Ever heard the phrase, “Eat the Frog” as a way of managing yourself to get the thing you least want to do out of the way first in order to have a productive day?

Here it what Mark Twain suggested…

“That if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worse thing that is going to happen to you all day long.

Your “frog” is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do something about it.”

Confession Time ….I have struggled with the frog eating thing for a long time.

I bet you know how this goes too … you get up first thing in the morning with an abundance of heavy thought about the thing you have to .You might be tired, grumpy from a poor sleep the night before BUT still the frog is there waiting to be devoured. The only way to feel better is….

To eat the frog!

I have come to see that the frog eating thing comes with an abundance of thought beautifully wrapped us as disgust, stress, blame and judgment on myself.

Don’t get me wrong some days I can just get on and eat that silly critter and get the tasks done but then there are other days where no matter how much a looming deadline lurks darkly in the recesses of my mind I just cant get focused.

I procrastinate, tidy my house, do my laundry, empty the bins, phone my wee granny to have a chat and stuff my face full of comforting carbs. But, that one thing I am meant to do but haven’t done yet just doesn’t go away until I have done it.(Not exactly rocket science )

Frog eating as far as I can see is just another mind game

It is hysterically funny to think about eating a frog. I just never in my wildest dreams would want to do that but I could easily love it and watch it jump about.

Then it occurred to me the frog leaping about was just like my thoughts in the moment regarding the task I was procrastinating on and I just laughed.

“The Leaping Frog Thought Recipe”

This is a family favourite passed through the generations so please follow the instructions carefully :

• Take one frog
• Add in copious thoughts of having to do something you really do not want to do
• Carefully sprinkle a pinch of fear
• A tablespoon of guilt
• A fine shaving of self judgement
• Stir copiously with a low state of mind
• Bake in an oven of self hatred for 20 minutes at gas mark 3 checking frequently to make sure it is rising beautifully

And Voila

You have cooked up a perfect situation for a guru to tell you to eat the frog and everything you think of the frog will dissolve away.

I don’t want to eat frogs; I don’t want to force myself to do anything that feels uncomfortable anymore. I want to just be me and get on with my life and my business.

I am learning to love the frog. To be gently with myself and see that I can watch all my thoughts as an observer and either laugh at them or take them seriously even in those moments when I am giving myself a hard time.

You see as a conscious human being why in bleeps name would I want to feel bad about the frog when I could just love it and get on with the task because here is the killer…

Nothing I am thinking about can make me feel anything. I make all of that up in any given moment with my incredible gift of thought and a wee pinch of awareness. Don’t we all?

Why don’t you, like me try loving all of your frogs and go on a frog fast making sure you fully enjoy your very human experience?

with love

Jacquie Forde

Coach Mentor Trainer