Read This If You Think You're A Rebel
Someone said something to me yesterday.
He was talking about his attitude and how it matured as he got older.
He mentioned that early in his journey he felt like a rebel. He was out there making things, sometimes without guidance, sometimes without intention, and certainly without permission.
A rebel is someone who opposes things. They may not have a reason other than some general discontent with authority.
But then, this person mentioned that something happened to his mindset as he began to experience the results of his effort as he moved through life.
He developed intentions, purpose, and importantly, a plan.
He said, "instead of being just a rebel, I became a renegade."
A renegade is someone who changes beliefs based on new information, often endures social ex-communication or stigma, and commits to a new belief or way of being.
Part of this commitment is taking calculated action on those beliefs.
How will you turn your work, attitude, or mindset into action?
Are you a rebel or a renegade?
2 Minute Action
Here are some ways you can turn an idea or intention into an actionable plan:
- If you're having trouble turning an idea into action, take 2 minutes to "phone a friend" and ask them to hold you accountable to a small goal. Let them text you to remind you, or you can offer to do them a favor if you bail on your goal. (I had a friend who wrote a $1000 check to a trusted friend and said he could cash it if he failed to take action.)
- Set a block on your calendar that is reserved for just one part of your project and invite a friend to join you.
Understand These 3 Concepts And Move On From Anything
Sometimes you just take a beating.
It’s not always because of anything you can control—it’s just part of operating in a world with other sentient beings and physical forces.
Pretending it didn’t hurt or avoiding the process of understanding where the pain comes from just makes it worse later on.
What’s difficult is spending your whole life converting the operations around you into processes you can control, being successful at it, and then facing something painful and uncontrollable.
Learning to let things go and move on is just one of those things that takes a lifetime to which to adjust.
Sure there are some skills we can master while we’re here, but there’s really no end point.
The only "point of arrival" is the end of life, really.
- You can get in shape, but you can’t ever finish eating healthily.
- You can work nights to pay for college, but you can’t ever spend enough on your kid’s education.
- You can become a race car driver, but you can still get rear-ended at a stop sign.
The goal then, shouldn’t just be to take control of everything, but to understand what we can and can’t achieve—and then spend our resources moving toward those achievable goals.
In the meantime, while we’re moving, it’s good to remember that we sometimes take a beating regardless of how reasonable the goal is.
In fact, we might get beat up just sitting at home where we thought it was safe.
So, it’s not useful to drop out when it hurts. Pain just doesn’t have a good enough correlation with circumstance to be the only factor in our decision.
It also helps, while we’re moving, to remember that adjusting to pain isn’t like flipping a light switch. It takes time and the amount of time it takes varies based on circumstance, personal experience, and predisposition.
Some lessons to take away from this:
- Pain feels like an indication that we should change direction or hide but that’s not always the case.
- Staying at home or avoiding risk can still lead to pain, so you might as well work hard to achieve what you want.
- Being at peace with an imperfect world doesn’t mean you are eternally and outwardly happy, it just means you accept the often unfair pains of life.
2 Minute Action
Reach out to someone who is in pain and let them know you’re on their team.
Take a risk (it can be a small one) that you have been considering or avoiding.
Execute a small and possibly random act of kindness.
I promise you don’t need more than 2 minutes to do any of these.
That part is all in your head.
Today is up to you and you can completely transform your outlook and chances of success in 2 minutes or less.
1 Simple Way To See More Opportunities
Do you practice?Not just hobbies or things outside the scope of your work. I mean your work, too.Do you practice patience, assertiveness, and creativity?
It goes without saying that if you’re not deliberately practicing, you won’t improve.
So, how do you practice if it’s not a language or an instrument or a technique?Its up to you to find the opportunities in your routine.Its up to you to prevent yourself from avoid the discomfort of those moments.
There’s no magic, here—you just have to care enough to show up.
And when you see opportunities to grow instead of problems that add friction, you’ll know you’re practicing the right kind of thinking habits.
2 Minute Action
What’s something that happened recently that made you uncomfortable?Think of an interaction with someone or a result you got that wasn’t what you expected.It will take you 2 minutes or less to reframe that situation as an opportunity to grow.Ask yourself what you could have done better.Take this lesson with you into your day and keep an eye out for opportunities!