Keep Trying

I want to apologize for missing a scheduled Friday post. You may not have noticed the missing post, but I did. I have a self-imposed schedule for this blog and new posts are supposed to arrive every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning. As you can see, there is a missing post for this week.

I could come up with a ton of excuses why there wasn't a post yesterday:

• I woke up later than I wanted.
• I had a morning meeting with my new boss, so I couldn't take a little extra time to write.
• The normal work day spiraled to an 11 hour work day, meaning I got home much later than expected.
• When I arrived home, one of my dogs was waiting for a bath (which I pushed to Friday as other things came up during the week).
• After washing the dog, I wanted to eat (as I hadn't eaten a meal through the day, only unhealthy snacks).
• I had laundry to do since I am going out of town tomorrow.
• After all of this, I ended up sitting on the couch watching a movie I haven't seen since the 1990's.

As you can see, there are a variety of reasons I didn't get a blog posted yesterday...except, all of these reasons are crap. The real reason I didn't get a blog posted yesterday is because I didn't make the time to post one. I missed a deadline (self-imposed, but a deadline nonetheless) because I chose to not do the work. I did a lot of other things, but just didn't write a blog post.

I'm not going to beat myself up for missing the post, but I can learn a few things from this experience:

• Habits are important: I recently took two weeks off blogging to go on my honeymoon. Prior to this, I posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It took a while for this to become a habit. In the beginning, I had to force myself to stick with these deadlines. Once writing was habitual, it became second nature and I built time in my schedule to write. It only took two weeks to lose this. It will be easier to start it back up, but will take work in the beginning.
• We have to make the time: We are all busy people. We have lives outside of the things we want to do (especially the things we do for fun). There are a lot of things competing for our limited time. We have to choose what we want to do and then make the time to do it. It's not always going to be easy, but we have to choose each day. I chose to watch a movie instead of writing. Is it the end of the world? Nope, but it did keep me from accomplishing what I wanted to accomplish.
• We have to prioritize our tasks: There will be days when we have to choose between things we want to accomplish because there is only a finite amount of time each day. Maybe you have to put off the Spanish lesson to run three miles. Maybe you have to put off weights to write. We may not accomplish everything we want to accomplish, but we have to figure out how to accomplish the most important items.
• Don't beat yourself up: We're all human. I'm not going to dwell on the fact I missed a post yesterday, but I will learn from the experience. I can write the post this morning and still have my three posts for this week. My day got away from me and I chose to do something other than write. It's a new day and I have new choices to make about how to spend my time. I may not get everything accomplished today either, but I can try.

Every one of us has things on our "list" we want to accomplish, but we fail to make the time to accomplish. What's on your list? How much of a priority is it? Do you really want to accomplish it or do you like talking about doing it more than actually doing it? Come up with a list of what you want to do today and then prioritize this list. Make the time to do what is most important for you. If you don't get things done, don't make excuses and don't beat yourself up, just try again. Keep trying until you do. 

Be You, Glorious You

How many days do you have left to accomplish everything you want to accomplish?

If you really think about this question, it's quite scary. For many of us, we have procrastinated accomplishing things thinking there will always be tomorrow. We haven't traveled as much as we wanted. We haven't pushed ourselves as hard as we wanted. We've watched more TV than we should. We haven't spent as much time with friends and family as we would want. We've worked jobs we hate to pay for shit we really don't need. We've silenced our dreams to do what we think society expects us to do. We've wasted precious time doing things we don't remember or care about.

We can read all the blogs and books ever written about how to lead a meaningful life, but unless we make the choice to do something, we are going to continue to do what we have always done. This life is ours to do with what we will. If we choose to skate through life, then we won't really accomplish what we want to accomplish. No one has the goal to just get through life. We want to live fully and do what excites us. We want to leave a legacy. We want to be remembered.

No one is going to remember what television we watched or what work we half-assed. No one is going to remember the people who did little and made no waves. No one is going to remember the vast majority of people who live today. What mark are we going to leave on this world when we pass? What are people going to say about our life once we are gone? This doesn't mean we need to live our life just to please others. We want people to point at us as an example of how to actually live.

We don't have to do what we think society expects of us. We don't have to do what we think other people, even trusted people, think we should do. We don't have to get frustrated when people question our passion. We don't have to live our life pleasing anyone else but us. We don't have to live our life afraid to offend others. Some might say this is selfish, but this is our life to do with what we will. We don't have to buy the shit everyone else buys and we don't have to chase the same goals other people chase. We are individuals and should have our own beliefs, our own goals and our own dreams. We have to be true to who we are.

There will always be people who don't understand us. This is okay and we don't have to convince them of anything. If they stand in our way, then we'll go around them. If they can't give us what we need, then we'll find someone who will. We can't let the doubters hold us back. We can't let other people slow us down. We can't buy in to their bullshit and if we offend a few people along the way, then good. Maybe it will help wake them up. We have to forget about the status quo and not rocking the boat. Rock to your heart's content. Do what needs to be done to keep pushing forward. Don't ever give up and lead the life you are meant to lead. Be you, glorious you, in everything you do.

We all need to make the choice to live our life. We must stop putting aside our goals and dreams and start chasing them. We must stop taking things as they are and start making them better. We must forget what everyone else says and follow our heart. It's time to silence the fears in our head and start moving. It's time to get out of our comfort zone and risk failing again and again. Failure isn't bad. Choosing to not get back up is when we lose. If anyone tells us they haven't failed, then they are either lying or not trying hard enough. We can't listen to them. We can't listen to anyone who tells us something different than what our heart tells us. We have time, but we have to start doing what we need to do.

How many days do you have left to accomplish everything you want to accomplish?    

Try not!

A wise, green, little Jedi master once uttered the words, "Do or do not, there is not try." While many people will smirk at the reference, these are great words to live by.

Commit to something. Trying, in itself, includes hesitancy. By "trying" you are already admitting this may not work and giving yourself a way out when it doesn't. With this net, you will not give your all and you are already planning the excuses when it doesn't. If you go into something believing there is a good possibility of it not working out, you are setting yourself up for it not to work. Trying is the easy way out. You can throw up your hands after giving 50% and say "I tried". Trying doesn't push you to accomplish anything.

Do it. Whatever you want to try, instead convince yourself you are going to do it. If you want to try to run a mile, instead say to yourself you are going to run a mile. By doing, you are not allowing your mind a way out. You are not giving in before you start as there is no hesitancy. There is no easy way out. When you commit to doing anything, you are going to work your ass off to make sure it happens. You still may not succeed, but you are going to give 100% to get it done. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work. At least you will know that you did everything possible to do it.

Elimante try from your vocabulary. More importantly, eliminate try from your mind. When you want something, commit to doing it. Don't give yourself an out. Don't lose before your even start. Either commit or don't, the choice is yours, but quit hiding behind try. Once you start believing in yourself and commit to doing, your will start accomplishing the things you set out to do.