We all have those tasks on our to do list that we just can set ourselves to do. Sometimes it’s because we don’t like doing this (for me, making phone calls is a biggie since for some reason I really dislike calling people), sometimes it’s because the task is so big we just don’t know where to start or it may be that we wonder how we’re ever going to finish it.
Whatever the task is that you dread doing, chances are it will results in big time procrastination. So how do you get yourself to do the things you dread, especially if they are bigger tasks that require more time?
The solution is as simple as can be: just start. If you just take that first step, the rest won’t be as hard.
Believe me, I realize how stupid this sounds, but hear me out. In psychology, there’s a phenomenon known as the Zeigarnik effect, named after psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik who first studied it. She noticed that a waiter had better recollections of still unpaid orders and did further research. The Zeigarnik effect states that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks.
It seems that as humans, we are designed for closure, we have a built-in desire to finish what we have started. If we don’t finish a task we’ve started, we experience dissonance and we keep thinking about that task.
The Hunger Games are hot right now with the second movie releasing its first previews, but that’s now why I am reviewing this series of three books. I’ve decided to 
by now or have at least heard of it, but let’s give a short recap of the main story without giving away too many spoilers. The US is a different place and has become a nation called Panem, divided into twelve districts. The Capitol rules the nation with iron hand. In some districts, life is good, but that is not the case for District 12 where 16-year old Katniss Everdeen lives. She has to hunt and trade on the black market to help her mother and sister survive.
“A hundred years from now, what will you have left behind? What will your legacy be?”
, subtitled ‘The crash course in mastering your life right now’. It’s aptly titled, for a crash course it is. In 18 short chapters the author, Robert D. Smith (often referred to as ‘TheRobertD’) offers insights, wisdom and advice on how to make each day count. The book was much shorter than I expected, I finished it in less than an hour.
by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale:
(four volumes*) is an ‘oldie’, the first volume of this series was published in 1983. That makes it a bit of a classic and I can see why. Many elements that we now consider quit normal or even cliché are present, like magic. That has become quite mainstream after Harry Potter, but that wasn’t the case in the 1980’s so it must have been quite novel and revolutionary at the time. Also, the main character Alanna is certainly a role model in some aspects for girls, though not so much in relationships I might add.
Usually I’m not a big fan of books that start with fictional stories. Andy Stanley’s 
for instance. The reason is that I love stories, I love fiction, but it’s not meant to get a lot of information across. In writer’s terms that’s known as infodumping and it pulls the reader out of the story.
starts with about junior high pastor Logan and his struggles to get his vision across in his church was helpful. I think a lot of youth ministry pastors will recognize elements of his story and journey. Still, it was the second part of the book in which author and youth pastor Joel Mayward explained the concepts of Leading Up that was the most useful for me.
In a little over a month, I will be heading to England again for the 
The early days have been the best for me I think. The first year Mark Yaconelli blew me away with Ignatius retreat. I truly encountered God there and learned lessons that to this day, I’m still applying. The last time Mark Oestreicher shared his wisdom and I could have listened to him for days more.
