Doing the thing is actually easy. It’s overcoming the thoughts that are telling you not to that’s the hard part.
I considered this on my early morning walk before work. This morning, I woke up at 4:30, got ready, drove to work, and walked before my shift. As I was walking I realized the action isn’t actually that difficult, but all the excuses I make before are the worst part to deal with.
Think about it – it’s not hard to walk a mile, it’s not hard to go to bed and wake up early, it’s not hard to count calories, go to the gym, read ten pages, talk to a stranger, etc. The actual action is usually simple, but being able to work through the thoughts leading up to the action is rarely easy.
When there’s something you need to do or know you should do, your brain will try convincing you to not do it. Your brain will come up with every excuse for you to continue doing what you’ve been doing. I don’t even have to list them here, you know exactly what I mean. At this point, you know you need to try new things in order to grow. You gotta challenge yourself in order to see what you’re capable of. In order to do that, you have to shut the brain down or simply perform the action anyway.
If you allow the brain to keep you in bed all morning instead of doing cardio, you won’t build your endurance and physique. If the brain tells you to relax instead of writing a blog and you listen, you will never gain traction. Any time you let the brain win, you stay stagnant. When you heawr the thoughts, but defy them, you grow stronger.
Anxiety and overthinking have no place in a self improvement journey. If you know there are things you need to be doing, do them. Disregard your mind’s impulse to keep you where you are. Change your life by doing.
October 9, 2024
