2-3-4 Friday

‘Seeking to spark the most potential within you per word of any online newsletter’

1 thought

Pushing past braking and breaking point.

There are the days, aren’t there?

When you feel like there’s nothing left in the tank, when you just want to stop, give up, and throw in the towel. Maybe today is that day. I don’t have any advice for you.

Keep going.

That sounds lame.

Keep going.

Sorry. Maybe you expected some inspirational message at the end of it. There isn’t.

When you see exceptional people, you may wonder what’s their secret sauce. There isn’t.

One thing they do, is that they consistently march, whatever the cost.

That sounds dumb. You may have thought there would be something beneath that. 

In fact, the author of bestseller ‘Atomic Habits’, James Clear, studied this too. 

He asked the trainer in the gym what separated the Olympic lifters from those who well, posed in front of the mirror.

It was how comfortable they were with boredom.

Succeeding, is boring.

Doing your case notes is boring. Getting to the promotion, is boring.

There’s no quick fix recipe. If someone promises that, they are lying. There isn’t.

So what you can do?

1 talk

Get comfortable with boredom. How?

One suggestion. Stop using your phone whilst waiting. Just sit there, and zone out. You did that as a child. You can do that again.

Doing this builds white space, so your head can decompress. Don’t lie to yourself. You’re not resting when checking Instagram. Or WhatsApp.

1 tip

You may find it incredibly difficult to maintain a modicum of sanity amidst all the hard work you’re doing. True. You just want to throw in the towel and stop.

Maybe some practical hope that can help?

This is what I do. I write to my friends abroad, physically, with paper. Somehow, sharing all the pain through paper cathartically releases it. Sending it abroad also helps metaphorically. You remember your problems can be far away. They don’t need to be as big as what you think of it as.

Secondly, what really helps can be putting a list of three columns. On one, write,

What am I worried about?

On the next column, write,

What’s the worst that can happen?

On the last column,

What can I do about it, right now, even if it’s just a baby step?

Sometimes, we are so flustered, that we don’t even know what we are flustered about.

Make sense? We are so worried that we don’t actually know what worries us.

Sound stupid, but true.

Writing it out, can make all that junk in your head, real for once.

P.S. Want to think differently about a problem you're facing? Let’s chat (and no worries, there's no fee!)

John

Live Young, Live Well - Work Your Love