Want it enough that you’re willing to […] The only thing holding you back from what you want is you. And the excuses you make — like what you incorrectly assign to other things.
You either want something or you don’t.
You can’t make yourself want something … can’t motivate yourself to want it.
You either do it … or you don’t.
If you want something you have to work hard for it — not make excuses as to why you don’t have it, or whine and complain.
Amongst other things, I get paid to DJ ... get paid to share the music I love with people and watch them lose their shit to it on the dancefloor — it is the most fun, rewarding activity I’ve ever engaged in with my clothes on.
To become a DJ, I first had to learn to mix — properly, not just pressing play on two beatmatched tracks and sweeping the crossfader from one to the other.
So, I took a year off and dedicated myself to pursuing the thing I wanted to do more than anything else in the World. I took the financial hit, the career hit and got on with doing what I wanted to do ... not what I wistfully daydreamed of doing ‘if only’.
For a year of my life, I spent sixteen hours a day behind the decks, practicing ¹.
Sixteen hours a day … every day … for a year.
I ‘d get up in the morning ², go downstairs, turn the decks on, go into the kitchen, turn the kettle on for a cup of coffee and be behind the decks, dropping the first track of the day before the kettle had even boiled, let alone the coffee made, never mind been drunk.
How can you tell that I wanted to do it?
Because I did it.
Success doesn’t come from working hard when times get tough but because you have the attitude that it’s only work if you’d rather be doing something else … and there’s nothing else in this world you would rather do than what you are doing.
That doesn’t mean you don’t have to work hard at it — you don’t get to be a virtuoso concert pianist without working hard at it and practicing every day of your life.
But the thing you are doing isn’t work in itself — if asked about your work, the first thing out of your mouth is a sheepish “I can’t believe I get paid to do this. It isn’t really work, is it? I keep expecting to get found out and made to get a real job.”
If you really want to do something, when times get tough, you don’t think about throwing in the towel … because throwing in the towel doesn’t cross your mind — the only thing there is room for in your head is your plan to overcome the obstacles in your way.
If you really want to do something you don’t have to think about it ... don’t have to motivate yourself to do it … don’t have to overcome your inertia.
Because you’re already doing it.
It's what you do.
Inertia, motivation, energy, work, effort … none of those words mean anything when it comes to doing what you want to do.
You either do it … or you don’t.
And, if you don’t, the only reason is that you didn’t really want to in the first place … you just like(d) the idea of doing it.
If you want your life to get better then start, living like it. Start doing something positive in the right direction and don’t stop until you get there, and keep going even once you do.
Exactly.
Just (as they say) do it.
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¹ I’d’ve spent longer but there comes a point when you have to give the neighbours a break and let them get some sleep before work the next day.
² Yes, me, up before 14:00/2pm by choice … without the aid of an alarm clock — not even by choice actually … I just naturally woke up early because I was energised and raring to get on the decks again.
