Let’s talk about how to get into flow.
Last night, before I went to sleep… I had a plan mapped out for the things I was going to do today.
I wanted to get some client work done which I had about four hours’ worth of work lined up for me. I wanted to get a couple of videos done and a couple of videos processed. I wanted to write a script for a video, and I wanted to create an email campaign for the big project that I discussed in previously. You can read all about it here or watch all about it here.
And last night was also an anxious night for me and I couldn’t get to sleep very easily. But I did have a list of seven to eight things that I thought I would get done today morning. As I quickly as I could possibly do.
Now, here’s what happened. I woke up with a really severe pain in the upper left part of my back. I was working out yesterday and I might not have warmed up properly, so that’s probably my fault. But working out on the pectoral muscles while bench-pressing a lot of weight without warming up properly can actually cause some problems.
So I have some pain in at least one rib on the back left side of my rib cage. And it was debilitating. I couldn’t get out of bed. And it was really, really bad. I did not get enough sleep because there was an Amazon delivery who arrived at 8 a.m. in the morning and kept on ringing the bell. But I was I had really gone to bed at around 3:30 to 4:00 A.M. so I couldn’t get a lot of sleep, which is why actually I don’t get much sleep at all these days.
So in a lot of my videos you’re gonna notice black circles around my eyes which is something that’s really new to me I don’t usually have these circles. I used to sleep very well but now that I am embarking on new journeys and taking on bigger risks, things are getting to be a little more anxious around here.
Then I had a sore throat.
I was not really in the mood to talk to anyone I was not really in a playful mood. And to tell you the truth, I was not really in the mood to get anything done at all.
In fact after I got the delivery from the Amazon guy… I washed my hands and went back to bed. And then I stayed there for another hour trying to come up with the excuses for why I’m not gonna work today, and “it’s going to be okay if I don’t work for one day. I can also take a day off when the rest of the world takes two days off every single week for the entire year. And I never take any days off at all.”
I kept getting angrier and grumpier, so I decided I would get up and get the client work done first and foremost.
And at about 9:00 a.m. I got up. I didn’t shave today, you can probably see that I didn’t shave my face. I just took a shower and came here to work. And I worked for the client and I did (actually I have two clients that needed some work done today so I did both their deliverables) and then by the time I actually started my own work, I was already in flow.
I already had momentum. I already had focus. Why? Because I started with something that I knew clearly how to do… and that I have done a million times before. But I was doing it for someone else, so it was not really for my own self… and I had to get it done anyway.
So I started moving and I always say…
So I already had momentum on my side by this by the time I started my own campaign. And without wasting a single moment at around 2:00 p.m. I started working on my own stuff.
Now it was challenging, I’ll tell you that. It’s actually colder than I would like. It’s it’s kind of uncomfortable. I am kind of slouching today. A little bit more than… well, I actually don’t slouch but today I am.
And I am sleepy. I mean, I don’t know if you can tell or not but I’m really tired and I’m sleepy and I almost didn’t do this this video or the video that I just finished doing for the Westernston channel, you can check it out by clicking on the card right here.
So yeah I didn’t want to, but I’ve done all that. I’ve done both the videos too and now I feel pretty good about myself. I feel pretty good about having done it all despite all those challenges.
I was able to overcome them and not because it’s something special about me or I did something special or I have immense amount of willpower… but because…
How to get into flow of things? Take those first steps. That’s all you can do.
Head for the shower. And then walk into this room. Turn on the computer. Turn on the lights and get started.
That’s all. I think that’s what the key is to this whole magical formula of getting flow and getting focused.
Now if I had heard my own thoughts… if I had followed my heart like everyone would tell you to.
I would probably not have done anything today. I would be in my bed looking at some Amazon Prime videos or movies. And yeah… just complaining about the general situation of my own life… getting even more worried about what the future has in store for me.
Now, it’s especially important when you have anxiety causing factors in your life like a big project… like something new that you’ve never done before… like something like a new journey that you’re about embark on… like situations that you’re not sure that you can deal with entirely.
I am not in the perfect health right now but I have enough motivation to go out now and get some more work done. Which by the way is getting some lighting for the backdrop because we don’t have a lot of lighting in the backdrop and you see kind of grainy video right here and grainy video right here.
You might not notice it much because it’s kind of blurred due to the bokeh effect but yeah I can make the backdrop a little bit better.
And I’ve been planning to do that for a while and we’ll do a video on that by the way some day about what I got and how much I sprang for it. I’m not gonna spend a lot of money on it. I digress.
I’m actually motivated enough to go out and get that done. I would not have done that had I stayed in the bed like I was considering.
I was basically thinking to myself I can probably skip the client work today I can get it done tomorrow. I can probably skip the video content creation today. I can also get it done tomorrow. And I can skip my own campaigns for today I can start writing them tomorrow instead of having to write them today… But I will go out in the afternoon and get the lighting backdrops for my my home office.
I probably would not have done that if I just stayed in the bed because of the lack of momentum. But now that I have momentum and I’ve gotten everything done that I set out to do last night… I have the momentum and the motivation and the flow and the focus to go out and seize the rest of the day. And get more stuff done.
So if you’re not feeling like doing something, well…
Okay? Fuck your mood. Fuck your feelings.
That’s all there is to it.
Your heart is not the master of you. Mastering your own self means mastering your mind and that means master your own heart.
Be in control of your emotions. Don’t let your emotions guide you. If you know you have to do something that is good for you… but you don’t feel like doing it…
Get started. Take the first step. If you want to go to the gym but you don’t feel like working out today, go anyway, okay?
Don’t work out as hard. Don’t even work out at all. But get to the gym. Take that first step. Get dressed, get in your car, get to the gym. If you don’t feel like working out still, that’s okay.
If you’re really not well, that’s okay. But get there.
Get the first step taken.
Take the first step and then the rest will follow. Why? Because motion creates emotion. Don’t let your emotions guide you. Use your willpower to get that chain of momentum going.
Counting on you taking your first steps today,
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