Just eat the frog! 🐸

Mark Twain once said that "if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long".

With that being said… Please do not actually eat a live frog. That is not what I am suggesting and not what Mr. Mark Twain was suggesting.

In this case, the “live frog” is the task that you don’t want to do.

It could be the biggest task you have on your plate for that week, a gigantic project that is sitting there in your inbox, or an employee that you have to have a serious discussion with, etc.… It is just the thing that you don’t want to do.

I’ve use this phrase many many times and it helps to motivate me.

I know that as soon as I complete the task that is my "frog" for that particular day, my day will be easier. I just have to get started!

In veterinary medicine, there are so many tasks that fill up each and every day. Your patients need you, your staff is counting on you, the bills need to be paid, and all fires need to be put out. It is so very easy to put off some of the hard stuff because you don't feel that you have time. But it is because you simply don't want to do it!

Next time you look around for the next thing to do when your "frog" is right there in front of you, take a deep breath and just Eat that Frog!