Set clear goals!

Not knowing what steps to take has been my number one motivation killer. There is nothing that can make me hate any task faster than feeling insecure about what to do. And there is nothing that can make me end up doing something non-productive than this either.

I’ve of course read about the importance of goal setting countless times. But how much this affects both my productivity and the joy that I feel while creating has alluded me until recently. I’ve literally gotten maybe five times more efficient by just having the steps that I need to take written down, in as clear and specific language as possible. 

I know that this must have something to do with how our brains function, but I’m not really sure how. I think that it probably has something to do with how we waste enormous cognitive resources on having to decide what to do over and over again. This would also be in line with psychological findings about what is called “decision fatigue”, which basically says that we have a finite amount of energy for making decisions during the day. 

I would like to conclude with a reflection. It’s becoming more and more clear to me that there are numerous ways that we can improve our day to day lives to make everything run smoother. And that many of these things are common knowledge if we just go look for it. But most of us don’t. Most of us just keep doing things the way we’ve always done them. And so we keep getting the same results.

Stop trying to control everything

This has been a consistent theme in my blogging lately. How we resist what is and therefore try to force the world to conform to our will. And how the world most of the time responds by giving us the finger. So I’m saying this as much to myself as I’m saying it to you.

With that being said, let’s stop and take a look at this for a moment. Can you remember the last time that you felt totally in control of everything in your life? I can’t remember ever having been in such a state. However, I’ve been more or less daily been occupied with trying to control everything, at the expense of caring for my inner life and the things that I actually do have control over. 

Let’s begin with the question: What do I have control over? I do have most control over my inner life. I can choose what thoughts I allow into my head and whether I believe them or not. This in turn determines my emotional state to a large degree. My thoughts may have turned into little monsters because I haven’t given them the proper attention and instead just let them do whatever they please. It is no wonder then that I have some inner discipline to take care of. And just like with a neglected child that has grown into a little monster, the thoughts will not just go along with any new decree. We have to tread careful here or they will rebell. 

But after a while, when they see that the new discipline actually makes us happier and stronger, they will be more ready to comply. As long as we don’t tyrannize ourselves. 

I also have control over my habits and how I organize my life. This again comes back to my thoughts. If my thoughts constantly tell me to just go and do whatever “I” want (really what the thoughts tell me that I want, which may not at all be what I really want) and that responsibility is boring, and I choose to believe them, I will never cultivate good habits or organize my life properly. Or if I instead of doing this, spend all of my time and energy trying to force the world to conform to my will, again something that beings with my thoughts, I will have very little time and energy for the things that I actually can control. 

So, what to do? Well, that’s easy. With all of the above in mind, just let go of everything that cannot be controlled, allow it to unfold as it does and focus and what you do have control over.