If anyone tells you there is a Great Wall in China, they are misinformed. It’s really a great staircase. How do I know? I climbed it. At the top of these great steps is an old Chinese man selling T-shirts.

 

Out of breath and delirious, I bought one red  T-shirt printed with the image of the Great Wall (steps) and the message: “I climbed the Great Wall.”  But before I bought it, I made the old man promise me that no one was at the bottom of these great steps selling the same shirts. He nodded with the knowledge that once I discovered the same shirts for sale at the bottom of the steps, I would not attempt to climb them again. He was right.

I wore the shirt with pride. It quietly boasted my strenuous climb. After I completed my two-week quest in China, I came home with a lot of dirty laundry. I separated the lights from the darks and washed my well-worn clothing.

After I completed my laundry, I noticed that some of the light underwear was mixed in with my darks. It happens. Unfortunately, this time my trophy T- shirt bled red dye throughout the entire load, turning the white underwear pink

I decided to keep the underwear as a reminder. I do my own laundry, but, not always in a timely fashion. So, I decided to use the underwear as inspiration to get my laundry done before I reach the pink ones.

It works reasonably well. I still may let my clothing pile up a little longer than some in my home might prefer, but I usually get it done before I start to see pink in the layers below.

I use this concept in other areas of my life, too. If I’m not completing important tasks, I will assign a worst-case scenario to them.

I acknowledge or create a motivation to encourage me to act when I’m not at the top of my game. If I don’t get Task A completed, I will go without something of value. It’s not all about punishment; I also create rewards to keep me motivated. Wearing pink underwear is not one of them.

The bottom line is you need to ask yourself:  What would inspire you to complete the tasks necessary for you to be successful? What serves as your pink underwear reminder?