Say you’re waiting on someone to do something before you can take your next step. But they’ve been taking their time. Your way is blocked. Pushing through might be as simple as repeatedly calling to the point of being annoying.
We often don’t make the extra push for fear of upsetting others. It doesn’t matter. Be annoying if you have to. Push through. Make the call. Again if you have to. And again. And again. And…
Taking the next step is important. Don’t allow it to stay blocked.
I’m starting an experiment with a different kind of to-do list – the Only Do List. It’s a list of the things I’m restricting myself to doing. A constraint list. I’m telling myself I can do anything I want as long as it’s on the list.
My hope is that it will force me to do things I’ve been avoiding.
There’s a challenge in the list of course. It must be written in such a way to include everything I might reasonably do but also puts restrictions on what I can do. The list must keep procrastination at bay. So it can’t simply be a to-do list with the item(s) I must get done. It must be a list that keeps my interest rather than fuels my disappointment. If working on something is not going well for me the list needs to be able to provide an alternative that also somehow helps me make progress in some way.
I’m only at the list-making stage so have yet to decide what to allow or not allow. No doubt as the experiment evolves some things will be added and some dropped or restricted. I think the Only Do List needs to include things like watching television where under normal conditions there’s no explicit restriction on. Including watching television for x hours per week restricts it and prevents unstructured watching. Including it also allows me to know that I can watch something if I want.
Success and failure are equally likely. Let’s find out which it is.
We need nourishment.
Without it we can not survive. Without it we can not grow.
Each of us requires a unique blend of nourishment to achieve all we can achieve.
If we were plants we would need water, food and light to greater or lesser degrees. There are many factors which determine if a plant gets too much or too little of these three necessitates. A waterlily will not grow in the desert, nor a cactus in a pond.
We’re more complicated than that. And often more flexible. Unlike plants we can take control. We are not fixed in one location, we can move.
If what you do doesn’t nourish you, change what you do.
Relevant? What’s relevant?
Relevant is what moves you forward. It’s what drives you higher. Makes you stronger. Makes you faster. Makes you better. Relevant teaches lessons. Difficult, slow learning.
Relevant is the journey, the map, the guide. The path.
It’s the plan you set out to follow. It’s what you decide to become. If you have no plan make one. Then follow it.
Life is short. You have no time. Do what you set out to do. Waste none of it. Not going to live forever. Remember, death awaits. Sooner than we dare know..
Relevant isn’t easy.
Relevant is today. Don’t let it get away.
You say you want X. You say you want Y. You say they matter.
But you’re sitting on your ass watching TV. Or you’re wasting your time staring at your phone.
If you want X chase it. If you want Y chase it.
You won’t regret not watching TV. You won’t regret less time on your phone.
Get up and chase what matters.
To get to quality you have to go through quantity.
If you want to write something worth publishing, you need to get through page after page of writing you never want the world to glimpse.
If you want to become a top photographer, you must spend hour upon hour with your eye at the viewfinder.
Quantity provides learning.
After you’ve put in the time quality comes easier. But you’ve got to go through quantity to get there.
You say the work is important. But why? What’s so important about it? Why are you doing it?
Knowing the answer will keep you going when you are at your lowest ebb of motivation. When you’re ready to give up, to give in, knowing why will help you push passed and make the extra effort. But only if your why is strong.
Why can rally others to your cause. Why can bring followers, others to help do the work or spread the work. But only if your why is strong.
A weak why will sap your strength, your energy. Find a strong why, or if the work does not lend itself to a strong why, find work that does.