How do you become practical?

[mercuryrising]

I am a naturally idealistic, impractical dreamer type of person. I rarely make plans. I'll only organize something if I absolutely have to and I rarely stay consistent with anything. When I try to come up with goals, the are unrealistic, over-the-top fantasies. So I tend to be compulsive, end up in places I never wanted to be and unable to realize some ideas I have for my life.

Oddly enough, I am capable of being organized, making reasonable goals and logical decisions-- better than many people who would consider themselves pragmatic, in fact. It's just that I don't like to be that way. There's no motivation or passion in it. I feel limited. I just get plain bored. At this point, though, I'd rather be bored than frustrated.


So, does anybody have some ideas/links/resouces I might look into for being practical without losing my soul?

Thanks ahead of time.

[Jennihul]

Be born the oldest in a family that has to work hard to make ends meet. Worked for me. Aside from that...


Read Refuse to Choose, by Barbara Sher, where you will see that you are meant to be the way you are and how to make it work for you without having to sell your soul.

Barbara Sher's Official Website

Jennifer

[dave marshall]

hi,

why do you think you will lose your 'soul' if you just orgainse yourself more?

In my understanding and experience, the 'soul' is extremnely practical, creative, down to earth, organised etc. By becoming more aware of your practical side, i beleive you will acheive quite the opposite and not lose anything, but gain a huge amount,

dave

[Jennihul]

Originally Posted by dave marshall

hi,

why do you think you will lose your 'soul' if you just orgainse yourself more?

In my understanding and experience, the 'soul' is extremnely practical, creative, down to earth, organised etc. By becoming more aware of your practical side, i beleive you will acheive quite the opposite and not lose anything, but gain a huge amount,

dave

C'mere Dave..Put your face closer to my hand...

Ok, now don't make me give you a fresh one...

Re-read the thread starter's post.

The man is crying out. He thinks he should "be more organized" because he sees other people are more organized than him. He says right there in paragraph two, sentance two that he doesn't like to be that way. He finds it restrictive and boring and frustrating. That for him, there is no motivation. No passion to be organized.

So why would you make the poor guy do it? That's just mean.

I like my suggestion: Find a way, a really great way, to make a semi-disorganized free-spirit of a soul fit nicely into an anal-retentive world that unfortunately rewards people for being like everyone else and rewards people for conformity. Rewards people for staying safely inside that box.

Jennifer

[Smarky]

Why are you trying to put yourself inside the same box as everyone else?

Why is being organized important? Your thinking and believing that you have to be, to achive, most successful people aren't as organized as you think they are, most organized people are barely successful.

Logical sucks. Come join the crazy party

[mercuryrising]

Originally Posted by Jennihul

Be born the oldest in a family that has to work hard to make ends meet. Worked for me. Aside from that...


Read Refuse to Choose, by Barbara Sher, where you will see that you are meant to be the way you are and how to make it work for you without having to sell your soul.

Barbara Sher's Official Website

Jennifer

LOL. Sounds like my girlfriend. I was the kid left over from the divorce. I was an only middle child or something like that.

Actually, my girlfriend has a lot to do with why I am trying to be more practical. I'm unhappy with the way I'm living. I work in a very strict, conformist atmosphere which doesn't use much of my abilities. I do it because I don't particularly like being broke. Whenever I've tried to change this situation, I end up trudging back to where I started: doing something I hate.

My girl is understanding and she would obviously like me to be happy, but she thinks that if I leave what I'm doing, we'll both pay for it. She said that she wants a plan before I go do anything else. And I told her that I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize our financial situation.

The problem with the plan is that it's hard to make a successful life if you spend most of it in misery. At least it is for me. The other thing is that there is risk in any decision I make.

Anyway, there is some general background for you.

I looked at that lady's site. I'll have to check out her book. Looks like it would be helpful. Thanks.

[The Cloud]

Organization doesn't have to be "organized." Often times my room will be a total "mess," but I know exactly where amongst the piles of stuff to find what I'm looking for. Being organized doesn't have to involve putting things in neat orderly boxes.

Perhaps you could look at how you naturally organize objects and tasks, and try to refine the methods that you use in the absence of any particular method. Take what you do already and just make it better.

[Logodae]

Hmm. There's got to be some middle ground between the pragmatism of working at a dull job for the rest of your life, and the impracticality of becoming a rock star (or what-have-you.) Hard to guess what without more specifics, though... both of what you're doing, and what you enjoy doing.

[dave marshall]

"So, does anybody have some ideas/links/resouces I might look into for being practical without losing my soul?"

This is an important question in terms of personal ecology, by that I mean how personal change will effect other aspects of the self. If a person is looking to change but feels they will 'lose' something, they will not make that change. that was my point..

or you could choose to be happy as you are, but if you are asking the question at all, part of you wants to change..

dave

[uberinquisitive]

I think it was Tuumble who quoted Anthony Robbins (and I'm totally paraphrasing and mangling):

If you talk about it, it's a dream
If you can see it, it's a vision.
If you can schedule it, then it's real.

So...I schedule.

I want to write a screenplay. So I invest the money and take a screenwriting writing workshop once a week. And every 6 weeks, I bring in a completed 1st draft screenplay.

I wanted to open an e-business (erotic writing). So, I scheduled time to hire to a web designer. I plunked down some of my money, again, and told everyone on this board the grand opening date. (I missed it by 9 days...but it's finally up today!)

I want to bellydance, so I take bellydance lessons once a week.

I want to learn energy meridian energy therapy to become a practitioner, so I have started to schedule volunteers, so I can practice on them.

I have several other dreams, but right now, they're at vision stage.

What are you doing to schedule in your dreams?

[Acting Like Godot]

I think that what Mercuryrising really wants are simple, idiotproof systems of organisation that require little or no maintenance & effort to keep them operating on an ongoing system. Such systems could include things like:

1. Automatic bill payments by GIRO
2. A good secretary
3. A large amount of storage space at home
4. An index dollar-cost-averaging investing strategy
5. A single, easy-to-remember password for all online systems you use
6. Automatic lawn sprinklers

Etc etc

[Jennihul]

Those are great for things that can be automated but real organization takes committment.

To me, it doesn't sound like Merc has an organization problem as much as a committment issue underlying everything. With a touch of procrastination and a dash of laziness. It's not an insult, all we disorganized people have that.

Jennifer

[mercuryrising]

These are all some great perspectives on this. I appreciate you folks taking the time to help me out.

Originally Posted by Smarky

Why are you trying to put yourself inside the same box as everyone else?

Why is being organized important? Your thinking and believing that you have to be, to achive, most successful people aren't as organized as you think they are, most organized people are barely successful.

Logical sucks. Come join the crazy party

What you are saying appeals to me more than you think.

I'll give you an example of why I want to be more practical. I have somewhere in the area of $6,000 in debt. My credit report is terrible. I can't buy a decent vehicle or a house. The practical means of getting out of debt would be to pay a certain amount every week or month until my debts are paid off. Even though I see the benefit and know how to go about it, I lack the motivation to do so. To me, it looks like I'll be enslaved for the next several years paying of these debts, just so I can go into more debt and stay enslaved (like going in debt so I can get a house). It's a terrible perspective, but I'm just being honest.

Originally Posted by The Cloud

Organization doesn't have to be "organized." Often times my room will be a total "mess," but I know exactly where amongst the piles of stuff to find what I'm looking for. Being organized doesn't have to involve putting things in neat orderly boxes.

Perhaps you could look at how you naturally organize objects and tasks, and try to refine the methods that you use in the absence of any particular method. Take what you do already and just make it better.

That's a good idea. I'll have to give that some thought.

Originally Posted by Logodae

Hmm. There's got to be some middle ground between the pragmatism of working at a dull job for the rest of your life, and the impracticality of becoming a rock star (or what-have-you.) Hard to guess what without more specifics, though... both of what you're doing, and what you enjoy doing.

Well, I am a machinist. It's an interesting business in it's own right. It appeals to me on a certain level.

I enjoy creating... stuff. I make my own music. I write. I've wanted to be a writer since I was a kid. A rock star would be cool. I like alternative hip hop: it's like poetry with a beat. Basically, I am an artist. I like creating my own reality.

Originally Posted by uberinquisitive

What are you doing to schedule in your dreams

?

I am inspired by you. And this is an excellent idea. Dreams = schedule. Very cool.

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

I think that what Mercuryrising really wants are simple, idiotproof systems of organisation that require little or no maintenance & effort to keep them operating on an ongoing system. Such systems could include things like:

1. Automatic bill payments by GIRO
2. A good secretary
3. A large amount of storage space at home
4. An index dollar-cost-averaging investing strategy
5. A single, easy-to-remember password for all online systems you use
6. Automatic lawn sprinklers

Etc etc

I do enjoy creating automated systems.... hmmm. I wish I knew what an index dollar-cost-averaging investing strategy was.

Those are great for things that can be automated but real organization takes committment.

To me, it doesn't sound like Merc has an organization problem as much as a committment issue underlying everything. With a touch of procrastination and a dash of laziness. It's not an insult, all we disorganized people have that.

Jennifer

Yea, I couldn't deny the lack of commitment issue. I probably could have titled this thread, "How do I become self-disciplined without becoming a robot?"

And I love the nickname. If I become a rock star, that's going to be my name.


From another perspective, it is my lack of discipline that is making me a little automaton. I think that is sort of what you are saying, Dave (?):

"So, does anybody have some ideas/links/resouces I might look into for being practical without losing my soul?"

This is an important question in terms of personal ecology, by that I mean how personal change will effect other aspects of the self. If a person is looking to change but feels they will 'lose' something, they will not make that change. that was my point..

or you could choose to be happy as you are, but if you are asking the question at all, part of you wants to change..

dave

[Champ]

Mercury,
Maybe you should write down your goals and the write down a series of mini goals or steps that need to be taken to reach your goal. For instance:
1. Save Money
A. Open a savings account
B. Link savings account to checking account
C. Set up overdraft protection for checking acount
D. Put 10% of paycheck into savings account every time I get paid
Sometimes breaking down goals into a series of steps makes things a lot easier to achieve.

Good luck

[Jennihul]

Ok, I'm a mess with money and my organizational skills are a mixed bag of failure and success. I rely mostly on memory. Where things are. What I said about what. How much I paid.

But four things are good:

I put away money in direct deposit for a 403b retirement fund. My husband had to rape his for a court case so mine is all we have left at the moment.

I opened a credit union account and put money in through direct deposit. Awesome and fairly painless. No real maintenance with that. Even if you are in debt, you must have money in savings that is growing as your debt is reducing.

I learned the trick for the easiest paydown of debt is to pay down the smallest debt first, then apply that amount of money to the next debt, plus what you would already have been paying. Then when that debt is paid down, apply all that money to the next largest debt and so on. Awesome trick and it doesn't require huge changes in life, works very fast.


I opened an ING Direct account. I have no investing skills but that is a cool way to get introduced to investing. It's taken right from your checking automatically. You pick the amount. It works for you behind the scenes.


Jennifer