Roman Philosopher Seneca once said that The one thing fools all have in common is that they are always getting ready to live but never actually do.
It often happens with me that I start working on something with high energy and motivation. Work on it for a while. And then lose focus on it completely.
Sometimes, my priorities change. Sometimes, the results are different than I expected. And sometimes, imagining about the future makes me anxious and I stop doing things.
I am sure all of this happens with you too.
Making goals is easy but staying focused on them is a difficult thing.
Once the motivation goes off, it becomes difficult to continue. But the real progress happens when you are not motivated to do the work and you still show up to do the work.
Here, will-power and self discipline comes in question. But to consistently do something, you do not need to have more will power, or more self discipline. You just have to find joy in doing things.
You do things when you find "Joy" in doing them
When you were a kid, you played games, learnt about things, socialized with people because you enjoyed it. Your were curious and excited to learn more. But you did not do things which you did not enjoy.
You never questioned yourself if what you were doing is the best use of your time or not. You did not play sports because you wanted to play professionally. You played it because you enjoyed it.
It's simple: When you enjoy doing something, you do it more.
People wake up early, workout everyday, consistently work on their skills/side-hustles because they enjoy doing these things. They are not more focused. They don't have more willpower. They just enjoy doing these things.
I thought I had weak will power because I couldn't maintain my early morning routine.
But once I changed that routine to go out, to run and enjoy the sunrise while doing exercise, waking up early become easy for me. At the first sound of the alarm, I was out of my bed. Never snoozed again for a long time.
Last year lockdown changed things.
Stay focused on The Next Step — Don't let your Imagination Ruin your Plans
When you think about doing something, your imagination will often run wild. You would think about all the things that can go wrong.
Sure, it can be productive sometimes thinking about the troubles you might face in the future. It's good to prepare.
But always imagining about the worst case scenario will make you so scared that you will fear doing anything at all. It will paralyze you with fear.
Don't focus on how to do the entire thing. Just focus on the step ahead of you.
You do things step by step.
When you make a website, you start by one line of code and then another.
When you write a post, you write a sentence, and then another. And then another.
Everything is done one thing at a time. If you think about doing everything at once, you won't be able to do anything.
Break down the process into small things. Small tasks that you can enjoy doing. And start with one step at a time.
Each day, acquire something that will fortify you against poverty, against death, indeed against other misfortunes, as well. — Seneca
When you combine consistent work with incremental efforts, it will help you improve your habits, your work output, your health and the quality of your relationships.
People love to procrastinate.
They avoid doing things, they make excuses.
Putting off your work is easy. But what good it does in the long run?
Procrastination will bring you stress.
But action will solve your problem. Action will bring you peace.
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. — Parkinson's Law
If you think you have an year to complete something, you won't do much for the first few months. You might start after a few months. Maybe mid year. And will stress about it when there is very short amount of time left.
However, if you break that task in multiple smaller goals, and you have to complete all those goals every week, you will do more.
If you give something unlimited time, it will take forever to do it. But if you set deadlines, you will prioritize essential work.
Say No to Inessential things.
Do less things with more clarity, more patience and more focus. Do less purposefully.
Our to-do list is filled with so many incomplete tasks that we don't even know where to begin with. And sometimes, because we are overwhelmed with so many things that we don't even want to start.
When you focus in so many direction, you don't have focus.
The only way forward is in one direction. With a small step ahead.
Thank you for this. I needed it today. :-)
😃 Your welcome. I was kind of bored doing almost the same things daily.
It was getting hard to continue.
So, I poured down all my thoughts, theories that I read in books, and past experiences in this post.