It seems rather obvious doesn’t it? You should do what you must, whether you feel like it or not. As obvious as it sounds, most don’t, and I am also guilty of not doing what is necessary, many times than I can count, and I bet so are you.
I am intrigued by this statement. I often watch YouTube motivational videos, and I came across this video by Elliott Hulse. He is talking about how we should just shut off our minds from making excuses about what needs to be done.
Instead we should just convince ourselves that we should just do it, with the basic understanding that it has to be done, and get on with it. He says to always make the task at hand a part of your being. This means doing it, whatever it is, even if you are are tired, “busy”, or drained.
He goes on to say that the battle is won, the moment you just show up. The moment you abandon making the rationalisation as to why, you shouldn’t do the things you are supposed to do.
In his video I just mentioned, Elliot places an emphasis on working out, but I believe it’s a metaphor for life itself. In fact he goes on to mention other possible engagements where this rule applies, such as when it comes to commitments with school, family or work.
I have certainly identified many areas in my life where I would benefit from just getting up and doing it, whether I feel like it or not, and they are a good example of when to practice this principle.
I often wake up early and go out for a run for an hour or so, before I start my day. This is a part of my day I enjoy. Rising early and feeling the fresh air as I run. There is something serene about the morning, around 5 to 6 AM that sets the tone for my day.
Arguably, you can tell that I do enjoy this morning ritual, and I can confirm that the benefits of going out to run are awesome. Strangely enough though, I can carry out this routine every day for several weeks, but somewhere along the way my enthusiasm wanes.
As I write this blog post I haven’t gone out to run in the mornings for a good while. I enjoy running in the morning thoroughly, but somehow I just slacked off. Today, I was wondering why I do this over and over, and I thought of what Elliott Hulse was saying in his video.
Now that I think of it. I believe the default setting for being a human being is being lazy. I mean, think about it, doesn’t it come naturally for us to want to just chill and take the easy way out? We would rather just eat and sleep, and binge watch series, or soccer matches, or partake in any activity of leisure than do something more productive or beneficial.
When the moment comes to actually do something productive or beneficial, that lazy inner voice shows up without fail. “You can always do this later, Barnett.”, it says, “There’s always tomorrow, Barnett”, it suggests, or maybe, “it’s too cold out, It’s too hard…”, it rationalises.
Its that nagging voice that is self-defeating, and yet at the same time has a false sense of comfort, that is to blame for the reason I don’t do some things I know I should be doing. Things I know are good for me. And when I look around, I find that everyone is in the same boat.
The battle to excel at anything we do is always ongoing. It is clear to me that doing the things we are supposed to do does not come naturally to human beings. It can be rationalised that we need to work for everything that comes to us.
There is only one constant in life, and that is change. Change is an inevitable and integral part of reality. There is one interesting thing though about most of the change going on: it is by default headed towards a state of deterioration or chaos.
Things rot and decompose, if you don’t intervene, and weeds will crowd out your perfectly manicured lawns in a few weeks. And we all know what happens if you do not shower for a couple of days at a time. Dust will settle on your immaculate furniture and windows will get dirty. These examples clearly demonstrate that, perfection as we desire it, is something we have to constantly pursue and work towards.
If you look at how most changes manifest, it is clear that we have to fight our way to maintain order, or settle for that imposed by the ravages of time, in degrading our perfectly curated lives. We have to fight to get the things we desire, and the natural tendency within us is to slack off and feel like we shouldn’t, when we should.
Winning therefore is a matter of making choices not based on what is comfortable in the moment, but rather on what is necessary. We should strive to triumph against the strong desire to default on picking the easy way out.
In order to win the war against that inner voice that stands in the way of progress, we should adopt the mantra: “Whether You Feel Like It Or Not”, and then go out and do the things we know we are supposed to do.
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