My dog plays with her toys until she gets bored.
And then she could care less about them.
It’s only when I take one of them away that she suddenly cares again.
And cares a whole lot.
We are so much the same.
We don’t really care about what we have until it’s gone.
If only we could enjoy what we have like it was already taken, maybe we wouldn’t have to get things taken before we could truly enjoy.
Starting a stopped body is hard.
Keeping a body in motion is easier.
Even if that motion is heading in the wrong direction.
Redirecting is easier than starting.
Which is why you should start even without knowing which direction is the perfect direction to head. You can always turn the steering wheel as you go. It’s really no big deal.
Just do what’s hard, start your damn engine, and get going already.
When you stop the intake of information you give your mind the space it needs to process the information it has already taken in.
Never stopping the influx of information is like continuing to open new tabs on new tabs on new tabs in your browser.
Soon, the clutter overwhelms the machine and everything gets throttled. And, resultantly, you get frustrated, angry, and/or upset.
Rather than getting emotional at your computer—try closing yourself off to all inputs.
Stop opening new tabs. Stop watching videos. Stop having conversations. Stop reading books and articles. Stop listening to podcasts. Just, stop it all.
At least for a period of time. And at least once a day.
Just, let it all—settle.
In more cases than not, what your mind needs isn’t more information; what it needs is more space to process the excessive information it has already consumed.
In short, what you need is to plan more nothing into your days.
Life isn’t only a byproduct of what you do—it’s a byproduct of how you do what you do.
Take writing as an example. A book isn’t only a byproduct of the words that are used.
It’s a byproduct of how those words are arranged; how they are grammatically formatted; and how well they work together to communicate ideas.
If you took all of the words within War And Peace, for example, and rearranged them, changed the grammar, and disregarded the context—one of the all-time greats will be completely lost.
Same exact words. Completely different byproduct.
And so it is with life, too. What you do matters—yes. Just like what words you pick when writing a book matters. But, you can’t ignore the how.
How are you doing what you’re doing? Are you present or elsewhere? Do you care or are you only pretending to care? Are you pacing yourself or sprinting? Are you being true to who you are or are you putting up a front? Are your priorities really straight or are they actually backwards? Are you acting selfishly or selflessly?
The bottom line? Actions matter. But, don’t forget that intent colors actions with signals that are easily perceived by those whom the actions affect.
If this person/ place/ thing doesn’t serve your higher purpose why are you investing time/ energy/ effort into it/ them?
Built into this question is the assumption that you know what your higher purpose is.
If you don’t, all actions become arbitrary; all uses of time become fungible.
If you want to arrive at a certain type of destination, you need to point the GPS of your actions towards it.
And you need to know well enough not to get off every exit of the highway while you’re on your way.
Random wandering—random uses of time—can only get you, by definition, nowhere in particular.
When was the last time you gave your mindset a software update?
Like your smartphone, regular updates are essential for optimal functionality of your mind.
Many people, however, haven’t updated their mindset in years.
They’re using the latest model iPhone with 2008 software installed. It’s ridiculous.
So, before you go bastardizing your mind for driving you nuts—as extremely old software might—invest in its upgrade!
You can download mind updates via books, podcasts, seminars, conversations, classrooms, etc. And in most cases, you can do so for free.
Here’s the thing: your mindset isn’t bad, it’s not broken, it’s not wrong—it’s just, in many cases, outdated.