“Eat a live frog first thing every morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day, and if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” Mark Twain.
Don’t take this literally by jumping into the nearest lake and trying to find a frog because a business coach told you to, – but more in a metaphorical sense.
Read on to find out more about what eating the frog means and why it could be the best business and life advice you ever receive.
Why should I eat the frog?
What Mark Twain was trying to say is that the ‘frog’ is the one thing on your to-do list that you’re most likely to procrastinate on because you lack motivation to do it.
Eating the frog first thing in the morning will free up your day to complete other tasks.
Why should I eat the frog in the morning?
The sun is rising, the birds are singing, the coffee is hot, and the day ahead is whatever you make it.
Morning time is when you’re the freshest, before the hassles and humdrum happenings of the day get you down and zap your energy. So, the optimal time and place for frog consumption is at the beginning of the day, before work hours, when your office is quiet, and your willpower is mighty.
The longer you take to eat the frog, the more tired you’ll be, and more willpower and energy will be zapped from you.
Identifying your frogs
Do you have a ‘big task’ that you want done as soon as possible, but can’t find any energy to do it?
Is this task causing you angst, and if completed, would take a lot of pressure off you?
If you answered yes to the above, you’ve found your frog. Remember, if you have two frogs, do the biggest one first.
Common frogs and how to eat them
Some common frogs are:
- Work deadlines
- Meal prepping
- Goal setting and planning
- House cleaning
- Meditation
- Exercise
These are some common frogs that we all like to delay. We set some of these aside for a rainy day, make up excuses, or start them late and stress ourselves out with how little time we have afforded ourselves. Yet, it doesn’t have to be this way.
What happens when you combine Mark Twain and Nike? Eat the frog. Just do it!
This is how to eat your frog in 1, 2, 3:
- Plan ahead
- Build successful habits around procrastination
- Act
The key takeaway here is to eat the frog, or it will eat you. Complete that one task (or more), in the morning that’s holding you back. In doing so, you’ll have a productive day ahead, a weight off your shoulders and a sense of accomplishment.
Whether it’s reviewing a work project, calling an old friend for an important occasion, exercising or other life or business goal – it’s time to stop procrastinating.
Go on, I dare you to eat the frog.
Need some salt and pepper for your frog? Contact Perth coach, Conrad Francis today to find out how to combat procrastination and more about building a successful business by frog eating.