Everyone you meet has goals, hopes, dreams, and desires. Very few will take the first step in making these things a reality and even fewer will stick around to watch it materialize.
There’s always a “list” of things that needs to be done or a time when it will be appropriate to achieve these things. What most people have to learn the hard way is that there is never going to be a right place or right time for anything until you decide so. Honestly, conditions will not be significantly different in a week or in a year from today. It is through this illusion of believing and hoping that dreams are crushed. If you continue to do the same things you’re doing now, you’ll continue to get the same results that you are getting now.
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Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein once defined insanity as the act of doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.
You have to take that first step, then a second step, and you need to keep on stepping toward your goals with purpose and passion. Nike coined the phrase “just do it” and it’s not just a catchy advertising scheme they developed. It’s not that “sometimes” you need to just do it; life was meant to always be “just doing it”. If you don’t do life, life will do you. Just doing it is an active way of how life was intended to be lived.
Nike
The word Nike is derived from Greek and it translates into victory. In the battle of Marathon when the Persian army was invading the Athenians, the Athenians, out numbered and desperate had hoped for help but got none. The Athenian General devised a war plan the night before the invasion that had never been used before and was designed to confuse the Persian Army. It worked. The Persians were defeated and one of the Athenians who was a runner ran from the Battlefield of Marathon to Athens which was 26.3 miles. When he arrived at the city steps, he collapsed on the ground and said “Nike”, which means victory, and he died. This is where the Marathon race got it’s name.
You have to know that everything will always work out for the best. If you believe that and let go of the outcome of things you’ll start to see this work for yourself. Sometimes you are faced with no choice but to believe that things will work out for the best. The Athenians could have just gave up before the fight but they didn’t, they devised a plan, they just did it, and it worked for them.
Just Do It
How do you get your Masters Degree? You just do it. How do you get your dream job? You just do it. How do you move? You just do it. How do you do anything in life? Simply by just doing it. You cannot achieve anything without the action of doing something that brings you closer to your desired goal. If you think you’re going to get closer to your end goal by doing the same things you’re doing today that do not get you closer to your end goal; then you’ve severely misunderstood how life works.
If you come home at the end of the day and ask yourself, am I closer to achieving my objective? If the answer is no, then change course. You cannot change what has happened but you can change the direction of where you’re going. It starts with a decision followed by an action and yes it’s that simple.
Don’t sit around waiting for something to come to you, chances are when it does come, if it hasn’t already, you won’t be open to seeing the opportunity. Things aren’t just going to magically get better until you make the decision that they are and follow through with it. There’s always going to be special unforeseen circumstances that come up that will prevent you from doing the things you want to do. Do them anyways, stop waiting.
It’s like waiting at your house for a bus to come instead of going to the bus stop. Ladies and gentlemen, the bus is not coming, you need to walk your ass to where it is if you intend on getting onto it. You can’t simply sit around relying on miracles while doing nothing different in your life to get to where you want to be.
You cannot be idle sitting around looking at a glass and wondering if it’s half full or half empty. The resistance comes from having to decide such things, just drink whatever the hell is in the glass and move on, problem solved.
Moving
People have a lot of excuses for not moving even though they claim they want to, in the end, most of them never move. Excuses range from saving money, not knowing anyone, getting a job, waiting for the right time (this makes me throw up in my mouth), and more.
They don’t apply for jobs, get rid of their stuff, or even try to save any money to move. They just talk about it. I’ve personally dealt with this before. When I was going to move I decided that I had to get rid of all my stuff because I wouldn’t need it anymore and I used that for an excuse for a long time, then one day I rented a U-Haul and just donated it all, problem solved.
If you don’t want to donate it all; donate what you can, sell what some, throw shit away, and then rent a fucking storage unit for $50 a month and put everything else in there and just fucking leave. So what if you have to pay $50 a month for storage? It’s going to be okay. You’ll probably feel a lot better cleansing yourself and just taking things like personal documents with, maybe a laptop and a few other things.
What Do You Really Need?
Honestly, if you can’t fit the shit you’re taking with in the vehicle you’re driving or the plane you are flying, then you have too much shit. You could keep a few boxes back with someone and have them mail them to you if it’s really that important and you need it with you everywhere you go, but personally, I’d just rent a storage unit and leave it all behind. You’ll probably return to it years later and realize you didn’t need any of it and don’t want it anymore anyways.
It has always amazed me that people talk about moving away from places to places that are so much better but it’s almost as if they are talking about it like it’s a dream they’ll never actually be able to achieve. Even though they say they intend on it and have a plan, they never seem to put it in action. The same people I’ve talked to about moving years ago are still talking about moving, they are still talking about saving money, they are still talking about the right time, and they just haven’t understood that you just go and figure things out on the way. If they haven’t figured them out by now, I think it’s quite obvious they never will.
Don’t Make Things Hard
Don’t make things hard on yourself. Self-examination is important. Think of all the things you’ve wanted to accomplish in your life but haven’t at this point and then think about what you’re telling yourself that’s holding you back. Realize that you’re the one holding yourself back. If the man is keeping you down, you’re the man!
What Would Jesus Do?
Could you imagine if Jesus one day said, “You know, I’d really like to travel to Tyre to heal some people, but it’s just not the right time, besides I have no way to get there, and my schedules really busy. I’ve got 25 more bottles of water that I have to turn into wine and my backs been killing me from doing all this wood work. I think I’m going to just wait to go to Tyre.”
He didn’t say that. What he did was put his fucking sandals on and walked his ass 64 kilometers to Tyre and healed people on the way, never complaining or making excuses. Ask yourself what would Jesus do if he wanted to accomplish something he was passionate about? He would just do it and the means would come right to him.
Take the First Step
How are you going to go to school if you even haven’t even been to one to talk to them about enrolling? You’re not even taking the first steps to achieve these things. How are you going to get a job or get a better job if you don’t apply and pursue one? How are you going to move if you don’t pack that first box? How are you going to retire if you keep spending all your money and saving none? How are you going to buy a house if you don’t start paying your bills so your credit repairs? How are you going to do the things you want to do? There’s a first step and an easy direction to take right now while you read this.
It doesn’t matter that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line if you’re not even going to attempt to go from A to B then you’ll never get there anyways.
Stop Making Excuses
When you stop making excuses for yourself and start doing, you’ll be on your way to achieving. Whenever you find yourself saying “I can’t do this” simply rephrase the question. Make the question in your mind “How can I do this?” When you say you can’t your brain shuts off right then and there, it no longer needs to consider how to do something because that’s not the question you asked of yourself. By saying you can’t, you shut off all the creative energy you will need to get things done. And when you say can’t, you’ll still be saying you can’t while all around you others ARE.
You CAN do whatever you want and that’s life.
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