You can think about it forever, but nothing will EVER happen, until you start doing.
It is such a simple truth, but it is so powerful.
We are so good at finding excuses, and they all seem very real and true to us.
But we constructed them to get in our own way.
It’s the resistance talking.
The resistance does not want us to do anything new. New stuff is scary.
And yeah, new stuff IS scary.
The life we have, is comfortable. We even feel that way if we are miserable. At least we know that misery. We don’t know what will happen if we try to move away from it.
Everyone’s (including myself) favorite excuse is “I don’t have the time”. This too, is not really true. You can start doing whatever it is, 5, 10, 30 or 60 minutes a day. Watch less TV or whatever.
You can start small.
Test things out.
But please start.
Over time, the resistance will lessen. You built habits. You fail here and there and learn from it. You grow, and it is the most beautiful thing in the world.
Stop thinking and start doing is one of the most important lessons I ever learned.
I am a thinker by nature. I had to really train to be a doer.
And ah, it has always been worth it.
It is one of those life skills that you sometimes have to relearn whenever you have gotten too comfortable. But that’s okay.
One specific moment of re-learning this, stands out as very significant in my life:
“I really wish I could see more art. Live music. Theater – all that good stuff. I miss it so much. But I just don’t have the time, and when I am not working, I am just so exhausted.” I complained.
Over and over again.
And yes, it was true – at the time, I was working a very stressful job, and would often work other jobs on the side in the evening. It is true that I was exhausted.
I knew that cultural experiences and socializing was what gives me inspiration and more energy. It feeds my mind and soul and makes me happy.
Yet when I came home from work, I would tell myself the story of being too tired and having no time.
I was stuck in just thinking about it. I told myself it was impossible.
Along came a friend. He listened to this complain.
He had the same problem.
It was nice and comfortable in that shared story for a minute.
But something changed. He was willing to challenge the story.
He wanted to stop thinking and to start doing.
So, he suggested a pact.
We would go see something once a week, during the weekdays, not in the weekend. When one of us suggested something, the other had to say yes.
HAD TO. No excuses about tiredness, deadlines or anything.
Just say yes, do it anyway.
I agreed. Probably thinking we wouldn’t do it anyway.
But we did. Because accountability is also very powerful. And since it was built into this agreement that you couldn’t say no, things started happening.
I have no words to describe the multitudes of positive impact that one conversation had on my life. Creativity boomed. Energy. Happiness. Soon we would go 2-3 times a week. Have creative talks for hours and hours. It turned into such a wonderful adventure that changed so much in my life for the better.
It was such a success, that we kept building on the idea, and continued to add challenges with other things that we felt needed a mindset improvement in our lives.
It all started with us making the two phrases “say yes” and “stop thinking, start doing” an active intention in our everyday lives, and a pledge to each other.
Your wants and dreams does not have to live only in your head.
Set them free.