Beliefs are an interesting thing – they don’t matter at all – until they’re all that matter.
The word “belief” is generally understood to be one word – but there are really two separate kinds of beliefs.
- What you say you believe to be true.
- The actual thoughts you choose to orient your life & are indicated by your actions.
The first type don’t matter at all. The second type are the only thing that matter.
The first set of beliefs don’t matter because it really doesn’t matter what you say you believe. I mean, it can matter to some extent & you can convince people all you like that you really, really do believe whatever it is you say you do – but as soon as it comes time to act – that’s when things really matter.
I think Bungee Jumping is the perfect test of this. Either you jump off the ledge and trust the bungee is gonna hold you. Or you crawl back up and over the railing to the nice solid footing of the bridge. You can say you believe the bungee will hold up all you want – but if you crawl back over the railing to safety – your actions tell a different story.
Cold Shower Therapy is an even simpler test (for those of you that don’t have a bungee jump zone right next to your house). Why? Because you either do it or you don’t and the only reason people don’t do it, is because they’re scared or they’re cocky.
Comfortology
I literally just made this word up. That means I get to define it too. Woot.
Comfortology – The belief that life is a pursuit of comfort.
This is the default for 90% of people (ballpark).
To be honest – this is incredibly tempting for me but I just can’t bring myself to this because I think the opposite – I think that that most things worth doing are uncomfortable.
I think that life is a pursuit of meaningful things that most people miss out on because it takes more effort.
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison
Life is a forging ahead into your discomfort zone & expanding it. Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable & letting those uncomfortable experiences forge your character through the journey.
I get a lot of email. I read every single one. A lot of people will read posts and write me saying:
- I’m motivated!
- I’m inspired!
- I love your words!
I answer everyone who writes me a serious email – but anytime someone says they’re inspired or motivated or excited – I ask them a simple question:
Awesome! What are you going to do about it?
Because that’s all that matters. Motivation doesn’t count for anything.
Not everyone writes back 🙂
The thing is that what you do is all that matters. Your actions show your beliefs more than pretty words, nice emails or anything else you want to do.
Action expresses priorities – Ghandi
Note: It’s really tempting to read something like this & think “oh, this person needs to read this”, but it’s tough to go to the bathroom – look yourself in the eyes and ask yourself:
Are you really okay with being uncomfortable or are you a secret believer in comfortology?
It might get a bit uncomfortable, but that’s how you know if you’re doing it right.
—
Getting uncomfortable can be tough – so one of the goals around IMPOSSIBLE over the next few months is to build tools that help people take more action. You’ll hear about a couple of these in the next few days. Stay tuned 🙂
—
photo credit: jessiefish
I’m inspired!
i’m motivated!
i love your words! 🙂
and I thnk today is day 600 of cold shower therapy for me…I ain’t jumping off no bridge, but the cold showers are definitely the best thing EVER!
Reminds me of something I read in Steve Chandler’s book, “Reinventing Yourself: How to Become the Person You’ve Always Wanted to Be” (which I highly recommend):
“No one’s ever gonna write a book called Great Moments in Human Comfort.”
Can’t wait to see what you’ve got cooking at Impossible HQ!
I’ve bungee jumped, hang glided, skydived and even sang karaoke (this was the one that I actually found scariest). I’ve done things that have made me very uncomfortable in the name of personal growth but I’m yet to even attempt the cold shower challenge.
I appreciate you so much. You’re one of the few adventurers that I can still hear through the noise in my head. I was seriously derailed for 22 months while my mom went through a nightmare battle with cancer and passed away a few weeks ago. I had to cut out everything extra in my head to make room for what we were dealing with.
Now there’s a little more room in there again, and my insides are CRAVING for me to DO SOMETHING. I think comfortology can have a time and place, such as hunkering down to be with family and support people emotionally and seek comfort through the trials of life. Maybe it’s a sign of genius to know when it’s time to TAKE A COLD ASS SHOWER again. 🙂
I’ve started running again, which helps. I’m going somewhere beautiful and I’ll run there too. And while on our mini vacation, I’m going to dream up the Next Big Thing to challenge myself with, because I NEED IT.
Anyway, thank you. I can always HEAR you, you are like an anchor, reminding me that life is out there, all mine for the taking when it’s time to fly again. You’re the best!
XO
Nicki
Joel,
Another great post! And although I do agree with you sometimes difficult situations are just that and “comfort” can be what allows us to get through tricky times without gaining free admittance to the nut-hut! Ha!
For example, I am going through a transition right now and transitions are tricky for me because being in limbo really weighs heavily on my mental and emotional state. I do know that this situation, as my mom says, is allowing me “to be forged in the crucible of life” and that is true and that is great but my current feelings toward the matter can be summed up by a quote I read recently:
“When life closes a door it usually opens a window but these hallways sure are a bitch!”
So I think that there is something to be said for combining comfort and discomfort in perfect harmony and in the right dosages.
Cheers,
Katie
Love that, Katie! AMEN!
I loved this post. I too, believe that what you think isn’t worth much unless you show it is really true by actually doing it. “Faith without works is dead.”
This is solid! I was having a conversation this weekend with a few friends about travel and when things unexpectedly happen. Like life or death situations or a close call with the authorities. It’s moments like these where you have to make split second decisions that are hard and certainly not comfortable. But at the other end you emerge a better person with a new found wisdom/appreciation for life. Keep up your badass-ness everyone!
I love this. People love to be inspired just to feel inspired. Motivated without action is nothing. Get shit done!