"The pain that's created by avoiding hard work is actually much worse than any pain created from the actual work itself. Because if you don't begin to work on those ideas that God has blessed you with, they will become stagnant inside of you and eventually begin to eat away at you. You might seem OK on the outside, but inside you will be ill from not getting those ideas out of your heart and into the world. Stalling leads to sickness. But taking steps, even baby steps, always leads to success." ~ Russell Simmons from Do You!
So many great teachers remind us of our need to just do it--to just take the next step in this precious hero's journey of ours.
Russell brilliantly articulates the pain we'll experience if we DON'T. It's subtle but so powerful. It's almost like there's this internal, subconscious computer that's keeping track of our every action--giving us a point for every time we step forward into growth and subtracting a point every time we step back into safety or fear or laziness.
Imagine that. Let's say you start this morning at Zero. (Which, thankfully, we're blessed with the ability to do.) So, it's first thing in the morning. Alarm goes off. Do you do what you've committed to doing--whether that's getting up and out immediately or silently breathing, thinking about your ideal day and everything you're grateful for? Or, do you roll over and pull the pillow over your head and think about all that's wrong in your world?
You get +1 if you stepped forward. -1 if you went backward.
Then let's assume you said you'd work out this morning. Do you? +1 or -1.
And you can keep track moment to moment to moment.
+1 or -1. +1 or -1. +1 or -1. ...
At the end of the day, how do you think you'll feel if you're subconscious mathematician comes back to you with a report of -8,549?
You'll want to turn on the TV and zone out. Or drink a beer (or ten). Or yell at your spouse and/or kids.
So... quit stalling and start taking the baby steps and always remember, the pain of not doing your best is ALWAYS greater than the pain of stepping forward.
"I've heard of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. But I've never heard of Someday."~ Reverend Ike
"I knew it was unrealistic to think I could build an institution overnight. But if I took baby steps, eventually it would happen." ~ Russell Simmons from Do You!
"It is the Baby Steps you take, the everyday things you do, that eventually lead to the manifestation of your outcome." ~ David Emerald from The Power of TED*
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