We tell the world and ourselves sometimes that we are a particular thing or we are doing a particular activity. A common one is when exercising or dieting, we tell ourselves we ate carefully or walked x miles, when sometimes we didn’t. Short-term it makes us feel better inside.
We might say ‘I am writing a book’ to convince ourselves we are an author, yet we have not even written a single word, having the intention to do something, or adding it to an action list, does not mean that we have done it.
Yet the more we indulge in this habit of talking and not doing, the more we convince ourselves that we are actually an author, or a coach or a whatever we intend to be. Saying it does not make it so.
Surely it is better to try to do that thing, do the hard work, commit and even it fails, at least we had a go, learnt, and did it better the next time than it is to carry on kidding ourselves?
After all, we are expending that time and energy on kidding ourselves, much better to stop the drifting, the pretence, and just do it.
The chemical reward we get from doing makes us happier, healthier and leads to a longer life. The stress, fear, regret and often anger and frustration of not being or doing something makes us unhappy, unhealthy and leads to a shorter life.
It is only ourselves we are cheating as no one else really cares, they are too busy with their own lives and challenges.
Philip Dodson 