The muscle of forward momentum.
Too often what happens is we have all these ideas of how we are gonna turn it around.
We see ourselves up at 4:30 am, getting straight into productive work. As the hours go by, we are high fiving ourselves in fantasy land.
All those projects we never got too. In our mind’s eye, we knock them all down with the greatest of ease. We come up with a vague plan of how we are gonna get it done, and it seems straightforward enough.
But the reality is something different.
The reality is more like a non-runner deciding to run a marathon.
Getting up one morning with visions of knowing it’s a challenge but seeing himself victoriously crossing the finish line with raised arms and a cheering crowd.
But the reality is that after three miles, he’s exhausted and has no idea what he’s doing.
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So what too often happens is we fail to immediately live up to our new organized and hyper-focused achievement machine.
We have sleepless nights when we try to get up mad early. We toss and we turn. And we hit the snooze button five times (true story).
Then instead of writing, we quickly check social media and end up scrolling for thirty minutes. All while the usual abusive voices swirl up from inside and berate us for being a failure. And we think, what’s wrong with us? Why can’t we do what we know we need to do?
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Fear not! There is a reason our initial attempts at rewriting the code in our brains is ultra-difficult.
Even after we’ve taken care of unresolved anger that leads to procrastination. Even after we’ve mostly shifted the addictions and distractions. It’s still difficult.
And the reason is is because our expectations of what we are capable of are out of whack.
To get up mad early, to focus for prolonged periods, to be organized with a system to plug ourselves into, to really be a high-reaching creative machine is akin to being an Olympic level athlete.
And you can’t become that overnight.
So if we shift our perspective to a person developing these skills and these massive shifts in dopamine acquisition, we give ourselves a wide net. Or a wide birth. We don’t expect to be the David Goggins of productivity on week one.
We move towards that with real intention and a sense of urgency. But we don’t allow that urgency to defeat us in the midst of unreasonable expectations.
We aim for progress, not perfection. Understanding that whenever we uplevel our lives, there will be pushback from realms beyond this one.
And beyond the spiritual, the practical aspects of this will automatically be difficult and will require insight and thought about habits and ways of approaching life.
Taking an example from my own life recently, attempting to shift to a 4:30 am wake-up.
I had to eliminate coffee after noon. The half-life of caffeine is eight hours or something like that.
I was drinking coffee up till 4 pm and so always tossing and turning until 11 pm or worse.
The insomnia had me scrolling on my phone, even though I know better, and so the shift to an earlier time had to get specific.
I had to exercise more, stop drinking coffee by noon, and force some early wake-ups, which were difficult at first.
A new muscle was being developed. And finally, I arrived at being exhausted and ready to sleep by 9 pm, if not a little earlier.
But it took thought and action. And it wasn’t instant.
And as I write this at 6:15 am, I’m still not at my goal.
Today I was up and moving at 5:30. And instead of chastising myself for not hitting the target, I’m celebrating the progress, knowing it’s a process and that next week I will hit those 4:30 am wake-ups with ease.
This is the attitude we must take towards positive shifts in our lives.
To give us time to get there. To develop these habits we’ve predetermined will provide us the life we want of fulfilling our potential.
But we can’t expect it all at once. We wouldn’t expect ourselves to be an Olympian the day after we decided to become one.
And yet we don’t look at productivity as the muscle that it is.
We see in our mind’s eye the shifts we want to make and expect ourselves to instantly be able to handle that. When this is clearly wishful thinking that can lead us to give up depending on how unrealistic our perspective may be.
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Shifting our wake-up. Give ourselves two weeks to change the habits. To set our alarm earlier. Allow for some snooze failures at first. Smile about it all.
We know the ways to an earlier wake-up. Stop late-night scrolling. Put on a positive mantra and have the phone across the room. (That’s what works for me. Find what works for you.)
And in my case, my objective first thing is to write regardless of how I feel or of how uninspired I may be.
So I don’t allow for social media. And after the writing is done,
I find silence and meditation. Seeking the Father, I employ disidentification with thought-based identity.
And ask God to help show me his purpose. I employ my imagination to visualize the life I want to build. Along with gratitude. And silence to be given revelation beyond my imagination.
It’s cocreation.
And then perhaps put on something inspiring and motivating or educational towards what you want to accomplish.
To feel good and be bolstered by the positive shifts you are making.
Celebrate your progress though you aren’t where you want to be yet.
If you were an athlete in training that was going to prevail, you would have to celebrate the small victories on the way to the big victories.
Be like a good coach to yourself and monitor like a junkyard dog the internal dialog.
Notice what helps you get to the goals. And do more of that.
Stay focused but stay realistic and allow for backward days without giving up.
Be stern but remain understanding.
Creativity and focus and organization are muscles.
They take time to build. Be urgent about it. But be realistic.
