When I talk to people working on their careers or lives in order is the feeling of how much they have to do at once.  They have to stop smoking, get a new job, finish a degree, lose weight, resolve their conflicts with their older sister, etc.  They can't do it all at once – and in most cases don't now where to start so they get little of it done.

When people finally decide to get their lives in order, two mistakes get made: not doing enough, and trying to do too much at once.  I'm going to focus on the latter.

Very simply, you can't do everything at once on your way to that new job, career, or life.  It's not going to happen most likely, and if you try to make it happen you'll burn yourself out at best, do a half-baked job most likely, and at worst never start because you're overwhelmed.  In these cases there's one thing you have to accept.

You have to accept there's ramp-up time to the new career and new life.

Some things have to be done before others.  Some things have to be delayed.  Some things have to be evaluated.  Sometimes you need to learn new skills or walk before you can run.

So accept this – you'll need ramp-up time most likely as you get your career and life in order, or when you go through a big self-evaluation.  If you accept that you can make a plan and measure progress, even if you're not doing everything at once.

Keep this in mind.  It'll keep you from getting too frustrated.

- Steve