The cold blue light of your phone screen, the buzz of your anxious thoughts not letting you sleep… and the 2 a.m. clarity! I need to get my life together!
So you grab the first self-help book off the shelf: most households will have at least one, it is difficult to avoid the allure of a volume that claims to be able to bring more free time and money into your life or “awaken your true power as an individual”.
A hopeful prologue…
And inspiring personal success story from the author…
And the dreams of a better life crumble under the weight of one terrifying word: HABITS
To those of us with inconsistently passionate personalities, the thought of doing something every day, even something we would otherwise enjoy, is the best way to give up on the idea forever.
I can easily focus on a single task for hours on end, be it perfecting a skill, preparing for a test or that end-of-the-year project I had been given months to write. I can get engrossed in the process to the point of forgetting to care for my basic needs, but that is the only way it gets done, especially if those five hours are all you have left before a deadline. (Or before running after the teacher’s daughter in hopes she will just give it to him, but see if that’s available)
On the other side, if you told me to pace myself and work on that same project every other day for 30 minutes… I would procrastinate for most of these sessions, and a project started well in advance would see its deadline go by in dramatic slow motion.
it has taken enough time mistakes, but the best advice I can give myself now is to accept that this is the only way my brain can function. People like us are great under pressure, and emergency is always now, and there is no time for our brain to convince us otherwise. And sure, this comes with a fair share of lost credit cards and piles of dishes, but we know how to make up for the damage. Be yourself, play to your strengths, and let the stream of inspiration carry you!
Of course, this doesn’t work for every career path, and chasing the dopamine is not always a possibility, but just remember that progress doesn’t need to be gradual, and some days we just need to rest and prepare for that next big jump.
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