 Life gets better when you stop giving a fuck. It’s something you ‘ve probably heard before. Sounds simple enough. Stress at work, social anxiety, relationship problems. Just stop giving a fuck. Okay, cool. But like...how? How does one stop giving a fuck? Just magically, like that. *POOF* Okay, now I don’t give a fuck. Well, first we have to look at what giving a fuck actually means before you, well, put a stop to it.  Time, money, and energy - those are the fucks you have to give. By giving something time, you are giving a fuck to it. By paying money for something, you give a fuck about it. By pouring energy into something, you give it a fuck. Time is the most valuable asset you have, especially as a procrastin8r. Money is earned by putting the time in. You have to spend time focusing energy on something in order to get it done. Time and how you spend it determines your destiny. What you choose to procrastinate on ‘til later versus give a fuck about right now determines who you are. But that’s the thing, you may not be any sort of time-traveling wizard. You can’t save time in a bottle. But you do choose what to do right NOW, and in turn choose what to procrastinate on for later.The thing you do now -- that’s the thing you give a fuck about, and the thing you procrastinate on doesn’t really matter all too much to you. Procrastinate with purpose. Choose what to give a fuck about right now and what to put off ‘til later (or never). Energy doesn’t necessarily have to be physical exertion, by the way. When you put energy into something, you can also be employing emotional and/or mental energy. Like not only do you physically have to get up off the couch to go do the thing you were gonna do, but you have to emotionally put energy into it as well. Obviously what you care about (emotionally) whatever it is you got up for, at least a little bit, otherwise, you wouldn’t have gotten up in the first place. You had to think about it too, putting in your mental energy to do so. You could be laying there on the couch, seemingly inactive, but still be spending a great deal of emotional and energy, just thinking about shit. You’re tiring yourself out just by laying there, man. You got to relax, relax. Like totally chill. Totally embrace your Leisure.. Not deplete your energy thinking or worrying about shit while doing something physically passive. When you worry about what other people will think about you, for example, you’re investing emotional energy into others’ approval. You’re giving a fuck about their opinion of you. You’re putting in the mental effort, spending hours to think of ways to people please and earn their approval. That’s depleting your sources of fucks (time and energy). Thus, when we say not to give a fuck, we mean not to give a fuck about such pointless matters, but let’s first get into the benefits of not giving a fuck.  Not giving a fuck is awesome. Not giving a fuck gives you freedom. It relieves stress. It puts you in your power. By saying you don’t give a fuck, you’re saying you don’t invest the resources you have (time, money, and energy) into it. You’re saying that it just ain’t deserving of any sort of expenditure on your part. You’re, in two letters saying NO to whoever or whatever it is. And NO is a powerful little word. Some things just aren’t worth it, man, and because of that, you don’t give a fuck too easily. You have a limited amount of fucks to give, a limited amount of time, money, and energy. And you must give those fucks out very, very sparingly. Not giving a fuck is simply recognizing the value of your own assets, recognizing that your resources are in fact limited. Limited and valuable, like diamonds. You wouldn’t go around handing random people diamonds if you had them. Why? Because they’re precious. They’re rare. That’s how you must treat your fucks. You must treat them like they are some sort of prized treasure. Doing so allows you to be selective. And being selective means you have power. You’re not a charity, so don’t act like one. Don’t just freely give fucks out for free. If you don’t value the fucks you give, then no one else will do that for you. You set the price tag on your “fucks”. Don’t be a cheap whore. Make it quite a price to pay to get a fuck out of you. There should always be some sort of benefit you receive in return for giving a fuck. Your goal is to set the check and balances straight by making your act of giving a fuck actually worth it. If you feel like you’ve gotten a “raw deal” out of life, it’s because you’re giving too much of a fuck about things you shouldn’t give a fuck about. Make your deal in life fair by laying out your own expectations instead of giving a fuck about other people’s expectations and trying to live up to them. You set the standard. You abide by your own dude way. Not giving a fuck also means recognizing your own mortality and not acting like you have forever, an unlimited supply of time, to do the things you want to. It allows you to actually live life instead of merely exist. By realizing your time on this earth is limited, you're prone to avoid decisions that are wasteful (of your fucks) and instead fruitful.  You can’t be a complete uncaring bastard. Despite the clear advantages of not giving a fuck, you do have to give a fuck about something. And not just anything, but something that actually freaking matters! Not giving a fuck doesn’t mean you are completely heartless. You have a heart but only for things of importance. You spend your fucks on worthwhile things and people. You care about the vitals and not the distractions. One example is Larry from Telltale’s the Walking Dead game is a grumpy old man. Short-tempered and hostile, the man doesn’tgive a fuck about anything or anybody or so it seems. But you look at what angers him because anger is at the heart of passion. He fires off about Lee being a murderer pre-apocalypse and to “watch his ass” around his daughter or the kid Duck. Despite how heartless he comes across, that’s the one fuck he does give: protecting the innocent and those he cares for. Now I’m not saying you should develop this type of anger-fueled persona, but I am saying that as “uncaring” as you can be towards most things, you can be caring towards those things that matter.  So too you must choose a fuck worth a damn. The fuck you give should be something beyond the material. Fame, status, a good rep -- all of that is superficial. When you decide what to give a fuck about, don’t pick anything arbitrary. Find a greater principle. Find something meaningful. When I say greater principle, I mean sort of like this higher calling, in a sense. Justice, honesty, peace. Those are the type of greater principles we’re talking about, the shit worth giving a fuck about. Nothing like a large cash stack or a fleet of yachts is actually worth giving a fuck about (though a lot of people do). Enthusiasm for materialism leads to emptiness. You could be the richest man in the world, yet feel unfulfilled. You give a fuck about an external thing to bring you internal happiness and that drives you into a perpetual loop of trying to obtain “more.” More is never enough. A thing like being honest though - that’s something you can’t covet more of. Either you’re honest or you’re not. There’s no “being more honest”. That’s not a thing. You either bullshit or you tell the truth. There’s no such thing as a “half truth. There’s the truth and there’s a lie. It’s as simple as that. When you give a fuck about a strong principle like that, or like justice or peace, it’s something you either have or you don’t, so you don’t throw yourself into a perpetual loop of never being or having enough. You just have “it” and don’t need any more, nor is there any “more” to obtain. Also, giving a fuck about something outside of your control, like someone else’s approval, is flat out stupid. That means you’re letting someone else dictate how much your fucks are worth instead of setting your own price tag. You want to price them like diamonds. You don’t want someone else to price it at mud. By choosing to give a fuck about something not in your direct control, you are essentially letting another person judge your worth. Know your worth and aim instead fto give a fuck about something you manage yourself. It is in your direct control on whether or not to be honest. It is in your direct control on whether or not to be just or act peaceful. It is in your control or not whether or not to be LAZY. You get the gist. Basically, choose a fuck worth a damn!  Give a fuck about the right thing for the right fucking reason. One important aspect to consider when choosing what to give a fuck about is your reason behind giving it a fuck in the first place. Spreading words of peace to win social media likes or “Telling it like it is” to win votes in an election has an ulterior motive. A “good fuck” has none of that shit. It’s straightforward and completely dead set on upholding a certain principle for the sake of the principle itself, not some arbitrary benefit. While it may be worth a damn to give a fuck about social justice. If you’re doing it to gain some sort of notoriety, then your perspective is skewed, and once again, you’ll be left feeling unfulfilled. First, it’s completely outside of your control whether or not people appreciate your sort of social justice cause. Second, approval is again, a materialistic desire at best and not worth seeking after. Look at the man who aims to be more attractive towards women. He learns how to act, what to say. Nothing wrong with learning social skills. I mean that’s actually the “right” thing to do, but you gotta look at the reason behind it. On the outside he comes across as a suave confident guy, but on the inside? He’s a total wuss. He gives a fuck (literally and figuratively) about female approval. His entire self worth is based on how often he’s getting laid or given attention by women. Even though he acts like he doesn’t give a fuck about her, secretly, that’s all he cares about . Well, not her as a person, but her attention. He enjoys the way she strokes his Ego and ...something else.. Somehow his [Aloofness is attractive to her though]. Women find Aloof men very attractive. (Why won’t he pay attention to me when all these other guys won’t stop hitting on me?) It’s mysterious and grabs attention. But as long as his goal (the fuck he gives) is to gain her approval, his Aloofness is nothing but a stage act. He’s putting on a show. See, he’s not focused on a real mission, a worthy fuck to give, that keeps him Aloof to her. He’s only pretending to be Aloof to pique her interest. He should find something (to give a fuck to) that keeps him pre-occupied, not pretend to be preoccupied because the thing he actually gives a fuck about is winning her approval.  Don’t let shit bother you.
That would seem to be at the very core of the definition of “not giving a fuck” But you know what? It’s okay to let shit bother you - the important shit. It’s okay to get riled up when there’s injustice. It’s okay to blow off some steam when someone tells you a straight up lie. Getting bothered by important shit is not only acceptable, it’s actually encouraged. I mean after all, that means the thing you are giving a fuck about is a worthy principle. I’m not saying you should actually scream and yell or blurt out a rant, but it is okay to feel that anger towards something. Let it ruffle your feathers. Let it fire you up. Give a fuck about that thing that matters to you on a deep level because if you don’t give a fuck about anything else, people will know you’re fucking serious and not just bitchin’. Take it easy, N8
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Ah, the sloth. He’s at the heart of every true procrastin8r. Everything about the sloth’s nature is the LAZY we aim to be. He’s Slow, taking his time, Smooth, able to just go with the flow, and Deliberate, as every action he takes is done with purpose (SSD).
In the past couple weeks, we’ve been breaking down each of these three attributes that makes the sloth so...slothful. Today, we’re taking a deep dive into the final module of SDD in embracing your inner-sloth: Deliberate. To be deliberate is to be thoughtful. You take your time (nice n’ slow) to make any sort of decision. You take the time and think, actually freaking think, about your next move, without jumping into something on a whim. Your decisions are strategic, thought out, planned, and you don’t just rely on gut instinct to take action. You consciously take a slow n’ steady step forward, instead of jolting ahead swiftly, without regard as to where exactly you’re stepping. The sloth himself is not sporadic. He grabs each branch in a deliberate move, choosing each limb of the tree carefully before climbing further. So too must you pay careful attention to your next course of action in climbing to the top of your goal. Act on logic, not on emotion Emotions can often blind us and lead us to do things we never intended to do, like screaming a horrible insult at someone we care about. Emotions, if we rely on them too much, can make us rather reckless. The sloth is not a reckless animal. He is calm, stoic. He doesn’t get overly enthused nor overly angry. He doesn’t roar. He squeaks a little but is mostly silent. He’s steady, balanced. So too must you aim for the same calm approach in any scenario. It is important to rely more so on deliberate logic than it is to rely on high-spirited emotions when it comes to choosing how to handle things. Logic allows you to thoughtfully lay out the pros and cons of each possible choice. It allows you to deliberately make a choice instead of instinctively doing so. You do things on purpose and not on impulse. See, it’s not just negative emotions that lead to bad decisions. Sometimes positive emotions can be just as dangerous as the negative ones. Deciding to have unprotected sex with a stranger because you feel excited then contracting an STD, speeding down an icy road because you feel real enthusiastic about your new car then crashing into a pole. You get the idea. Emotions are the toddlers in our brains. They may have a point when they’re whining and screaming, but don’t always have the best method of going about things to express said point. Calmly express how you feel without getting emotional. That’s not to say you don’t have emotions or you don’t feel them. You do. It’s that you don’t let your emotions have complete jurisdiction over your decision-making process. You control your emotions and don’t let your emotions control you. They are the passenger, giving you directions, but you hold the steering wheel. You choose where to drive. Every action you take, every word you speak is done with purpose. You are careful with what you say and what you do, without letting your emotions take full control of those words or actions. It’s better to be IN-active than RE-active. The sloth spends his day sleeping. Bugs may bite him. Rain may drench his fur. But he remains fast asleep, unfazed, unbothered,...Aloof (the A in LAZY) to it all. He is IN-active in his attitude towards whatever sort of dilemma pops up. That’s because he knows what he wants to do -- sleep -- and he does just that, despite any sort of distraction or stress factor. Inactive doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing. It means not becoming active or worked up when shit hits the fan. Being Reactionary means being easily stirred by outside circumstances. It means getting emotional about things. It means giving into stress easily and breaking down. That is NOT the sloth way. Rather than performing a sort of recoil to events, take the initiative to plan events instead of having events plan you. Decide and abide. You set the direction you want things to go and stick to it. You don’t react, you act. You take matters into your own hands. You take responsibility. Do less, with more focus If you aren’t Deliberate in your goals, you spread yourself thin across many (unnecessary) tasks. You’re completely scatter-brained, trying to juggle everything at once. Make it easy on yourself. Be a sloth. Be Deliberate. Focus on just a few things. Deliberation is being selective so you must selectively choose what you prioritize. Most things on your to-do list, you procrastinate on, and only do the things that actually matter. You procrastinate with purpose, eliminating tasks and goals that aren’t really in line with moving you toward your ultimate vision, the PRO-crastin8r you want to be. The sloth doesn’t do a whole lot, but he does sleep, and at a 20 hour a day snoozefest, he’s damn good at it. Be good at just one thing, instead of trying to make yourself out to be a jack of trades. Remove obscurity, make clear cut goals Being Deliberate means being SPECIFIC about what you want. An obscure goal is nothing more than a wish; it’s all fantasy. You can’t achieve something too vague. A goal, on the other hand, is a real tangible objective that you set out to attain. Goals like “I want to lose weight” or “I want to quit my day job” don’t really have substance.They’re obscure. Like what does it really mean? How much weight do you want to lose? When do you want to lose it by? What steps are you going to take to achieve that? You must have in mind specifically what it is you desire to accomplish and take steps that lead you there. It has to be something possible too -- something you’re capable of performing. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time. Procrastinate your time, but don’t waste it. Ignore instant gratification In the social media age, we’re addicted to instant gratification. Want a new phone? Get it delivered to your door in a few hours. Want social approval? Post a picture and get likes. Want a date (or maybe just some attention)? Swipe right. It’s easy to fall into the trap of simply expecting things to come right away. But that’s just not the timeline of reality. We’ve certainly adapted this expectation of “GET IT NOW” for everything. The best things in life, those that are worthwhile, aren’t available in the now. Great things take time, like a delicious slow-cooked bowl of chili. “Eventually” is the timeline of the sloth, eventually is the timeline of a true procrastin8r. If you’re Deliberate, you don’t seek to satisfy the thrills immediately. Rather, you choose what is best, not necessarily immediately available. You are willing to wait for the greater return LATER then to settle for some sort of synthetic that just so happens to be available right this goddamn second. As tempting as it is to want it now, have a bit of patience. It’ll all happen...in due time, friend. In due time. Make a specific goal and take the time to get there... eventually. Like the sloth. Don’t expect to reach the top of the tree in an instant. Take it to the top, one branch at a time. Level up In the game called Real Life, ya gotta constantly be gaining xp, so that you can reach “max level” in whatever “class” you choose. Total character customization here. You choose your own path to play. And you level up whatever, talents and skills you want. This goes hand in hand with ignoring instant gratification. You don’t reach max level overnight (of course there’s some shitty IAP practices by a lot of games now that let you buy your way to victory, but I digress). You have to grind it out, one level, one xp at a time. And hit max level...eventually. Always seek improvement, don’t allow yourself to plateau. Don’t settle for mid-tier level. Deliberately level up your skills and don’t just wander around this open world aimlessly. Give yourself a bit of self reflection In order to make deliberate actions, you need some self awareness. Awareness is key in deliberation. After all, you can’t level up your character if you don’t know how to play him (or her). Understand your playstyle. Understand your controls. Understand your strengths and weaknesses. Look at what you did right. Look at how you can improve. Re-equip your character and re-adjust your stats to face the adventure tomorrow. Seriously, reflect upon what you are actually doing. You can’t be deliberate if you’re not even aware of the progress being made. I mean in that case, you’d just be going in blind. Know how far you’ve come and believe in how far you can go. You’re not aiming for a flawless performance or a perfect adventure, but one in which you slowly get better over time. Be honest with yourself and take the time to really examine what sort of “tweaks” you need to make in order to level up. The sloth is probably aware of the fact that he is lazy as fuck and he uses that to his advantage. Likewise, make your strengths stronger and your weaknesses strengths. Seek feedback It’s dangerous to go alone! Here take this: advice. No, not from me. But someone close to you, someone you trust, someone who can be bluntly honest with you. I’m not talking about someone who is going to encourage you. I’m talking to someone who will rip you to shreds, or at least be willing to. Constructive criticism is a necessary ingredient in being Deliberate. It gives you a clearer picture of “how to level up” when you can receive an honest outside perspective. And again, the clearer your goal is, the more deliberate you are being. There’s only so much you can think to yourself...about yourself. There’s always something you may be missing. It helps to turn to a trusted coach, advisor, or even friend to bring to light what you’ve been blind eyed to. Take time to rest And of course, what kind of sloth doesn’t get his beauty sleep? Deliberately give yourself plenty of rest, rather than working so hard to the point that you can’t even try anymore. Look, you're gonna run out of energy no matter what. You either plan to recharge intermittently or run out of fuel before you can say “I need a nap.” Give yourself a break. Don’t break yourself trying to avoid one. Procrastinate with Purpose and embrace yourself in Leisure occasionally, without any concern about any sort of goal or project. Your body needs it. Your mind needs it. Give yourself inner-peace. Fully and completely at rest. The sloth knows the power of rest. He gets done what he wants to get done and doesn’t force himself to try any harder than he needs to. He gives himself plenty of time to rejuvenate before climbing again. Take time to be the sloth, sleeping without a care, until you decide to climb again. If you climb too long, you’ll get too tired and fall. Wrapping Up: Now you know what it takes to embrace your inner-sloth -- how to be SSD, Slow, Smooth, and Deliberate. You understand the nature of such a lazy animal and what it means to become like him. Now in case you were a little too lazy to read the past few articles, I’ll give you the TLDR verstion: Don’t rush into things. Take your time and do things with a full set of intentions, as opposed to reactions. That’s the sloth way. Take it easy, N8 Look at this. A cute little cuddly furry animal in a tree. Aww.
But he’s not just any ordinary adorable mammal. No. This is the sloth and he is the ultimate procrastin8r. He’s our spirit animal, our guide, the role model we set out to be. The sloth is Laziness at its core. He is the very definition of living an easy breezy life, free of worries or stress. To embrace true Laziness is to embrace your inner-sloth. But what makes him such an idol? Why is the sloth able to put the PRO in procrastin8r? Well, there are three main attributes that embody his very essence. He is Slow, Smooth, and Deliberate (SSD). The first thing you think of when you think of the sloth is that he is a slow animal. He takes his time and gets things done...eventually. Eventually climbing to the top of the tree. Eventually reaching his goal. No rush. No hurry. Just a Slow climb to where he wants to go, and he always gets there...eventually. He remains steady and level headed. He is Smooth and everything he does appears rather...effortless. He doesn’t try hard to eat leaves. He just...does it. Naturally. If predators come by, he stays calm. If it rains, he is completely unperturbed. Nothing really fazes him at all and he just does his own thing. Calmly, Smoothly. He takes the attitude of “Well that ain’t gonna bother me”. And finally, the sloth does things deliberately. He acts. He doesn’t react. Every single move he makes is done with a purpose, a plan. He doesn’t rely on uncontrolled reflexes to deal with a situation. Instead he relies on careful thought out actions. Last week, we of course talked all about the importance of being Slow and now we’re gonna dive into the second part of embracing your inner sloth in SSD theory: Being Smooth. Remain unfazed Don’t get overly excited or upset about anything. Keep your emotions in check. The sloth is not overly eager to eat leaves. He enjoys them, sure. But he’s not super passionate about doing it. He just likes it Likewise, embrace the simple pleasure of things, but don’t go overboard emotionally. That’s not to say you’re a miserable fuck who doesn’t at all appreciate anything. You do. You’re just not easily impressed , that’s all. Set the tone that people cans somewhat impress you, but not utterly stun you. It’s cool, but it’s whatever. It’s not that huge. They may pique your interest a bit but not completely floor you in awe. Settle down your enthusiasm about things. You can show a slight smile and maybe chuckle a bit, but don’t be belting out a hardy laugh with a big bright smile. Be less reactive to stories and events. The sloth is not running around all hyped up and crazily excited, like a squirrel on caffeine; he’s just laid back and pretty apathetic. If someone tells you they just took a trip to Cancun, don’t get all like “OMG! That is absolutely AMAZING!!” Be unreactive. Say something along the lines of “Oh, that’s pretty cool.” Create the vibe that you find whatever it is interesting but not shocking. Take the attitude as if you’ve seen it all, heard it all before. Take the attitude of “meh.” Nothing can fire you up too easily. It’s all whatever. Expect the unexpected and nothing can hit you unexpectedly. The same goes for negative emotions too. You remain motionless, like the sloth, in times of strife. Motionless as in undisturbed, not fearful to move. You deliberately decide not to react in a harsh way. Your reaction time is Slow, as you choose the best way to respond. If you get rejected, you don’t get all angsty and try to beg or plead or worse, try to insult the other person. Rejection doesn’t boil you up. You may be a bit disappointed at worst, but you're never completely full of shock and chagrin. Any sort of confrontational scenario doesn’t induce in you any sort of panic. You approach it with a sort of “Let’s see where this goes” attitude. Insults, criticism, hate comments -- those are all things that simply don’t get under your skin. Just like predators, our enemies are looking for reactive movements. Sloths survive because they don’t move and if they do, they do so very, very slowly. Predators which rely on movement to seek their prey literally just ignore them. So too will your enemies and haters. Some people just want a reaction out of you, and if you don’t give them one, then they have nothing to “feed” off of. You’re in a sense, just unaffected by emotions. That doesn’t mean you are emotionLESS. You feel emotions, but don’t let them decide how you make your move. You keep it smooth. Everything is Effortless Does it look like the sloth is hustling and bustling or trying hard to do things? No, of course not. He’s out there climbing great heights and all along the way, he barely even tries. I mean think about it, it’s actually a lot of effort to climb up a freaking tree, but the sloth makes it look like what he’s doing is no big deal. He ain’t up their panting from lifting himself up nor shivering form a fear of heights. He’s all relaxed and at ease, despite how difficult the task at hand (climbing a tree in this case) might be. Part of being Smooth is displaying a lack of effort. Things go your way and you barely lift a finger. You let your brain do the work for you and other people too for that matter. It’s all about minimizing effort and maximizing results. You want to put in as little investment as possible (or at least the appearance of doing so) in order to yield the largest amount of investment from others in return. The person who seems to get a lot without giving much in return is the “cool” guy or gal. Ya know, the person who always just seems to get their way and doesn’t really “go out of his/her way” to do things.. The secret is, they are putting in effort. They are going out of their way (to climb a tree). They just don’t make it seem like it’s actually “out of the way”. They set the tone as if this is just the way they happen to be going. The slow n’ steady path they decided to take. They’re not making it a public display of struggle or burden. See, the key is to not try to impress others. The more you try to make a good impression, the less impressive you’ll look. The jester puts on a whole performance of juggling and slapstick humor to gain some sort of light clapping, but the king gains a massive applause just by standing up. That’s the perfect example of what it means to minimize effort and maximize results, what it means to be effortless. Even if it is something actually difficult or something that does require a load of effort on your part (like if you are a king, you have to run a whole empire), you don’t let it shine through that you’re actually “trying”. Rather, you make it seem like it’s just happening. No “try hard” No desperate measures. No large displays of affection (unless you receive that sort of thing in return). You just...do it. Smoothly. Act Natural It’s quite cliche to say “be yourself”, like what does that even mean? I hate cliches. It’s like we have a set of phrases everyone regurgitates but no one really defines or clarifies. Anyway, I think the idea behind that one is to be comfortable in your own bed, so to speak. Comfort is key. You’re comfortable doing your own thing, regardless of what other people say or think about you, regardless of expectations. You don’t feel any pressure to live up to any sort of social norm. You abide by your own way.You’re comfortable holding an opinion that’s different. You’re comfortable making the first move. You just feel like what you’re doing is so natural as a part of who you are, and it’ll come across that way. It’s not something you’re faking or putting on an act about. You’re just going with the flow. The way you get to that level of naturalness is to eliminate any and all bullshit in your life. Quit bullshitting yourself. That’s how you “be yourself”. Come to terms with your strengths, your flaws, your wants, your needs, your desires, no matter how bad, no matter how ugly, and express it with full and complete honesty. The Sloth doesn’t try to act like he’s a swift little fox. Nah bro. He just accepts he’s slow as fuck and uses that to his advantage. Ya gotta know how to flip your weaknesses into strengths and transform your strengths into something even more powerful. Use Laziness as your superpower. You want to take the attitude of “I don’t need to impress you or anybody.” Don’t be approval-seeking or people pleasing. Gaining approval is one of the most effortful tasks you can do and don’t even get me started on people pleasing. Look, if you treat someone else like a celebrity, they will treat you like a fan. Be a celebrity, or at least act like it. Act like you are important. And that’s just the thing you have to believe --- that you ARE important. Not that you’re trying to be, not that you will be. You are. Right here, right now. In the present. If you believe you are important and the things you do are important and the words you say are important, then you’re no longer out there “trying” to make a name for yourself. You just, well, for lack of a better phrase…be yourself. Be in Control. Be steady. Having a lack of reaction is actually stronger than one that is boisterous and demanding. A person who yells and screams, using intimidation to get his way, is actually not that in control. The boyfriend that screams at his submissive girlfriend whenever she does anything even slightly wrong, the boss that blows off his top when his employee makes even the simplest of mistakes -- these are examples of people trying to be in control but not actually having it. If you have to force other people to submit to your will in some fashion, you may have power, but you do not have control. Control is the ability to actually manage the things you have direct influence over. You can guide other people. You can even manipulate them. But you can’t ever control them. The only thing you can actually control is your own thoughts, words, and actions. The outside world is chaotic (though as we discussed expecting the unexpected keeps it from becoming too overwhelming). Be in control of your emotions. Don’t make others responsible for your own emotions. Take charge of YOU. You may not be able to control how you feel, but you can control how you react to it. You can’t change your mood if you're angry, but you can rationally decide if you want to bark and scream like a wild beast, or ease on back like a sloth. The Sloth doesn’t bark, bite, or spit poison. He reacts smoothly and calmly, without a loud instinctive roar or anything. He just focuses on what he can control, and that has nothing to do with the outside environment. Even when things don’t go your way, take it with a grain of salt. Don’t use fear or intimidation but use charisma. Be a lazy leader, not a belligerent boss. People will respect you if you are in control of your own inner world. Handle problems with Poise & Grace Mistakes are Meh. Drill that in your head if it isn’t drilled in your head at this point, because I repeat this phrase constantly. Any time you fuck up yourself or something or someone fucks your day up, you can’t let it get to you. If a sloth drops a leaf, he ain’t gonna sit there and whine about it all day or jump down after it. He’ll just slowly and steadily climb to another one. You too must let go of your mistakes and reach to climb a new chapter in your life, learning from your mistakes but not letting them define you or make you fall down. Failing does not make you a failure. Being smooth is not about a flawless performance. It’s continuing to improve after flaws are met. Give yourself a chance to be an Idiot. It’s okay. If you’re an idiot, it means there’s still room to grow, still things to learn. Don’t bargain, beg, or plead. Don’t over apologize either. Admit it was wrong, but don’t harp on how sorry you are about it. You see mistakes as an opportunity to learn a lesson, not as some sort of pivotal moment that completely ruined you. It’s all about Confidence Being smooth is NOT about being witty and cracking jokes or about running your mouth off with some catchy lines. It’s about feeling Comfortable in your own skin, Cozy in your own bed, so to speak. Embracing your inner-sloth means embracing your inner-confidence. If you’re worried about what to say next or what to do next, those are doubtful thoughts. Doubt is counter-productive to being smooth, to say the least. Doubt is a poison to your brain. The sloth doesn’t doubt his ability to climb a tree. He knows he can. Apply the same principle to your own goals. Know you’ll get there...eventually. Don’t be like the “Little Engine Who Could” and “think you can”. KNOW you can. The moment you think to yourself “but what if..” is the moment you pave a rough road ahead. Pave a smooth road, free of doubt or worry. Have some good goddamn old fashioned confidence. It’s Really Not a Big Deal This goes for both positive and negative events. If a girl says yes to a date, guys often make the mistake of getting all excited and making it seem like it’s a really big deal that he gets to go out with a beautiful woman. This makes him an absolute nervous wreck during the date, and she can smell his desperation over the fragrance of too much cheap cologne. Instead, he just needs to go out, have a good time, and not make a huge fuss about it. She’ll smell that confidence on his chest. Likewise, if you’re about to post a vlog online and you’re thinking how this is “your big chance” to get a big following, you’re gonna be so awkward on camera. You just gotta hit the record button and upload the video. Not a big deal. When we make something a GIGANTIC deal, it becomes nerve wracking. We lose focus and end up shooting ourselves in our own foot. We basically tie our two shoes together and trip when all we have to do is walk. You’ve gotta simmer it down a tad, boss. No matter how big the tree is, the Sloth doesn’t think of the tree in terms of size. It’s a tree. It’ll be climbed. Whatever. Again, take the attitude that you’ve seen and heard it all before. Remain unfazed. If nothing is a big deal to you, you’ll naturally remain unfazed. Got a big promotion? Won the lottery? Gone through a break up? Broke your arm? It’s just something that happens. So what? Not that big of a deal. Relax. Seriously. Just...relax. The key to smoothness is to loosen up and lean back. Take a deep breath and yawn. If you feel comfortable, then you will act comfortable. If your body language is tight, it doesn’t matter how confident you act, you’ll be speaking clearly with your body language that you are, in fact, not comfortable at all. Tightness communicates insecurity, a a lack fo confidencem and you can’t be smooth if you’re all uptight. Relax a little. The sloth is always relaxed. Always. There’s nothing worth worrying about. It's all just about going with the flow, nice and smoothly. As a procrastin8r, the sloth is our spirit animal. He’s Slow, Smooth, and Deliberate (or SSD for short).
He’s in no hurry to get things done. He’s just living his slothful little life, enjoying his steady climb up the tree, with no regards to meeting a certain rushed deadline. Man, he’ll get there when he gets there...eventually. And he ain’t takin’ any sort of shit telling him to move faster. Nah bro, he’s good. He likes to move nice n’ Slow. He also simply doesn’t give a fuck about how fast other animals might be climbing trees, like monkeys swinging swiftly from branch to branch. Rainy days don’t bother him; he just keeps steadily climbing. Whatever. He’s Smooth and unfazed by any sort of criticism or setbacks. Every branch he grabs, on purpose. Every leaf he eats, decisively chosen. He is deliberate in his actions. Nothing sporadic or jittery. He doesn’t *react* to things uncontrollably. He brushes it off, gently, and moves forward, with purpose. Today, we’re gonna begin a deep dive into the SSD theory of embracing your inner-sloth. We’ll take a look at each of the modules in the coming next few articles, starting with Slow in this one. Take your time. There’s no rush We live in a society that pushes for instant gratification. Get it now, buy it now, do it now. Anything you could ever want to purchase is delivered straight to your door the same day with just a matter of a few clicks. Relationships are built on swiping right. Friendships on clicking “Like”. Everything is rushed for that immediate “high” you feel when seeing that little red bubble on your phone screen pop up. But we aren’t really *living*. We’re just...existing. Going through the motions, not taking the time to actually appreciate the wonders life has to offer. Our entire self worth is often based on the amount of “likes” we have, rather than deep inner self love. Everything is superficial. Social media is fake. No one is really being themselves, but rather presenting an ideal version of themselves to gain some sort of arbitrary approval that really offers nothing worthwhile other than a fleeting feeling of happiness. People aren’t happy. They’re on a constant chase for happiness. Rushing to achieve or obtain “the next big thing”. And what happens when they get there, when they get what they sought after? Well, they’re left with disappointment, resentment. They’re left feeling like it’s still “not enough”. They want the bigger house, the nicer car, the more exotic vacation. They want more. But more is never enough. “More” is perpetual, a never-ending cycle. Want more, get more and long for more soon after. It’s the pattern of a dull life, one in which the consumer-driven media encourages us to live. Life goes by fast. It’s a swift little heartbeat in the wind. If we don’t take the time to actually engulf ourselves in the present and appreciate what we have right here, right now, it’ll be over before you can see “I wish I would have…” You could die tomorrow, but would you have really *lived*? It’s a question we must ask ourselves. Are we here for the journey or the destination? Enjoy the journey. One. Step. At a time. Even if you don’t “make it” where you planned to be, at least you can say to yourself that you enjoyed the ride while trying to get there. Find satisfaction with who you are and what you’re doing, in the present, rather than seeking to obtain it in some far off future. Slow it down, in Leisure and allow yourself to fully actually *enjoy* the thing you are doing. Don’t do it to seek approval or likes. “Just do it” to do it. Do it for pure enjoyment. Nothing more, nothing less. When you accomplish something, be proud of yourself. Take time to celebrate. Don’t feel obligated to rush and achieve the “next big thing” all at once. There is no hurry, so don’t worry. Live a life free of deadlines and due dates. Those are unnecessary stresses. It’ll get done when it gets done. Ironically, you’ll probably achieve much more by a certain “due date” if you don’t think of the due date at all. You’ll feel less pressured ,less panicked, and can better relax and focus on the task at hand. Honestly, the harder you try to rush, the faster you’re gonna run out of steam, and the harder you’re gonna crash. It’s not laziness. It’s energy efficiency. Take it slow dude. Do things on your terms. Whenever you want. We’re given a timeline, some sort of “life roadmap” we’re expected to follow. By this age, you should be married. By that age, you should have kids. Bullshit. Do things when you want, if you even want to. Don’t feel compelled to live out a life that was pre-written for you. Write your own story, damnit. There’s no sort of guideline or protocol you “have to” follow. You live a life of desire and not obligation. You *slowly* approach things, moving in your own direction, and don’t immediately jump in a direction you’re told to go just because you’re told to go there. The same goes for everyday scenarios too. If you’re asked to hang out, you do so if you want to (even get out of bed to begin with), on a day that you choose is convenient to you, at a place you personally like. You don’t just “go along” with something to make someone else happy, when in turn it makes you rather miserable. Don’t make haste to agree just to people please. Slowly and steadily utter the word “No” and mean it. You don’t let people walk all over you or take advantage of your generosity and kindness. If people call you an asshole ‘cause you don’t do what *they* want, so what? That’s on them, not on you. Be a lazy asshole. Just never go full asshole. Make it clear where your boundaries are and don’t blitz to break them. Slow down, man. It’s easy to let go of your principles if you’re such in a rush to make other people happy. If your friend invites you to watch a musical, but musicals just aren’t your thing, it’s okay to say “No”. Sure, they might be upset for a little while, but any strong friendship allows each person to make individual decisions. If someone is demanding of your time and demanding of your submission, that’s not a relationship at all. That’s just...toxic as hell, to say the least. You don’t have to scramble up and do things for anything or anybody. You take it nice n’ slow and get up only when you feel like it. Heck, you’ll lie on the couch all day if that’s what you want to do. You ain’t gotta be forceful or nasty about it. You’re just takin’ it easy and abiding by your own dude thing. Procrastinate with purpose. We’re always told not to procrastinate and “just do it” right away. What is this “it” we’re supposed to do anyway? That is the question and the answer is for you to decide. See, there’s no avoiding procrastination. We’re always procrastinating *something*. You may be procrastianting chores to play video games or flip it, you may be procrastinating playing video games to do chores. There’s always something you’re putting off in order to do something else. Unless you’re equipped with some sort of time-travel device, that’s the way it works. The very act of choosing to *do* something, means you are, in turn, procrastinating another thing. Embrace your inner-sloth and choose what to procrastinate on. Procrastination is really the heart of good time-management. It’s not so much about NOT procrastinating, it’s about knowing what to procrastinate on and when to procrastinate on it. Put off shit that doesn’t matter in order to focus on what truly does. Slow down your tendency to move on to the next task immediately. Procrastinate and take time to rationally think about the best course of action before actually stepping forward. Everything you choose to do (or not do for that matter) must be done on purpose. Think, slowly, before you act. Don’t make a quick impulsive decision. (Of course that’s more touching base on being Deliberate, but all these principles are quite interconnected) Slow n’ Steady wins the race If you rush, work hard, nonstop, you’re gonna burn out. It’s inevitable. You could be the most diligent person in the world, but you still won’t have an unlimited supply of time and energy. Trying to always work your ass off will cause you to feel depleted. You have to allocate your resources of time and energy effectively. That’s where laziness comes in. That's where going slow and embracing your inner-sloth comes in. You want to move at a nice, slow, yet progressive pace. Always be making progress, always level up somehow, make improvements, get better. But don’t feel an urgency to do so. Relax on into it. Don’t pressure yourself. I mean yeah “slow n’ steady wins the race”, but the thing is, it’s not even a race. I mean who are you racing against? Arbitrary societal standards? Cool your jets, man. It’s not a competition. There is no winner. The only real form of victory is feeling satisfied in what you’re doing and if you don’t have that, well, you don’t have anything. The only person you’re really competing against is yourself and your own Ego holding you back. Ego is gonna tell you to make a name for yourself. Ego is gonna try to convince you that you need to do MORE. Look man, just do *enough*. That’s all you need to do. Just enough. Take all the time you need to do that to. It’ll all get done...eventually. Be in your sloth, not your Ego. Slowly disperse your energy. Don’t let it all out in one go. You want to be able to play the whole game, not just the first quarter. Being *steady* is just as important as being slow too. To be steady is to be level-headed. You can’t make reactive decisions. Ease your impulses to yell, cry, or scream. That doesn’t solve anything, nor does it make you “win”. All it does is make you look weak and stupid. Practice the art of steadiness and remaining calm in whatever the situation is. Don’t get overly eager or excited about positive situations nor overly upset or downhearted about negative ones. Keep level headed. Steady. Calm. Slowly Respond to whatever life throws at you. Don’t React impulsively. (Again, we’re touching base on “Smooth” here, but like I said, the principles are all connected) Troubles come and go Take it slow and go with the flow. Whatever happens, happens. Don’t attach yourself to a certain outcome. Mistakes are meh and you can always learn from them. No matter how terrible things get (as a result of your own mistake or otherwise) or at least how terrible they *seem* to get, you’ll float on. If there’s a loss, in either a death of someone close or a breakup, or really anything “bad” that happens to us, we want to make the pain go away. We want to move on quickly. And in doing so, we hurt even worse. We never let the wound fully heal. We pick at the scab and say “this shouldn’t be here” only to cause more bleeding. Slow down. Feel your emotions. Really feel them. Take a moment to actually grieve. Feel the pain. Know it will pass, but don’t try to force it to. Let yourself go through the emotions you’re feeling, without reacting to them of course. Slow is not just an adjective. It’s a way of life. Everything you do must be slow. Everything you think, slow. Slow down your pace. The way you walk. The way you speak. Your body language is laid-back, not uptight. Your shoulders are relaxed. You hold eye contact and don’t nervously look away. You make your motions slow, not fidgety or shaky. You speak with calm authority, not hesitation or excitement. Take the time to choose the words that come out of your mouth carefully before you just blurt something out. Trust in the silence and don’t nervously try fill it with rushed run-on sentences. Give yourself time to notice things. Notice details. The little things, in everyday life. You’ll come to appreciate them. You’ll come to see beauty in things you overlooked when trying to rush on by. Relax. Breathe. Yawn. Take it all in. Nice and slow. There’s a lot of this “work hard” mantra in society. You gotta think hard, try hard, do hard. Everything about life is hard.Either shut up or buck up. Don’t like it? Too bad.Put in the effort. Do the work. Grind your ass off. It’s as if “effort” is the main resource that keeps society fully functioning. It’s as if exerting yourself to the point of exhaustion is the only way to “prove thyself”. It’s as if there’s no other way to be a worthy human being than to be the best Bullshit! Look, life is not that hard. There is an easy way out... and it’s actually rather preferable to “working hard” towards success. Any effort you have to do to be successful, contrary to popular belief, is quite minimal. You don’t have to be the “best” at anything. You just have to be “good enough”. See, it’s not a matter of working hard. It’s a matter of working smart. It’s not a matter of trying to earn success but about earning satisfaction. It’s not a matter of exercising your brain power, it’s about using your brain effectively. We often are working against ourselves, thinking against ourselves to make life, well...a hell of a lot harder. Whether it’s the outside influences of “work hard” propaganda or just our own inner self doubts and beliefs, we constantly add difficulty to our lives by just thinking in certain patterns. But that can all change. You can leave behind your “work hard” mindset and negative beliefs and adapt the LAZY Mindset with positive, relaxing beliefs. You can begin to truly embrace your laziness, Today, we’re going to dive into how to think like a procrastin8r, and by that I mean how to literally THINK as a procrastin8r. We’re gonna aim to start using your brain so it does the thinking and hard work for you.  Your brain is like a machine Press the right buttons and it’ll run on autopilot, while you sit back and relax. There’s no need to go “full manual” mode and consciously “go through the motions”. Instead, you go with the flow, just sort of...allowing it to happen with no attentive effort on your part. Success comes passively if you let it. Let’s get into it. See, a program tells a machine (or computer) sort of what its reality is by defining certain “objects”. Likewise, your brain defines “objects” in the world based on your prior experience. If you get bit by a dog, you might think that all dogs are aggressive like that. Even though that’s far from true, and most dogs are cute cuddly animals. Your reality, and what “things” are is set by your own perspective. While our brains run on the code, the perspective it’s given, you are not just the machine (perspective viewer) itself, but also the programmer. You are the creator of the machine and can tell it “how to run”, so to speak. You choose your perspective; it doesn’t choose you. Unlike an actual machine, you have self reliance and free will. You freely choose the “input” which produces the “output”. The output is automatic. It comes as a result of the input. A machine told to build refrigerators will do just that. It can’t build cars if that’s not what it’s programmed to do. Likewise, a brain told to build success will follow suit and well, build success. The information, or lines of code, tell a machine what to do in a sort of “if this, then that” set of instructions. If the user presses Ctrl+S on the keyboard, then save the document, for example. Like a machine, your brain will run based on what you program it to do, based on the certain set of instructions, or beliefs, you give it, based on the “if/then” (input) scenarios you feed it. If I talk to someone, then they are going to think I’m awkward. If I try to play an instrument, then I’ll suck. If I ask someone out, then I’ll get rejected. If I try to start my own business, then I’ll go bankrupt. This sort of “negative programming”, bad input, will lead to negative results.On the flip side, positive input will lead to positive results. It’s important that you write “good code” for your brain machine. If I talk to someone, then we’ll make friends. If I play an instrument, then I’ll become talented. If I ask someone out, then they’ll probably be flattered. If I try to start my own business, then I’ll finally escape the 9 to 5 grind. You determine the if/then scenario of your mind’s code. You choose what “then” will look like after an “if” occurs. Your brain will function to produce results. The “means” don’t really matter. The means are just fluff. Once you decide what the end looks like, your brain will make it happen. You don’t have to figure out how you’ll get there. The details pretty much take care of themselves. Use this to your advantage. Do less with more focus Multi-tasking, juggling a million things, trying to do it all at once. Our brains are not designed to be such a Jack of Trades. They’re designed to key line focus on a minimal amount of things. The more you put on your to-do list, the more exhausted and unsatisfied you feel. The more you get done, the more you feel like you haven’t got done anything. Why? Well, you’re putting your brain into overdrive! You’re overheating the machine, trying to boot up every program all at once. You’ve got to take it down one task at a time. Slow n’ steady. Your brain is really good at targeting one issue at a time and not so much taking head on every single issue you have simultaneously. Less truly is more. If you try to do just a little bit as opposed to a mad plethora of things, you’ll feel much more productive as well as stress-free. Life becomes easy breezy when you minimize the amount of things you do. Be lazy and don’t do a whole lot. Do very little with much more focus. Choose what’s worth giving a fuck about, that is to say, what’s worth focusing on. When you give a fuck, you give it focus. You have to not give a fuck about most things. Give very little fucks and only give fucks to those things that actually matter. And when i say “things that actually matter” I mean to YOU. Not your girlfriend or boyfriend, not your parents, not your church, not your neighbor down the street. YOU. Focus on what you want. Give a fuck about what you want. Don’t program your brain based on the input others tell you. Create your own input. Don’t consciously “work” towards a goal, but pursue it The great wise Yoda once said “Do or do not. There is no try.” The way to meet your goal is simple: You just...decide. You don’t have to try hard or work hard towards it. You decide it’s gonna happen and guess what? It’ll happen! You don’t have to pour over how it’s gonna work or when it’s gonna work. Keep your goal in mind, of course, but stop worrying about the details. Again, the details take care of themselves. Stop trying. It ain’t worth the effort. Be a procrastinator. If you don’t reach a goal, it’s not because you “can’t”, it’s because you believe you can’t...and thus, can’t. Your brain will guide you to bring to life the reality (or goal) that you envision. You can accomplish things without effort. Push the right buttons in the machine.There is no try. Go with the flow. Let it work. Don’t make it work. Whatever happens, happens. Don’t attach yourself to any sort of “game plan”. Plans should be flexible, not some sort of solid expectation. Things never go “according to the plan”, but don’t panic! If there’s one guarantee in life it’s that there are no guarantees. Everything can change. Everything is unpredictable. You expect things to go a certain way and it doesn’t. But the Dude abides. Adapt and conquer. Make a goal and stick to it. Abide by it. That’s all. Write your own “ If this, then that” formula. If you want to be a success, then you will be. Your brain cannot control the outside world. It wants to, but it can’t. You can only control what goes on inside. But once you have your program written, What To Give a Fuck About 2.0, you’ll naturally move towards that goal, without even thinking or trying, despite whatever obstacles come your way. You make your goal part of who you are, not something you’re attempting to “make” happen. That leads us to the next point.. Self image is key. Your brain is a reality interpretation machine and your entire reality is based on your own self image.You create this image and your brain uses that (as well as previous experience as we’ll cover in a bit) to interpret reality. You write the code, the brain just runs it, even if there are errors or bugs. If you think you’re a creep and have no friends because you’re ugly, you’ll project a low self-doubting guy (or gal). The reason you have no friends is not because you’re ugly, it’s because you have a negative self image. You basically create a self-fulfilling prophecy. By thinking no one likes you, then having the experience of rejection, you confirm your bad self image and interpret it to be true, getting stuck in a loop. Break out of that loop, man. If you create your own prophecy, write one worth living. Debug your code and remove negative thoughts you have about yourself (or really anyone for that matter). The inner becomes the outer Whatever you think about yourself is bound to be true. Your thoughts manifest themselves into your reality. What you believe to be true, will in fact be true. You are the operator of the machine called your brain. You set the direction and then lean back and let your brain take you there. The work literally takes care of itself. An ugly person who thinks he’s good looking, while may not be able to change their physical appearance, will come across as more charismatic than an ugly person who does in fact think he’s ugly. Because they believe they are alluring, they will certainly act that way and easily attract others, looks aside. Your experience in the outside world is only a reflection of the experience within yourself. Vibe a good experience inside and the outer will reflect that back to you. The brain doesn’t distinguish between imagination and reality A human being reacts to the environment based on what s/he believes to be true. Maybe from your “real life” experience you’ve faced rejection, so you believe you will continue to do so when you approach somebody. But I want you to imagine your success. Imagine your triumphs. Create scenarios in your head where you’re winning. Write stories in which you already won. Victory is not something you strive for, it’s something you either believe you have or don’t. Your brain literally can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what isn’t. What you lack in experience can be made up with imagination. Failing does not make you “a failure” Mistakes are meh. You’re gonna fail, and you’re gonna fail hard. But that's okay. Just because you fuck up, doesn’t make you a fuck up. Your brain can adapt to errors, learn from them. It knows what certain parameters lead to a mistake and will avoid them next time. So embrace the failure and let your brain adjust to the new lesson. There’s no need to get emotionally attached to a mistake. It’s part of the process. It’s part of the machine running, part of the brain doing it’s thing. Like a machine, we perform “trial and error” until we get it right That’s all mistakes are. Trial and error. Our brain machines are not always accurate, but they are designed to become accurate. You may not hit the mark right away, but that doesn’t mean you’re a faulty product. If you fuck up, you’re actually working quite well. It means your brain is doing its job in trying to attain the end result you programmed it to attain. We have a sort of built-in “fine-tuning” mechanism that’s triggered whenever the direction we’re taking leads to some form of failure. We see something wrong happen, so we adjust and adapt until we get it completely right.. We fine-tune our way to success, overcoming previous barriers that stopped us along the way. Believe in Responsibility over Fate In order to take advantage of the fine-tuning mechanism, you have to take responsibility for your own actions and see it as a thing you did, not part of your identity, not as some sort of fate destined to happen. It happened, but it wasn’t fate. You are the creator, remember? Nothing is fated except that in which you create. When you fuck up, never think to yourself: “I’m such a failure” That leads to no improvement. Your fine-tuning mechanism is shut off. Your brain is activating its “definition function”, interpreting the reality by something you believe to be true. You are fated to be a failure because you yourself said so. You believe you’re a failure on the inside and thus create failure (on the outside). The key is not to see the failure as part of who you are, as part of a permanent definition, but just a thing that happens. Rather say: “I failed at this” Notice the difference. You are now speaking in terms of an action you performed, rather than your identity at its core. Now you must ask yourself WHY did you fail? What did you do that caused this? It certainly didn’t just land on your lap. Take responsibility. Own that shit. Then adapt, adjust, and make it better tomorrow. You can’t fine-tune if you don’t understand what it is you need to fine-tune in the first place. A mistake is nothing but a trial with error. Take responsibility for that error and let your brain make the necessary adjustments to get closer to a successful trial next time. Relax and Reboot Like any machine, you gotta unplug once in a while. Fully embrace your Leisure (the “L” in LAZY). Give yourself time to ease up on moving towards that goal. Let your brain completely shut down. You can’t be running the machine 24/7 (or even 40 hours a week for that matter). You need plenty of rest, plenty of reboot time, to rejuvenate and be able to run at full performance. Thomas Edison, the famous inventor, whenever he faced an issue he couldn’t solve, he’d take a nap. Kobe Bryant, the basketball player, would take time to relax and meditate each and every day. Successful people understand the importance of balancing running the big brain machine and turning it off to cool. While our brains are designed to keep focus, they do have a limited amount of power. You wouldn’t let your phone run out of battery, so don’t let your brain run out of energy either. Your brain will do the work for you. You imagine the success and it will make it happen for you. But you’ve gotta let it recharge, otherwise it’s just like trying to turn on your phone with a “dead battery.” In rebooting, take time to forgive fuck ups. Your own included. It’s sometimes harder to forgive yourself for the wrong you did to others., than to forgive another who wronged you. Nonetheless, it’s important you don’t live in constant regret of how you fucked up and how bad it was of a fuck up. You need to learn to let it go and go with the flow. Holding onto regret of mistakes consumes a lot of brain power. You have to get rid of it through forgiveness of yourself.It’s like deleting that app you no longer use and is just draining your battery. Conserve your battery for moving forward and delete anything “draining”. This includes toxic people as well, and not just your own toxic thoughts. Does keeping toxic people in your life reflect the reality you see for yourself inside your head? You’ve got to do some “maintenance and clean up” sometimes. Clean out the gunk so the machine can keep running smoothly. Meditate to clear your mind. And ex communicate to clear your environment. Wrapping Up: The brain is an awesome powerful machine that helps automate your way to success. You don’t have to pedal it, or run it like a treadmill. Just press a few buttons. That’s it. Set it on autopilot. Your brain will keep fine tuning itself until it hits the mark that you set for it. Let it rest once in a while, too will ya? Cause just like you, your brain can be quite the procrastinator and want to do things later. Know that your brain, like you, likes to use the word “eventually.” Eventually it’ll create the life you want. Don’t try for it. Don’t push for it. Just let it happen. Take it easy, N8 (By the way, if you're interested, I recommend reading "Psychocybernetics" by Maxwell Malts. It pretty much provided the back bone for this article.) |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2022
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