The most important thing that you can do is take a little bit of action.
Every day.
Not too much…You don’t have to constantly be achieving.
But there’s a big difference between action and inaction.
There’s a big difference between me hitting the snooze button in the morning and me waking up slow and reading a book for a couple hours before work.
There’s a big difference between me coming home from work and doing nothing but drinking beer and watching hockey every night and me developing a consistent writing habit.
There’s a big difference between not stepping foot in a gym in 6 months and going to the gym once a week.
In the past I’ve struggled with burnout. I’ve struggled with finding an achievable and sustainable habit for the thing that I’m interested in.
I wake up at 5:00am for a two month span, then fall back into the dreaded snooze cycle.
I build an evening ritual that feeds my creative habit, then get frustrated and don’t touch it again for months at a time.
I build a steady workout ritual, then over commit to a 5-6 day a week routine and realize it’s way more than I want it to be. Naturally, I revert back to not going to the gym at all.
The key here is to recognize moderation.
Healthy habits are good, but we can easily over commit.
We want to find a balance between the things that are good for us and the things that we intuitively want to do.
I woke up this morning at 6:40am (40 minutes past my alarm) with the intention of spending that time before my day job writing. I rolled out of bed, poured myself some coffee, and plopped myself down in the living room. As I sat there, eyes barely staying open, I thought about what it would take to legitimatley keep myself awake. I realized that the friction that was holding me at bay was the thought of rolling out of bed and getting immediately to the task at hand. My body and my mind were begging me for something else, a respite of sorts. I picked up a book and read for an hour instead. I stayed awake…and after I was done, I picked up my computer and wrote this.
Sometimes the most efficient thing you can do, is avoid efficiency all together.
I felt the call to write this morning, but I didn’t need to write for three hours.
I needed to get out of bed, enjoy my life a little bit, AND THEN I needed to write. If it was all business, I’m not sure I would have wanted to get out of bed at all.
SO find what makes you want to take action (aka the end result). In this case, I wanted to wake up early so I could write and accomplish a goal (a blog post).
THEN find what makes you happy. I wanted to wake up slow, read a book, and enjoy the morning in relaxation before starting my day.
Finally, find moderation between the two. An extreme on either end will result in burnout or laziness.
Don’t feel guilty for exploring different intentions. The important thing is that you find what works for you.
Ben Greenman 