“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. “-Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was one of my childhood idols.
I wish I had the maturity to understand his wisdom when I was younger the way I do now. The quote above isn’t about Lee, it’s about you.
“How is it about me,” you ask?
It’s about you because you think about too many things that you want out of life… and thinking is all you are doing about it.
You wish, dream, vision, and desire a better life. Maybe you are making progress in some areas, maybe you are taking action, maybe not.
I don’t know exactly what you are doing, but I do know what I‘ve seen from the overwhelming majority of people…
People always want the end-goal, they love talking about it, but they seldom do anything tangible to get it. There is a big disconnect between wanting and doing for most.
Unfortunately, it’s crazy hard to “do” and stupid easy to “want.”
There’s nothing wrong with making plans and being a dreamer; we all do this to varying degree, and it’s totally necessary for progress. But are you getting up every day and immediately getting to work on these dreams of yours?
I wonder how many people actually do this. Like actually set aside time for making real progress on something “grand.”
How often are you setting aside a few hours a day of distraction-free, hyper-focused work to create something you need to create? How often are you taking risks and doing things completely out of your comfort zone?
Unfortunately, most people take no physical action for a better future (and even sabotage it with bad habit).
I have learned that there are two people in life… those that make reasons for the way things are, and those that do something to change the way things are.
Which are you?
The average person makes plans at night while doing the same thing during the day—every day.
Is this ignorance or laziness or what? I’m not sure. I do know this though: It’s one of the hardest things in the world to develop a mindset that is conducive to making change through action.
You can definitely develop this mindset… It just takes a TON of work.
All the time that you think you have
Your time is not finite or guaranteed—you could be dead next week (or in an hour). Why than, are you still sitting around assuming your dreams, goals and future are going to float into your lap?
Are you putting in work towards your goals? Are you taking advantage of the fact that you are alive and healthy? Be honest.
Spending a half-hour reading about something you dream about is not doing work. Work would look something like spending the next 8 hours in the library doing extensive research (or even 2 hours… you get the point).
Telling your friends about your new “project” is not work. Intention is not work. Goodwill is not work. Faith is not work. Dreams are not work.
Work is something you physically do that brings you one step closer to the realization of something tangible.
Don’t mistake desire for progress. It can sometimes feel like the more we think about something, the more we are “working” towards it. That’s bollox. Don’t fall for that psychological trap of your mind.
You’ll know when you’ll be putting in work; it’ll be hard, frustrating, and try to get you to quit every step of the way. That is the work that you should be doing. The most difficult things are where your results are hidden.
I’m not talking about trading your life in. That’s not necessary, and for many of you, it would be a pretty dumb idea. I’m just talking about setting focused time aside every day to work towards whatever you need to work towards.
We all have work inside of us. We all have a mission, a calling, a purpose. But life often gets in the way.
Do your work.
It doesn’t matter if you’ll get paid—don’t even think that far ahead. Think like the the artist: You must create because to not create would destroy you (and whether you get paid or not is irrelevant).
Feed your inner starving artist by letting it create.
A few hours a week of focused investment can provide out-of-this-world results. Really, it can. You don’t have to trade in your life, or quit your job, or wait until next semester or whatever.
Get doing, and get doing NOW!
Unleash Your Art
Each day that you sit around and think about your future is time you could have been creating your future. Consider that.
Don’t forget how valuable time really is: it is the most important non-renewable resource in the universe for us humans. Don’t waste another second of it…
Action: Set aside an hour each day to work on your dreams, to create your art. It can be anything. A novel, a business plan, a product, your memoirs, a play. Put the end goal out of your mind—just focus on the work, on the next step. Don’t think about whether you will publish it, what people will think, or any of that nonsense known as “Resistance.” Just get working. Get creating.
The Process is Simple:
- Open a notebook or google doc.
- Set a timer for 60 minutes somewhere quiet where you won’t be distracted or interrupted.
- Do the work that is inside of you and create something that needs to be created. Let it flow. Ignore the end-goal.
- Do this again tomorrow and the next day and the next day.