Tag: time

What do we have to do to make it happen?

Posted on by philipdodson

In life, if we really want it, then we have to build it. 

Of course, we can dream about it, think about it, and plan it. However, at some point, we have to take the plunge and actually build it, whatever ‘it’ is.

Think, talking, planning and conceptual things are cheap and easy. However, the real work starts when we have to turn those things into reality, whether it is physically building a house or writing a book, it takes commitment.

Committing to things is a challenge as the mind will do whatever it can to minimise any risk for its pal, the Ego, and will come up with any manner of complexities, dramas, and reasons to stay safe and carry on thinking…something the mind is good at and loves, thinking.

Sometimes we just need a simple thing or reminder to wake us up and get us into this moment now. Now is the only time we are actually alive, it is the only moment of real life, in fact, our entire life consists of now. Therefore, we can only build something now and that requires us to be conscious, awake and aware of this moment, so that we can focus our energies on the doing, instead of the conceptual.

Naturally, as an artist, I have a brightly decorated and coloured skull on my desk as my reminder that at some point, I do not know when, that’s what I’ll be, a skeleton. By the way, It’s not a real skull, it’s made of polystyrene. Well, actually it should be a jar of dust, as that is the destiny for all of the 8 billion humans alive today at some time in the next 50-100 years or less. The point is it will happen, so stop thinking and start creating. Build your dream NOW!

The excuse factory

Posted on by philipdodson

There are 3 steps to starting anything in life…1,2,3 GO!

Or we can, of course, complicate it, the mind is a top-level specialist at over-complication, along with perfection, it is one of its top weapons to prevent showing up and taking any risk. It is the excuse factory that will create reasons not to do something, the more levels of complication, the more thought and the more reasons to put off.

Simple small steps are easy, we can just start them…1,2,3 go.

If we break down any goal, plan, task, or action into small baby steps, that if done and repeated frequently, will over a given time period propel us to our goals.

As we are doing the tiny steps, the mind is silent as there is no perceived risk, it goes under the ‘fear’ radar undetected, and we get to our goals because guess what? we are actually doing something regularly. The journey of a thousand miles starts with just one step…as the saying goes.

It requires focus, commitment and a willingness to build a habit and, of course, patience. Like all things, when we do them frequently, they become easier and there is a compound effect that we see much greater achievement than we imagined if we do them often enough and for a long enough time.

Short-term quick ‘wins’ that require huge amounts of effort and overcoming the fear of starting mammoth tasks, always fail as we never get out of the starting blocks. There are no shortcuts and the mind’s psychological fears of any large daunting tasks are impossible to overcome without just focusing on the small step that can be done now.

Keep things simple, do them often, stay focussed in the moment that is now and don’t think beyond that. The excuse factory can be closed forever, it just takes one small step.