I’m guessing procrastination is an issue for you? And when you’re tired, you stop? When you’re not feeling it, you put it off until tomorrow? When it’s hard, you make an excuse?
Am I warm?
I’m guessing that you often listen to the voice inside that makes excuses and allows you to take a break.
But when the voice says, “Hey, maybe we should go to the gym.” or “Hey, aren’t we feeling pretty full?”. Or “Haven’t we achieved the thing we wanted? Shouldn’t we be happy?”
You don’t listen to that voice.
It’s funny which of the voices we listen to.
When your alarm wakes you up early to go for a run, your inner voice reminds you of how important sleep is. Be cautious not to weaponise it against yourself.
Yes, sleep is important, but you can’t just spend the day in bed, pretending it’s self-care!
The same goes for when we try to cut the workout short. When we want to avoid practicing. When we express that, something’s laborious.
Each of us faces these choices daily.
And it’s on you to choose the hard ones that make you better.
The ‘choice point’ is when time arises, when your mind makes excuses. Because you’re about to step out of your comfort zone. And your mind sees this as dangerous because it’s unfamiliar territory.
And your mind also wants to avoid the pain you associate with doing the work.
This is normal. An inbuilt human feature called the pleasure principle.
Our minds are wired to avoid pain and seek pleasure. The problem is this principle is outdated. Our ancestors benefited from it in the past. But in the modern era we are drowning in pleasure. A barrage of distractions to avoid pain. This is what’s causing misery and suffering.
These uncomfortable experiences and emotions we’re avoiding boredom (yes it’s an emotion) fear, sadness, anxiety are all part of life. And the vast majority of your problems come from avoiding them.
You need to change your relationships with these voices, these excuses and sensations, this outdated software.
Because when you stop fighting or avoiding the excuses and sensations and start accepting them. Then you’ll be able to get done what you need to do.
