July 12, 2011 87 Comments

You Know What To Do

Working Late
Portrait of a blogger working at 10:49pm, because he has things to do.

More often than not, you know what to do. Before you even open that ‘how to’ book, or look for yet another blog on the topic, you know what you need. You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for, most of the time.

You Know What to Do

You’re fat. You know what to do. There’s not really a new book that will change it. It’s you who will change it.

You’re unemployed. That’s temporary, even if temporary is stretching into 14 months. You know what you need, even if that means education, a move, a change of circumstances. But I promise you that you know.

You’re broke. Money exchanges hands every day. More money than we’ll ever earn in a lifetime flows all around you. You can find ways to have some of it. You know some of those ways. Very few books or speeches will amaze you and set you on a path to claim them all.

Then Why Do We Read and Overstudy?

Because we’re afraid, because we’re procrastinating, because we feel many emotions that “seem” like uncertainty, but are more often good old fashioned lack of self-esteem. Because we’ve tried and failed one too many times and we’re upset with ourselves for this. Because we listen to our Inner Critic and we believe that He or She is right (is yours a male or female?).

Do

The last word of the title of this blog post is everything. Do. Do something.

Don’t have enough time? Do something. Can’t afford it? Do something. Haven’t gotten around to it? Do it now.

Does that sound oversimplified? That’s because you’re still in the mindset of the top of this post.

Excuses Cost A LOT of Money and Time

Spend time on excuses and you can pile them up to the ceiling. Spend time thinking through why it won’t work, and you’ll be right. Spend money learning how to do something better, and you’ll likely succeed in learning how to do something better. But you won’t have done it.

Excuses are awesome. You can have some of mine, if you want.

Me? I’m going to be enjoying the “do.”

How about you?

Coming Soon

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  • annetstone

    Chris – today I was needing some inspiration (i haven’t visited for a bit so I needed  a fix) and discovered this post (thanks to @Ivan Hernandez via CB-NAFP on facebook).

    Today, I had gotten a round of applause from the non-profit organization I joined and began to volunteer at while I was unemployed –  because “i knew what to do.” 
    I knew that their In-design PDF quarterly newsletter with 10 articles was a dinosaur. I changed it. Didn’t really ask permission and thought I might have to go for forgiveness. So for anyone reading this today - there are people you can help and inspire and you will be recognized and appreciated – it may be a small thing, but it means more when you do what you know is right!

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  • http://www.petezafra.com Pj Zafra

    Great post here Chris! You’ve definitely nailed it! What you’ve said is definitely very true. Excuses can really ruin us. They are silent killers and ruin lives. Thanks to excuses, some people don’t go for their dreams. Thanks for the inspiration my friend! Keep it up! :D

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  • Johan Horak

    This is going to a different view:

    I have come the the understanding that doing is an amazing decoy by the /ego/. We are always chasing to find something at the end of the rainbow we want. And the more we try the more the ego keeps us unsatisfied. 

    The more difficult part of is is that we don’t know what we are searching for; this uneasy feeling of having to prove ourself. But what is the real cause for this? Many of us believe it’s in doing. 

    The more difficult part is that we don’t know we are unsatisfied. 

    Without going into the massive long story I will just say that we have a massive unconscious guilt. When you get to the answer for this guilt it becomes a lot easier.

    In the mean time; have a lot of fun.

     

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