deck and it can be quite tiring since I have to lift the snow up over the edge of the deck railing. Today I consciously chose to clear just what was needed - a 2 foot pathway to the door. For a split second my inner perfectionist nudged me to shovel the entire deck, but I ignored the nudge and felt satisfied with stopping at 80%! Enjoy the snow!

Perfectionism - Day 4

2010-02-03T21:50:00.002-05:00

I was having fun today researching on the internet. Three hours later I was still gathering information to help me make the right choice and by this time my inner critic was berating me for wasting time. In this situation I observed my perfectionism playing out in two ways. First in searching for the "right" choice way beyond what was necessary and second in judging myself harshly for "wasting" time.

There will be some who won't understand what the big deal is. But for those who are an Enneagram Type One I know you feel my pain. An Enneatype One has a powerful inner critic who sets incredibly high standards in every area of his/her life and then judges harshly whenever he/she falls short of the standard (which is often since the standards are unrealistic). It's like having a strict, rigid disciplinarian living in your head. It can be quite exhausting! I think I'll rest now.

Perfectionism - Day 2

2010-02-01T20:38:00.002-05:00

As I attempt to let go of my perfectionism I'm noticing it's pervasive in my life. It's even in the little things that I do such as loading the dishwasher. Tonight I caught myself wanting to rearrange the items that my son and husband had loaded into the dishwasher. GEES! Do I need to load the dishwasher perfectly? Is there really a perfect way? Does it make a positive impact on our lives? The answer to these questions is NO. So I stopped myself from redoing what they had already done which saved me time and energy and also showed more respect and appreciation for their work.

Perfectionism - Day 1

2010-01-31T18:53:00.017-05:00

As I was writing Ponderings yesterday an idea popped into my head to propose a 30 day challenge based on the word of the month. Meanwhile, my husband (John) has been suggesting I create a blog for quite a while now. Hey! What if I combine the Ponderings Challenge with the blog? I pondered a bit and liked the idea. I would blog about my experience with the 30 Day Challenge. Sounds easy enough!

I got up this morning excited about creating the blog and starting the Perfectionism Challenge. However, about an hour into it, my excitement turned into anxiety. My inner perfectionist critic was screaming at me ... MAKE THE BLOG MATCH YOUR WEBSITE! But if I shoot for 100% and match my website then the blog will not get done any time soon. [I've had this experience plenty of times before ... something cannot be done perfectly, so it doesn't get done at all. I don't want that to happen with my blog.] Whereas, if I shoot for 80% and use a template, then I can get the blog online today.

The good news is that I went with 80% and you are reading my first blog post. YEA! I did it! The bad news is that I had a constant tug of war going on between my perfectionist inner critic and the part of me that is taking on this 30 Day Challenge. I always knew I had perfectionist tendencies, but, after observing my inner battle today, I realize that perfectionism has a mammoth hold on me. Letting go of perfectionism IS going to be a challenge! I think I better get some rest!