I know my work is inspiring to people, but I also know that’s not enough.
Lots of people recognize that there’s more they can be doing to get what they want.
They think that if they get more focused on their goals, organized around what to do, and build a more powerful mind, that they could improve their life.
I know this because all the time people tell me, but talk doesn’t get the job done…
Easier Said Than Done
On a cold New York morning a couple of weeks back, I met a mid-thirties fellow in the elevator of my apartment building.
I was headed to see my body mechanic, who helps me stand and walk, and he was on his way to, “ugh, work.”
At least that was how he said it to me.
He looked like a banker, but I’d bet he’s a securities lawyer. After plenty of time around the two you can distinguish the sadness and fatigue in their eyes.
When he asked me what I do, I paused.
Feeling sorry for the man who had clearly spent the last 30 minutes cheerleading himself to throw on his suit and get in that elevator, I said, “I’m a consultant.”
“So, what type of consulting job enables you to be headed out in your gym gear at 9:00am?” he sarcastically quipped.
“One where I do what I want,” I replied.
With those sad eyes and a mousy depressed voice, he responded, “Easier said than done.”
Easier Done Than Said
In the old days I used to try to convince everyone that they could do what they want…
But these days I’m far more discerning about who I use energy with.
It was obvious to me that he was so used to wearing his crap-covered glasses that he wouldn’t see beyond them, and so I chose not to run a Cheer Up Charlie routine on him and risk having his mind infect my day.
Just as the data attests, many people in the working world are depressingly stuck whining about their jobs, but doing nothing to actually change them.
Fortunately for them, most have habituated to their four walls and no longer fight captivity. They’re no longer grinding away their fingers digging an exit, but they do keep grinding their minds.
To them, creating the life they truly want is a fantasy. It’s easier to talk about it than to actually do it, whereas I see it the other way.
I’ll never understand how someone could think it’s easier to show up at a job they hate than to do everything in their power to change it.
This is perhaps the greatest gift I have been given in this lifetime—
An absolute utter hatred for anything that gets in the way of me doing what I want!
And the will to do whatever it takes to change it.
Cranking Since 5:30am
What I didn’t tell my elevator mate was that while he was ruing getting his day started, I was already some 4 hours into mine.
To “give myself permission” to do what I want, I’d started cranking hours before he was waking up and hitting snooze, and I’d already had the most productive hours of my day.
I also didn’t tell him that I was at the desk till 10pm the night before and would be “working” till I go to bed that night.
Nor did I tell him that I would be waking up and doing it all over again for the next 7 days, as I have done 7 days a week for the last couple of decades.
I didn’t tell him that because I didn’t want to rub it in his face.
Not only do I get to do what I want, I get to do it all the time!
And, it is much, much easier done than said…
What’s There To Talk About?
Lots of people talk about doing what they want.
They dream of making that job change.
Or building a business.
Or going for that thing that they truly want in life.
Whatever it is, they want it so much that they are forever talking about it…
Literally, years later, they are still talking about it!!
All Talk, No Trouser
But, what are they willing to do in order to get what they want?
Often I get backhanded compliments from people I have known in my working life…
They look at me doing what I want, and themselves “sacrificing,” and they tell me something like, “Man, if I didn’t have a family, I’d be doing what I want…”
No, they wouldn’t. That’s their excuse.
Perhaps shockingly to some, people with families do actually go for what they truly want! Really, it’s true… some like Jeff Bezos even leave high paying jobs to do it.
People who go for what they want refuse to live inside credible sounding excuses that keep them safely snuggled in their straightjacket.
As Professor Larry Smith humorously talks about in this video, “Why you will fail to have a great career,” it’s easier to allow your kids to be your jailers, and to encourage them to go for what they truly want, than to, actually, do it yourself.
Make them the ones who have to dream up what they truly want. Get them to set hard goals. Have them take risk and expose themselves to failure. Force them to learn new things and keep getting better. Tell them to condition their minds and take powerful actions towards what they want…
To many folks that’s easier done than said, so long as it’s not them doing it!
Easier To Take A Step
Many people put an “extreme frame” around doing what they want as an excuse to avoid going for it.
It’s easier to talk about how you can’t “just quit your job and sit on the beach,” than it is to build a systematic approach that you put to work every day in getting what you want.
The former is a pie in the sky fantasy that they can say they want, and never do anything about, whereas the latter, well, that’s easier said than done…
It’s easy to talk about what you want. It’s easy to find excuses as to why you can’t have it. It’s easy to feel like you’re a victim to your circumstances.
But if you can get beyond all that stuff that holds you back, and just get yourself in a good mind taking good actions, well, you find, it’s much, much easier done than said!