Staying focused isn’t easy. Making something worthwhile is truly hard. Willing something to exist from nothing goes against nature. A body at rest stays at rest and we fight that trend. It’s hard. It’s hard to battle the status quo. It’s hard to do something different, to bring forth something with meaning.
People tether you by making you explain yourself, and sometimes, out loud, your ideas sound silly. We are to believe that if they sound silly, then perhaps the problem is ours. Reactions like “that must be hard,” are controls: they are subconcious mild discouragements, designed to have you on the path that is comfortable towards another person.
You’ll doubt yourself, and others will doubt you. You’ll have distractions and things will conspire to take you off course and suck away your energy.
Inertia is seductive. It’s almost always easier to justify the problem than it is to solve it. You can live overweight for another day, or get through the holidays with a bad marriage, or go through another year in a crumby job. It’s always more pleasant, and the risk of doing that battle is that you are not going to have a certain outcome.
Realize in advance that it’s going to be really, really hard, and the commitment gets easier. Because you know you’re committing to something that’s harder than what you’re doing, and you understand the undertaking. You won’t underestimate it, and you’ll emerge with victory as a possibility.
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Thank you, Chris. This is beautiful.
Awesome post and very encouraging Chris, thank you
It’s obvious to me that you’re very much a visionary who understands the subtle relationships between motivation, concentration, and the things that exist just below the grasp of our conscious mind. Every post I read from you shows that you’re an extremely perceptive thinker. I really enjoy your view of the world.
Chris, that is amazing. Were you speaking to me directly? Sure seemed like it. Extremely perceptive. I think Willie nailed it in his comment. You have a strong sense of what is just below the grasp of our conscious mind. This post eally moved me and effected me tremendously. Thanks for sharing Chris.
I’m commenting on this series of posts all out of order! This is a great post. A great series, in fact.
You’re right that when people say stuff like “wow, that’s hard” it’s a subtle form of control. People may mean well but they have their own demons to face down. Or not. And they get scared for you and for themselves when they hear you talk about doing new and fabulous things. My favorite recent movie is Alice in Wonderland because it celebrates uniqueness and love. Two of my favorite things! Be different. Challenge the status quo. Try to believe at least six impossible things before breakfast. Let your freak flag fly.
Yes, change can be hard. But one thing I’ve found that makes it easier is to simply put one foot in front of the other each day. Baby steps. One day at a time. (I could probably go on for a page with the cliches but you get the point). Just do one thing – right now – that will get you closer to the life you want to live. That one thing doesn’t have to be scary or hard. It just has to be a step in the right direction. That’s how you break inertia. That’s how you start living again.