* - Word for the day, meaning “a song of praise, joy, or triumph”
When the project has sat undone so long it’s become furniture or wallpaper or otherwise invisible to you, and has spent an eternity on your to-do list, it’s time to call in the Big Guns: Someone Else. This is different than the Accountability Buddy to whom you report while doing a project. This is the friend to whom you whimper, “I won’t get this started without you.” This is the friend who will go with you for the first time to the unemployment office (it feels so shameful!), or to begin that quilt or start doing your museum research.
Ah, what a friend is Jim! He let me browbeat him into meeting me at the museum. He introduced me around, explained how all this works. He made sure I was on my way, then wrapped his Super Researcher cloak around him and flew away. (“My work here is done, little lady.”) And a project that had languished for months was begun. From this point, the path has been tromped across the field of waving grain, and I can move ahead on my own.
The secret to involving Someone Else is that SE thinks what you’re doing is fun, not the torture it’s become in your mind. Like networking calls, for example. I once volunteered to do phone fund-raising for a charity, and I couldn’t wait for my two hours of smiling and dialing to end. When my sweaty hand slammed down the phone as the quittin’ time bell sounded, the solicitor next to me smacked his lips, yipped a happy HOO-rah, and wished he had another shift. He’s the guy to call, not me. Invite him for coffee and hand-holding while you make the calls. Someone like me will quail just like you before that forbidding phone and talk about anything but networking. Solicitor Man will make you punch in your first number. This is fun for him, not torment. He can't wait to see you do this easy thing!
Get the picture? Find Someone Else to whom your dreaded project is fun, and ask for help with the first few steps. Then you’re on the road. Skippity skip.
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