Get Everything Done

I found mastering myself and getting my life in order first was a bad choice. I followed Fly Lady's optimistic advice and spent several years focusing on my own stuff instead of the family system. If I couldn't keep to my personal schedule, what right did I have to enforce one on the kids? Once I got my own system going smoothly, the kids would automatically see how wonderfully it worked.

Waiting until each level is perfect before moving on to the next is a way to procrastinate, and also a symptom of I will be happy when thinking. I will be happy when I lose 20 lbs. I will volunteer when my house is perfectly clean. I will donate money to a good cause when the mortgage is paid off.

It can also go in the opposite direction. I will make my home an enjoyable and relaxing place to come home to after I solve the world's problems. I will spend time with my kids after I volunteer at the school.

Yep, working on oneself will impact other family members. It's easier to be healthy if those around you are. I wish, though, that I'd insisted the kids do more about the house. Just because I didn't do the dishes every night when I was the only one doing it (and everything else when they were really young) didn't mean I couldn't assign it as a daily chore once they were old enough.