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Man of Action vs. Man of Thought

Ever feel like you’ve been buried under a blanket of snow, hibernating for lord knows how long? There are so many reasons to be unmotivated, so many excuses you can make as to why you are not your best version today. 

“I’m tired today, so let’s try again tomorrow.” Or maybe: “Let’s just put off doing that for a little while longer, there will always be time in the future.” 

And so you stay in your cave, putting off your dreams for days, weeks, months, and years at a time - until the winter chill of your inaction is so cold and yet so comfortable that it’s paralyzed you.

It’s this paralysis that is so dangerous indeed, because time can slip away from you when you’re not doing anything that you’re proud of. How many mornings has it been that you’ve woken up bleary eyed, just to hit the snooze button over and over again, not wanting to face the day? 

Because after all, the day is just full of the many reminders that you’re not living out your fullest potential. It’s not like you don’t know what your dreams are, but they’ve been, time and time again, put on the back burner - to be worked on another day. 

In terms of their deadline, they are on the back burner, but these dreams are on the forefront of your mind. They get discussed when you go out for drinks with friends, when you’re having lunch with your parents, and when you’re at dinner with your spouse. 

“Oh, I really want to start my own business someday... I want to write a book... I want to get really, really fit... I want to learn Spanish.” 

“Oh that’s so cool! You’re so interesting!” They wax on enthusiastically, but secretly think to themselves - “This is the 50th time she has brought this up, but still hasn’t made any movements towards doing any of these things.” 

Why the inaction? 

Today I wonder why there are some people that can be enslaved by the paralysis of thought, to the point where they are unable to be moved to action.

Wanting something badly and having dreams is all well and good, but not actually taking steps to achieving them is perhaps one of the most debilitating things you can do to yourself. 

It sends the message that you are not deserving of any of these things you dream of, and that they are best appreciated behind the rosy, frosted glass of a future trophy case. 

To my credit, I have the enthusiasm of a thousand suns when I begin a new project. Every day there is a steady flow of personal growth-related ideas in my head, which hope to curb, fix, and reprogram my shortcomings. 

The problem is, I’ll march down the path all bright eyed and full of excitement, just to lose steam a hundred yards into the race. I lose momentum and the project gets dropped. 

This too, is extremely debilitating. It sends the message that perhaps I can be moved to action, but that I can never finish anything that I’ve started. 

So how do we stop overthinking and start over-doing? 

For starters, I began to address my tendency to never finish what I start by taking up two lifelong passions: Language and dance. 

The two are interlinked in the way that each holds the incredible ability to unlock a world you didn’t previously have access to. It forces you into constant mindset shifts and is a steady reminder that: 

Great things take time to build.

This is news to me, as I’ve always been an instant gratification person that believed that if it wasn’t within my “natural ability,” I should move on and try something else. 

More importantly, language and dance takes you through a journey of mountains and valleys where you skyrocket and plateau regularly. It is both thrilling and discouraging all at the same time, but it peels away at the layers that protects your heart until you can hear oh-so-clearly what it truly wants. 

The truth is, passions are like muscles. If you don’t work at them, they will be left to atrophy.

And over time, you will lose them. So you must never rest on your laurels when it comes to your passions. 

And as for the paralyzing effect of overthinking, well, the best solution is to start small and work at it daily.

Find some aspect of that dream that is bite-sized and attainable on a daily basis, (like writing for 1 hour every morning, or doing 30 minutes of yoga every afternoon) and keep at it every single day. Over time, it will become habit and a priority. But make no mistake. You have to be militant at this. Your passion muscles need to be stretched and strengthened every single day.   Of course, the challenge is to make these daily habits stick. You owe it to you to fulfill the promises that you’ve made to yourself.