What’s Stopping You From Designing Your Life?
It seems that for so many of us have lots of good intentions and things in our lives that we want to improve. We have a picture of the life we would like to be living and yet, we aren’t taking the necessary actions to achieve that life.
Why?
One of our problems is that our brain is an incredibly old operating system that has never had an update. And part of human nature is that we are incredibly lazy!
And yet, we are surrounded by little brains all around us that are updating constantly. You carry one of these around with you in your pocket everywhere you go. And unfortunately these little windows into the world of knowledge go travel 2 ways. You have access to unlimited information, but also, anyone out there who wants to get your attentions can get it to you in moments through email, RSS feed, Facebook, etc.
So,
Our time, energy and attention are constantly under attack. Distraction at every turn. This stops you from taking massive action toward your goals and dreams.
We are carrying this massive distraction device with us all day everyday.
We are not achieving more, we have simply sped up the treadmill of life. And because Google, Facebook, etc. knows everything, they also know how to tap into you’re your greatest distraction weaknesses. This causes you to feel overwhelmed, overstressed, overworked , overstimulated, overwound, overscheduled. Which is causing you to be under producing, under performing, unsatisfied, unfulfilled, unhappy, frustrated, anxious, and discouraged.
Our increased access to information has increased levels of stress and stress disorders. The thing is, you already know what to do.
- You know what to do to be a better leader,
- you know what you need to do to be a better partner,
- a better parent
And if you don’t already know what to do,
YOU CAN GOOGLE IT!
Google knows everything! Knowledge is at our finger tips. You don’t need more knowledge.
So, If we already know what to do, what is the problem? Why aren’t we changing?
If we have all this access to information, why isn’t life getting better?
The reality is that the answer is within you, and I see it as: we can see the problem and we can see what is not working so if we dig down deep, we can ask ourselves, “if not this, then what?
So… (and this is the part we don’t like to hear)
You know what to do…
you are just not doing it!
But why?
You don’t need more information – Self-help books are everywhere, google has all the answers, everyone and their dog has written articles on everything imaginable – what we lack, then, is emotional development.
That ability to resist the urge of all the temptations and time sucks, and distractions all around us.
It isn’t a time-management problem. It is really self-management that is the key.
I mean, that is why we seek out professional help. Professionals help us to start to sort through those problems and solutions – they help us to create that emotional development that we need. They help us to self- manage and self regulate and weed through the mess. click here for courses that might help
The great battle that we face as human beings has always been with yourself – the man in the mirror. It is an inside out job. Things around you don’t have to change. You have to change!
People make excuses for themselves when, instead, you need to seek increases in your skills. This is why I have my signature program Journey2You – it is a growing library designed to help you create systems, and habits, and discover the shifts you can make.
You have to retrain yourself in ways you never anticipated.
- Laziness
Human nature is incredibly lazy – we come by it naturally – We are always looking for the easy route. Staples created their “THAT WAS EASY” button. It is built into your genetic DNA. We look for the path of least resistance – excusing ourselves from what is hard!
Even the most successful people in the world – ARE LAZY!
We need rituals, routines, structure, and systems that push us past our laziness and create a level of discipline that will move us toward the results and the life that we want to be living. Our tendency is to look for the path of least resistance at every turn. This is why we need structure. To achieve that idealized version of yourself. We can’t do it by being lazy. Trust me!
2. Emotions
Human nature is also emotionally immature. Our ability of self-control, to use willpower, and self-management is weak. Freud described it as the Id. The “I want…” or “I don’t feel like it”.
When our emotions take over, there is no chance we are going to get ourselves to follow through with the activities we know we need to do.
All of those distractions out there also pull on our emotions and pull us away from what we need to do.
Growing in our emotional management is really important if we want to design the life we want to live.
The habits we develop help us to override the emotion centre.
What To Do About It
To change, all you have to do is get in control of that emotion centre by challenging your thinking and choosing to discipline yourself. This is where you are going to create new habits. But it is going to take work. It is going to take discipline.
I found for myself, that I needed a mantra to get myself moving more often than not. And I love the Jim Rohn quote:
In life you have to suffer one of 2 pains, either the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Where discipline is weighed in ounces while regret is weighed in tonnes
JIM ROHN
I would repeat to myself over and over and over, “discipline or regret, discipline or regret, discipline or regret…”
(This might be over simplifying it a little, but if you can get in control of your thinking and your actions, you control your results and your destiny)
It is still a work in progress, but aren’t we all.
