It is easy to come up with excuses why not to do something we’d really like to do. There are the seemingly legitimate ones around prioritization driven by obligations elsewhere, the practical fanned by our age, health status, or other circumstance, or the worst of all, those that present themselves in the moment when we’re actually supposed to get to work. Any of those are a version of what Steven Pressfield calls, as introduced in The War of Art: Resistance. But even if we go through the exercise of creating Assignments for ourselves as a way to overcome the arguments around prioritization or practicality, we still have the most challenging hurdle to traverse, actually doing what we say we’re going to do.
Seldom do we ever feel like doing something when we say we’re going to do it. It is a rare day to hop out of bed, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and race to our to-do list. No, our cozy beds are a much better place to be than working out or writing that novel or learning that language, like we promised ourselves we would. The same can be said for that side business we said we’d do in the evenings after the kids went down, or whatever project we’ve actually carved some time out for in our busy schedules. We want to do it, at least in theory, but when the time comes to actually get down to work, we don’t. We find something else to distract ourselves, and we rationalize it with the notion that, “I don’t feel like it right now. It wouldn’t be a good session anyway.” Then we reach for whatever might bring us instant gratification—the snooze button, the TV remote, the bottle—and continue on in our lives, assignments left unfinished, or never even started.
Of course, it need not be this way. We can do that which we set out to do. And usually all it takes is just putting ourselves in the place where we should be. As the title of another Steven Pressfield book proclaims Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants To Be. You don’t need to feel like it, but if you physically put yourself in the place where the work needs to be done—in the gym, at your desk, in the classroom—and start going through the motions, then, eventually, progress will result.
It doesn’t matter if our effort is lacklustre, if we don’t produce anything of value in that hour. That’s not the point, the point is to show up, and do what we say we would. Reason being, the more we show up, the more opportunities we create for ourselves to make that progress we strive for. It likely will not feel like it in the moment, especially at the start, but by simply showing up and seeing it through, we can achieve far more in our lifetimes than if we’re just waiting for the right feeling at the right time.
scott ironmonger 