Reading This Could Change Everything
By: Justin William
Tags: Weekend, Lifestyle Design, Philosophy, Digital Nomads

“Finish work assignment, get the senior level promotion by August, find new apartment, pay for current one, make car payment, make parking payment, pay the phone bill, buy new tv, go to that birthday party (what’s their name again?) book time off for the wedding in September…Damn, I need a new suit…*incoming text* why would she say that? is she mad at me? am I going to get fired? shit, I’m probably getting fired…how am I going to pay rent? *panic ensues*

Sound familiar? Of course, it does. For the masses, this nightmarish thought pattern is what fills the space between our ears on a daily basis. Rather depressing I know, and yet we stay on this hamster wheel. Days turn into weeks, weeks into months, months into years only for us to eventually realize that we’ve spent the majority of our adult life in a continual state of stress, panic and distraction. Always busy, moving, thinking, worrying and fretting over the latest figment of our imagination that we’ve cooked up in our over-stimulated monkey mind.

And we wonder why mental illness, burnout and chronic exhaustion are on the rise…

Welcome to life in the modern age. Fat, stressed, sedentary, full of caffeine and hope for the future (put that on a billboard). We live in a constant state of distraction and entitlement. Always in pursuit of the next purchase, title, or life enhancement under the assumption that we have our relaxing “golden years” to look forward to. For the majority, this is just a way of life. Chronically stressed until our bodies store up enough cortisol to physically crash and force a reset. “I’ll rest on my 7-day vacation next February” Oh boy, how relaxing. Quick, somebody post the count down!

Maybe Do This Instead

Forget the car you can’t afford, the promotion at the job you hate and the birthday parties for people you don’t know, none of it matters.

Be present. Stop waiting for the future and create a life you love so much that the thought of someone taking it away from you fills you with rage. Don’t wait for that life to find you “someday”. Create it now, patience is overrated. Start today. Hell, stop reading this and start right now. You’re not entitled to jack. Your health included.

Start with your physical wellbeing and treat your body properly. Run, jump, lift, swim, climb. Peel your weak corpse out of your chair and f*cking use it. You’ll be amazed how you feel when you actually start to use this machine and get an idea of what it’s truly capable of. But you won’t find it at a desk. You won’t find it on the couch, and you won’t find it half-assing it at the gym for your Instagram. You have to push yourself. You have to suffer and you have to be uncomfortable.

Don’t let people (or yourself) tell you that it’s okay to be lazy and content, that it’s okay to be in bad shape and that it’s okay to treat your body poorly because you’re too “busy” or “tired”.

F*ck that.

Hold yourself to a higher standard and treat your body with the respect that it deserves.

“But I’m working on my mental wellbeing right now”….

Newsflash… your mind (also known as your brain) is part of your body. Like your waistline, it is directly affected by what you eat, how much (or little) you move and what stimuli and input you feed it on a daily basis. Evolution didn’t work it’s ass off for you to sit in a chair for 9 hours, watch tv for 4, eat a pizza and then go to bed. Get outside and move, be better and hold yourself accountable. Trust me, you won’t believe what a little movement and blood flow does for your mental wellbeing.

Then Maybe Do This

Moving past the tough love, ask yourself…

How do I actually enjoy spending my time?

What excites me?

Do I dread Monday’s and count down to Friday?

Why is that?

What path would make me forget about weekends and have me excited for Monday mornings?

Reflect. Maybe you’re like me and you’re already quite happy in your chosen career path, in which case great. If not, be honest with yourself.

Everyone has a to-do list. Life gets busy and sometimes things happen outside of our control that requires us to step up to the plate and do things we don’t want to. But if you’re at a crossroads right now or are unhappy on your path, take the time to work through it and find what you want. Don’t just weakly accept your current situation as your new reality and let it grind you down into a pulp waiting for “someday”. Put up a fight, demand more of yourself and actually go after it. Create your life, don’t wait for it.