In the beginning of the semester I shared with my students this riddle:
A: One bite at a time.
"If you only think of the end product--giving a speech--it may seem mammoth, overwhelming, impossible. But if you break the assignment into small pieces, like the mouse did, in X amount of time, you will accomplish the task," I explained.
Forewarned is forearmed, right? Not really. Unfortunately, many of my students arrive at the doorstep of higher education with no time management skills. Even with the best intentions, many sabotage themselves because they lack self-discipline.
So, to help my dear student understand how to "break it down" into small pieces, I told him this true story.
"The year after my former husband left our marriage, I was in a panic because I had not filled out income tax forms in over 15 years and I was afraid of making a mistake. Every time I thought about tackling my taxes, I would have heart palpitations and I would start seeing black dots before my eyes. My stomach would do flip-flops and my heart rate would increase. (Classic signs of a panic attack.)
"I was afraid of making a mistake which I had once done. And that error resulted in a steep penalty."
"So what did you do?" The student was paying rapt attention.
"As soon as I received the tax forms," I smiled remembering my strategy, "I counted how many lines I had to complete. Let's say there were 50 lines. I then counted 50 days, added on 10 more days...just in case, and then I filled out one line per day."
"Indeed, I did. Its called 'baby stepping.' You break your task down into tiny, non-threatening steps. While facing the necessity to do my taxes was intimidating on its face, when I chopped it up into teeny-weeny steps, it became a non-threatening 10 minutes task. Well before April 15, I had faced my biggest fear and
and 'handled my business'--without stress."
I finished my story with another riddle:
Q: How the do termites eat a house?
A. Inch by inch.
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