All This Self-Help Is a Form of Procrastination
You’re already ready to get down to the real work.
There are two forms of self-help. There’s the one you need to reach a basic level of self-awareness.
And there’s all the superfluous stuff.
Critical life skills you need to know, what the smartest/most successful/you name it people do every day, what your morning routine should look like, habits to quit, and habits to adopt… I could go on for hours.
If you’re addicted to this, it’s because you’re convinced that you have to fix this or that problem or improve on this or that thing before you have a chance to succeed.
In other words, you procrastinate.
You avoid getting down to the real work.
Procrastinating won’t make you happy. Neither will beating around the bush to avoid your true calling. I know, I’ve tried. I’ve tried a lot of things before I started writing for real. I’ve also read tons of books about writing.
“A perplexed person stands before two doors. One door says HEAVEN. The other says BOOKS ABOUT HEAVEN. What makes us laugh, I suspect, is that all of us feel the pull to pick BOOKS ABOUT HEAVEN. Are we that timid? Are our huevos that pocito? When we’re offered a chance at heaven, what diabolically craven force makes us want to back off — just for now, we promise ourselves — and choose instead heaven’s pale reflection?” — Steven Pressfield
If you’ve read my recent articles, you’ll know: Steven Pressfield is my hero of the moment. Because he kicked me in the ass to get me to work. To stop ignoring my inner voice, which knew all along what I wanted to do with my time. Writing. But I was ignoring it. Because following your true calling is hard.
Because when you start doing the things you were put on Earth to do, you can feel it’s right. But you also feel that if you fail, if you have to try again and over again (and you probably will), it will hurt. It will be way more painful than if you fail on a fake project. A “shadow career”, as he calls it.
You don’t need to read yet another blog post to become the best version of yourself. You already know everything you need to know.
The rest will come by itself when you get your ass in the chair and get to work.
I believe that funny things happen when you finally focus. It’s like the planets align and the universe works its magic.
Try it. It’s weird.
