Overcoming Inertia - What's Blocking Your Chi?

Woody Allen said "Eighty percent of success is showing up." I never would have thought this particular actor/comedian would be the one to give me encouragement to start blogging. But, here I am. Allen's comment stuck me as saying "Get on with it, already!" Definitely a nudge I needed.

Starting a new project at the beginning of the year seems appropriate. I gave a talk recently -- "Forget Resolutions, Let's Make a Plan!" -- in which I encouraged pet owners to get away from the wishful thinking of resolutions and, instead, create clear goals with a systematic plan for accomplishment. One essential component in the success of your plan is removing obstacles from your path that impede your progress.

For some people, that might be a spouse who makes negative comments about your goals, or kids who undermine what you are training your pet to do. Very often, it involves negative self-talk, a lack of necessary information, or a lack of confidence in the value of your efforts.

I belong to the church of Perfectionist Procrastination. I believe I can't start things until I have all the contingent pieces prepared. For months, I couldn't get started on this blog because I had to have the "perfect" name for it. It's not a good philosophy for getting things done, so I am removing that impediment. This blog name is not perfect, but I am proceeding anyway. Score one for unblocking my chi.

The blog title does give me license, I hope, to discuss all kinds of behavior -- canine, feline, undomesticated animals, humans, undomesticated humanoids, etc. -- including my own. (Scary for me, possibly entertaining to you.)

From an early age, I never believed in the sanctimonious, self-serving separation of humans from animals as wholly different categories, especially common in religions. All breathing creatures are motivated by a complex mixture of genetics, past experiences and present desires. Each has intelligence and skills developed for their own circumstance; labeling them as inferior or superior is specious.

A dog behaves in ways that get him what he wants and avoids things he doesn't like. Also true for cats, cows, and humans. Some of us just complicate the processes a lot more. And each of us likes and avoids different things. Humans like to add all kinds of motives to their pets they can't back up. "He's mad at me." "She pees on the bed to spite me." We do best when we observe the behavior only without the attribution of motive. Removing perceived confrontational motives in our pets' behavior often frees us to make progress toward training goals.

Another chi blocker is adament adherance to old habits that haven't produced in the past. You know what Albert Einstein said about that don't you? "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." We need to be willing to continue to take in new information and re-evaluate our own methods and skills to get our training chi flowing.

One of the biggest excuses blocking our chi is the claim that we do not have time for training our dogs and cats. We all have just 24 hours in each day, so let's all confess right here and now the problem lies not with the number of hours allotted, but the way we prioritize. The fix for this problem requires introspection and honest evaluation. Change happens when the unpleasant side-effects of not doing the training overshadow the efforts required to make the change. As an animal behavior consultant, that's the major piece of homework I ask you to take charge of yourself. After you've crossed that threshold and have your own motivation, I am here to help.

So, what's blocking your chi? Plan an hour for removing barriers, re-evaluating priorities, and asking for help from others. Get on with it, already! 


Feel free to throw an ingredient into the stew! Let me know what you think.