This is a fascinating article by author Mark Manson, which is definitely worth a read…
If I ask you, “What do you want out of life?” and you say something like, “I want to be happy and have a great family and a job I like,” it’s so ubiquitous that it doesn’t even mean anything.
A more interesting question, a question that perhaps you’ve never considered before, is what pain do you want in your life? What are you willing to struggle for? Because that seems to be a greater determinant of how our lives turn out.
It’s so true… I often get told I’m lucky that I’m motivated enough to write a book, or work out every day, or travel, or whatever… But it’s not luck. It’s just wanting it enough to sacrifice other things in order to achieve it.
Writing a book involves endless hours/days/months of hard work – and sacrificing time with friends, giving up reading for pleasure, limiting time spent chilling out watching Arrow with Juz, definitely sacrificing sleep – but to me it’s worth it…
Working out every day definitely requires sleep sacrifice too, and it’s hard, and it hurts, and it involves a lot of effort and stubbornness and dedication and commitment, but it’s worth it to me to feel stronger (mentally as well as physically), to be fitter and healthier and (hopefully) avoid some illnesses…
Even travelling requires sacrifice – buying fewer clothes, going out less, taking your lunch to work etc, to save up. A friend was jealous I was going travelling for three months – but spent all her money on very expensive shoes and equally expensive wine. She didn’t want it enough to give those things up. Which is fine. It’s your choice, so own that choice.
You just have to decide what matters to you. Because it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to write a book or get fit or go travelling or be a rock star or whatever it is you think you want. Realising that a dream is not actually a dream is very liberating – you can stop struggling and stressing and beating yourself up about not doing it, and enjoy your life.
So, what do you want? And more importantly, is it worth struggling for? If it is, DO IT! Live your dream. Work hard at it. Sacrifice something for it. Make it happen… xx
Get Social