This is now the second week running where I’ve not really been sure what to write about.
But this week I’m taking it as a sign.
Life has been stagnant lately.
Not in a bad way, just in a comfortable kinda way.
Whenever I’ve had the choice to go hard or go home, I’ve just been going home and making myself a nice cup of spearmint tea.
Whilst there’s nothing wrong with that, this option doesn’t really make for great stories.
I’m finding it easier to pinpoint the cause of these feelings though, and it might help you too.
The Importance Of Discomfort
“We don’t need accomplishments to feel good or to be good enough. What do we need? The truth: not much! Some food and water. Work that we can challenge ourselves with. A calm mind in the midst of adversity. Sleep. A solid routine. A cause we are committed to. Something we’re getting better at. Everything else is extra. Or worse, as history has shown countless times, the source of our painful downfall.”
Ryan Holiday – Discipline is Destiny
Whenever life isn’t feeling as good as it should, I always come back to this quote.
I think if you can confidently identify something in your life that aligns with each of those areas, then I’m sure you’d be feeling pretty damn fulfilled.
It also works the opposite way too.
When things aren’t feeling right, I can guarantee it’s because one of those areas is either lagging behind, or non-existent entirely.
See, back in the day, the ‘cause you’re committed to’ and ‘something you’re getting better at’ would literally just be staying alive and getting better at doing things that prolonged your survival.
Fulfilment was much easier to obtain, because life was much harder.
Every day was filled with discomfort, danger and uncertainty – all things we dread today, for good reason.
I’m sure none of us would trade away our current pleasure-filled lives for a life full of struggle and uncertainty.
And even if we wanted to, we can’t.
But somewhere along the way, the thing that created us decided it would be a good idea to make discomfort a precursor to fulfilment.
Shocking decision I know, but one we have to live with nonetheless.
Although it’s not directly referred to in that quote above, I think we all know by now that discomfort is a by-product of a life well-lived.
Work that challenges you – this is uncomfortable as hell, especially in the beginning, that’s why most people never start.
Something you’re getting better at – people are so afraid to be a beginner again, because it’s uncomfortable!!!
Keeping a calm mind in the midst of adversity – there’s like three people in the world that can do that well, and it ain’t you or me.
Anything good usually came from a place of discomfort.
Boring Perceptions, Boring Life
For the first six months of the 2024, I was vibing.
My content ideas were fresh, and I couldn’t wait to get up in the morning to start writing.
Firstly, because my blog was new and exciting.
But secondly, and most importantly, I’d just done something cool with my life.
For the previous four months, I’d been backpacking through Europe and the UK.
As a creature of habit and comfort, that’s something I never thought I’d do.
I felt pretty weird and uncomfortable throughout most of that journey, but let me tell you – the highs were high.
I learnt so much about myself and the world during that time, and it all happened because I was willing to make myself uncomfortable and get out of routine.
But that excitement is starting to dry up, and I really only have myself to blame.
I’m just going to sandwich this right in the middle of the paragraph because I’m still not sure whether or not to write this on my blog, but… I recently bought an apartment.
And whilst this is amazing and exciting in so many ways, it’s also led to a state-of-mind that just ain’t working for me at the moment.
I wrote a while ago about the power of F-You money and the ability to say no.
Again, I think this is the true power of money – not for what it can buy you, but for what it can help you avoid.
With a mortgage, or any big responsibility in life, your ability to say no is drastically reduced.
If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know how much I love to avoid things (responsibilities and material objects alike).
So where am I going with this?
Well, being free is cool.
And right now I feel trapped.
Well, I’m aligning myself with the feeling of being trapped and accepting that this is what life is like now that I’ve got this big responsibility.
But I know deep down I’m just lying to myself to avoid discomfort and doing new sh*t.
We so often latch onto an idea or perception about who we are and how we live our lives, forgetting the fact that, if we truly wanted to, we could be a totally different person leading a totally different life in a matter of months.
It’s always the perception, never the situation.
Identifying this is the easy part, but actually doing something about it is all that matters.
But I guess that’s one of the reasons I started this blog – to keep myself accountable.
Watch this space.
