Stop fucking around.

[Joe]

+1 OP hit a common nerve that resonates in all of us , successful or not we're all affected by this at some point and just reading whats seemingly obvious triggers a near instant change in mindset.

Does it really sound feasible that the missing factor between where you are now and where you want to be is a mere read of a motivational rant?

I think this stuff is pointless to read frankly. Identifying or getting continuous passive drivers (AKA "what's your passion", being around the right people, putting yourself in a situation where you have no choice, keeping yourself accountable by recording your efforts and telling others who will kick your ass, doing daily or weekly stock takes, and so many other things) are far more important.

I once went to one of those motivational Tony Robbins seminars. It was pretty good, I'll admit. He's a virtuoso of that stuff, and he's a living beacon of energy that less than 1% of men his age could approach. The seminar was about identifying exactly what you want in life, and setting yourself on the right motivational course, inspirational stories etc. Most of it was about making money because that's what most customers care about, but there was some relationship aspects.

At that seminar I was taking to what other people thought. They were all beaming and totally into it, enjoying it and feeling motivated or whatever.

Then one woman said to me "yeah I love it! I've been a dozen times!". The seminar was only held once a year. That said it all. If it actually put you on the right track there would be no reason for people to keep going back. Or for people to attend his subsequent add-on extra long extra expensive seminar he advertises in the same seminar, or the then subsequent private Fiji retreat seminar he advertises in that one.

This:

has no real value.

 

[shiftymcnab]

Does it really sound feasible that the missing factor between where you are now and where you want to be is a mere read of a motivational rant?

Of course not. Reading a rant won't change your life or habits. My point was, for me at least, that sometimes the simplest negitive habit/mindset as glaring and obvious as it maybe can keep getting in our way, sometimes a simple post can trigger a positive mental response.

Reading is one thing, action makes the difference.

 

[trendykitty]

'Overcome your analysis paralysis, stop fucking around and get the fucking job done.'
I have made this quote my morning reminder alert to start each day off with.
Great motivational post, man. Thanks for rattling my mental cage.

 

[BCN]

If the problem is procrastination, it's usually not related to lazyness or lack of attention/focus (I guess that's a bi-effect), but rather anxiety.

Also, when you've been procrastinating for a long time, you've "wired" your brain to instant gratification, i.e. the instant gratification of watching a video on YT is much stronger than the gratification of working towards your goals, i.e. launching a new campaign or emailing prospects.

Once you are aware of how everything online is trying to steal your attention (a blocker like cold turkey helps in the beginning, same with a pomodoro timer), you will start to feel a difference in how you feel less anxious, overall happier and more in balance.

As a sidenote, I spent around 1 month in Cuba last year, with practically no internet, and no phone. Just travelled with my wife, read books, drank rum and relaxed. After a few days you won't miss social networks, forums, reddit etc.

What helps for me is also to pinpoint where the anxiety is coming from (you may not think of yourself as an anxious person), i.e. a very common one is fear of failure, so you're stuck in a research loop and constant learning, because then at least you haven't failed yet.

There are so many "entrepreneurs" who waste time hanging out at meetups, talking big and jerking off to Gary V, instead of actually starting something. Because if you start something, you could potentially fail, and then you're a failure ... and the other feel good stuff feels much better short term.

This is why so many people also pile up big to do lists (it feels good, you're doing something, staying organized ....), but don't actually do the work (let's swtich to a new project management from Appsumo instead, or read about how Elon Musk does something - then we can get to work and do it better ...).

From my experience, what I've read, and people I've spoken with, procrastination is almost always linked to some form of anxiety.

Additionally, breaking down the goals and valuing them works well. i.e. is it better to watch a supercar video on YT, or to work towards your goals so that you one day can own a supercar if you really wanted to.

Many people are so hung up in reading news, watching whatever some celebrity is doing, who's marrying who and all this other BS, and everything in your own life will become dull in comparison.

If you want a real example of how fucked up this is, look for statistics on actual crime rates or any other bad statistic, and compare it to how much more the newspapers are covering violent crimes, terrorism etc. ... or analyze how much of the stuff online is complete garbage, designed to either scare you, steal your attention or push some agenda.

Stuff like this completely fucks your focus on what's important in your own life, and makes you a shitty person .. and also a procrastinator..

Example. If you want to learn Spanish, you can either:
- Read up on all the courses online, which is best? Spanish course reviews, spanish course deals, should I learn Spanish, should I learn Spain Spanish or LatAm Spanish ...
- Spend time on the perfect strategy, mnemonics and a flash card app, but let's change the app, and read an article how some guy speaks 9 languages and all the stuff you're doing wrong (and you're not doing anything yet)
- Then someone says that you shouldn't learn Spanish, but Chinese instead. Or russian.

or

- Move to Spain. Speak. Fill in the gaps with some theory.

 

[midlevelman]

I’d like to meet the person who wrote this and shake their hand.

This is literally how I used to talk to people and I ended up losing all my “friends” because I had a zero bullshit tolerance. Success is lonely but if you want to get fit you still have to run when it’s raining.

 

[Satvrn]

I’d like to meet the person who wrote this and shake their hand.

This is literally how I used to talk to people and I ended up losing all my “friends” because I had a zero bullshit tolerance. Success is lonely but if you want to get fit you still have to run when it’s raining.

Nice to meet you.

Success weeds out the jealous parasites, its a natural side effect.
I don't think loneliness comes necessarily with success, I think it's quite the contrary. The connections you're making with people that continuously push themselves to improve their lives and their environment are far deeper than any old "friends" from the good old days.

 

[midlevelman]

Nice to meet you.

Success weeds out the jealous parasites, its a natural side effect.
I don't think loneliness comes necessarily with success, I think it's quite the contrary. The connections you're making with people that continuously push themselves to improve their lives and their environment are far deeper than any old "friends" from the good old days.

That is also true, I guess I just need to find my tribe.

Thanks for the great post!

 

[mrpotato]

This continues to be a motivating post (one of the best here) that I revisit every few months. Good advice here.