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D for Determination, Do it and Delegate

barbara bates • Jun 11, 2021
We have three D's today, and the first is Determination. It's an interesting word and for me it brings up images of power, resoluteness, finality. Like so many words in English, it has changed its meaning over the years. Originally it was about settling disputes, terminating or putting an end to them. Then it shaded into working out facts, as in 'determining the weight of something', and now it seems to have more the meaning of making sure something gets done, not being swayed from your purpose, absolutely intending something, not negotiable. So today I am thinking, I am Determined to get out there in the garden and sort it out! 
 
What could Determination mean for you?
 
Determination could lead on to a sense of, I'm just going to Do it, as a well-known sports brand might say. Do you ever find that you don't do the things you meant to do? You have a great long list of things that must be done today, and you just don't do it? And even go off and do a whole load of other things that you never planned to do? Well you are in good company. Even St Paul said, 'For the good that I would I do not...' It can help to look at all the things you mean to do and pick one, and then with Determination just Do it. You can give yourself a small reward for afterwards, which can increase your motivation. This reminds me of the 'Eat That Frog' technique, where you take the most difficult thing, the one you don't want to do, and just get it out of the way. It feels good afterwards! 
 
Is there something that you need to just Do? (For me, it's the ironing...)
 
However, some things aren't ours to do, which is where Delegate comes in. For instance, I quite like messing about with spreadsheets, and I even like algebra; but when it came to doing my tax returns, I eventually decided that someone else needed to do it. Given enough time, I could puzzle it out, but there were lots of things I would rather do, so I pretty soon delegated it to my lovely accountant lady and never looked back.  
 
That was good for me; and delegation can also be good for others too, especially if it's a task that you do so well that they think they can't compete. When you do trust them to do it, and they succeed, then that is a win-win situation. 
 
(So who'd like to do my ironing?)
 
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