(photo: @dsmacinnes)
Millions of people are convinced that something must change in their lives to be better, to live life to the fullest or pursue something meaningful.
That project, that blog, that podcast, that ebook, that art, that side project is what I’m talking about.
Many people consistently hold back, and waste precious time.
….
Here’s the truth. If you lack time to do work that matters to you, you’re probably wasting a lot of your free time.
If you deeply care about your life’s work, you will make time, even if it’s just 30 minutes a day building or creating something that doesn’t feel like work.
Instead of the excitement of experimentation, many people feel self-doubt and fear. They just go through life. Just like that.
Passing through. Letting time tick away. Fast.
Letting things happen.
Letting every day be just like the day before and the day after.
Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing you read about in history books.
Nothing unique. Just average.
Despite the many inspirational content encouraging us to chase after what we believe, we often fall victim to procrastination and a fear of even just starting.
We inadvertently hurt ourselves by focusing on short-term pleasure at the cost of the long-term.
An important obstacle to pursuing our best self is what behavioural economists call time inconsistency — the human brain’s tendency to value immediate rewards more highly than future rewards.
“Our motivation to start any task depends on us seeing value in it, yet we place more value on what is happening currently over what the future holds and justify this decision by emotionally disconnecting ourselves from our future self”, writes Jory Mackay.
The good news is, you can overcome your brain’s sabotage.
Check out the rest of the article here
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.