Psychological Tip of the Day: 2 out of 3? Not bad at all.

For those of you who don't know, I am a budding psychologist (maybe a wilting psychology student...not sure if there is real a difference...) So I thought I'd share a psychological lesson I had to remind myself of today:

Even plans with the greatest of intentions often don't work perfectly on the first try.

I often talk to the families I work with about this - essentially it's the concept of don't give up if you hit a roadblock because no one and nothing is perfect.

It was my goal to take down and sand the door so I'd have something to do each day. That way I was moving forward on a project but it wasn't taking up all of my time.

Day 1: 1 hour spent sanding the side of the door. No muss, no fuss, I was excited (hence yesterday's post.)

Day 2: Got home, again was ready to go - Micheal wasn't necessary looking forward to the power sanding noise but gracefully obliged. 30 min sanding the bottom section.

Day 3 (today): Left externship, went to grocery store, it was cold out, Micheal had a headache, I'm tired... and it's 10:15 and no sanding. (And really no dissertation work, pretty much a wash of a night.)

Well crap, I failed the whole "do it everyday" goal - what happens? That temptation to just throw up my hands and let it become another unfinished project...or maybe go buy a door...

That's when I try to put my very expensive education to good use, what do I tell my kids? If it doesn't work perfectly the first time, don't give up. It's a small setback not a failure. Give it another try, and if it's still not working then maybe we need to reevaluate. And then I give myself a pep talk:





I can DO it! I'll let you know how tomorrow goes... ;)