Goat-Feathers

 

Ellis Parker Butler wrote a short story in 1919 called Goat-Feathers. He presented this story as the reason he wouldn’t be famous like Ernest Poole, Mark Twain or Sir Walter Scott.

“Goat-feathers, you understand, are the feathers a man picks and sticks all over his hide to make himself look like the village goat. It often takes six days, three hours and eighteen minutes to gather one goat-feather, and when a man has it and takes it home it is about as useful and valuable to him as a stone-bruise on the back of his neck. I have recently spent several days over a month gathering one goat-feather, and as a reward I was grabbed and chased after another that ate up two weeks and three days of my time. Goat-feathers are the distractions, sidelines and deflections that take a man's attention from his own business and keep him from getting ahead.”

Facebook, E-mails, Internet Surfing, Cable News, People that take 30 minutes to tell a 5-minute story………….

Friggin’ Goat-Feathers



Plan it or Waste it

Plan your day on the night before, so you can hit the ground running ~ Jack Canfield

(Otherwise, you get up and wander around the house scratching yourself in your underwear ~ Kingfish)

If I didn't have a few systems in place to keep me focused, I would squander most of my day.  As much fun as that sounds, the results suck.

Stop wasting time on things that don't matter.  I'm serious here!

How much time do you fritter away doing things that have absolutlely NOTHING to do with your goals?  Interested in that number? Keep track of everything you do for the next 48 hours and most of you will be shocked. 

Success depends on doing the things you should be doing to get the things you say you want.  Very few of us are so disciplined that we don't need some sort of focus system.  Find something that works for you.

Great ideas still in your head. (Yawn) Great ideas delivered to the world. (Extraordinary) 

Time is precious, embrace it deliberately. 

Did you get it done?

You’ve picked your One Thing for 2011 and it's now time to take a step.

Clear out a space in the office, do internet research, make one phone call, order a book online, go to the library, go meet someone who’s already doing it, tell someone about it, order that piece of equipment, join a group, apply for a loan, sign up for classes. 

Take a step. Just one step. TODAY.  

You have 362 days left this year.