That’s the title of the productivity prompt #11 in David Allen’s ‘Ready for Anything
In short, Allen states that getting a structure prepared is in a way a call for its function to be exerted. Before you get plentifulness, you have to be ready to accept it. Nothing esoteric here: being physically, materially ready. This reasoning is so powerful that it looks like magic (I haven’t made the acquaintance yet, but I guess maybe the Law of Attraction is based upon similar parameters).
The reading of this prompt had a special resonance for me due to my current history. As usual, David Allen finishes every chapter with a series of questions, either food for thought or a possible tweaking for your productive system. Here is the one:
Bring to mind a time when new opportunities showed up for you. What had you been doing in the months previous that prepared you for them?
I read the question and started to reflect. Hmm, interesting. I had recently been fulfilling a series of job proposals of a very unexpected kind, after way too long a time with nothing interesting in sight. What could make the difference, if any, with the previous stagnation period?
I was about to give up, to proceed to the next, juicy page, when I suddenly remembered the door.
A couple of weeks before I got the new jobs, I had enlarged my working table, after a lot of time planning it but never having the time. Enlarging one’s working space is a physical declaration, to oneself and to the world, that one is willing to manage more and to manage better. And then, more and better things answered the call. It was as simple as that.
The story behind the door
In fact, truth be told, by that moment I was overwhelmed by the urgent-but-not-important affairs, and such benefiting extension of field came only by incredible chance: I was having a walk one evening when I saw a door abandoned in my neighborhood. It was white like my table, it had no knob, only the hinges, it was just what I needed, two blocks away from my house. There was no charge, no measures to take, no shops to visit. It was a clear invitation.
The transportation was toiling, but not too much.
I used an ocean of cleaner, just to make sure, like I do with everything I pick from the streets.
It took me round 30 minutes to loosen the screws before I could remove the 3 hinges.
And there I was, with my workspace 40% wider, happy like a penguin.
Then the phone rang.
With results as such, it is no wonder that I am now looking for new shelves to keep my supplies more at hand. I make it a main priority. Who knows what could they attract?
But this time I won’t wait until I find them in the street. I promise.
Any story of the kind you want to share? Are you into the Law of Attraction? Any important aspect that I have perhaps disregarded?
Related posts:
How to become optimistic with very little effort
Reach for the moon, but start with your (two) shoelaces
Why we need assholes
GTD for writers
Flowing with the workflow
