When you take a cold shower, there’s a split second before you turn the knob to cold, where if you listen close – you can hear them.
They’re quiet and subtle, but they’re familiar.
They’re the excuses that are ruining your life.
- It’s too hard
- It’s not gonna be fun
- Who the —- is Joel? I hate him so much
So instead of doing something, you stand there, muttering to yourself, trying to hype yourself up and fend off the excuses, looking like an idiot. A naked idiot.
Meanwhile, the universe is laughing at you.
Because while you’re refusing to take action, the universe is still happening.
While you might think your self-storytelling is harmless, time is still moving along at its steady, persistent pace.
*tick tick tick*
Indifferent to your excuses.
And that’s the joke. While you’re busy telling yourself fake stories that you believe about who you are and what you can do, the universe is just waiting on you to do something. Anything.
- “I’m not that type of person.”
- “I can’t do something like that.”
- “I’m not like so and so.”
The excuses pop up, and the only reason the story in your head stays true is because you insist on making it true.
The universe is laughing because if you make up a different story, you can live it.
The only thing you have to do is to decide. Then act.
So if you want to live in your head, be defeated and live the story where you lose over and over, go ahead. You’ll be the naked guy muttering to himself in the shower before giving up and taking a lukewarm one.
Or, you can stop muttering, decide to do the thing you want to do, refuse to make excuses, and just start.
Your call.
=> I got this concept from Baron Baptiste’s book – the chapter on “The Cosmic Joke.” He’s the only yoga teacher I can listen to without going into yoga induced sleep. Get his book here.
This could not have come at a better time. I was starting to future trip and worry about all the things I can’t control…there are a lot of then in the future! Duh and this email popped up on my phone just in time to snap me out of the abyss of wasted energy.
Joel,
I have been following your messages for a while now…this is probably the best one I have read! One, because I am tired of my excuses now..that I have been making for a long time now..and two, I hate cold showers! But it’s gonna change now. Atleast now after this beautiful piece of writing.
Wishing you the best 🙂
Thank you Joel. This is exactly the email I needed to wake up to.
It’s true that EVERYONE can be anything they want, as long as those thoughts are held in their own brains, but execution makes things actually happen. I have an intense fear of speaking in front of people. I have a budding nonprofit (somehow, my convenient excuse of my “fear” is not going to work for me) I will have to address it…. Hold my head high and represent my cause, as it deserves to be represented. I guess my thoughts are this… my missions is more important than my discomfort.
Thank you for the rubber band SNAP 🙂
~Tina
“You can stop muttering, decide to do the thing you want to do, refuse to make excuses, and just start.” – YES!
Great article! I think it’s a really powerful habit to have if you don’t allow yourself any excuses. Instead, just understand on a deep level why you have to do what it is that you have to do, then just submerge yourself in action. I think you’ll like a video I recently watched that complements your article well. I’ll link it at the end, but let me know what you think! Keep up the good work! http://blog.jaretgrossman.com/365-video-series/the-chains-of-the-universe-11/
Brutal Honesty = Brutal Truth. Cold showers are super cold. Finding them to be exciting and warm is a work of art. We can overcome any excuse we train our mind to understand. Onward. Sempre Avanti…
Agree wholeheartedly with one change. The “Universe” doesn’t care what you do. No one else cares because it’s on YOU. You are responsible and you will receive the result of your action, because do and not do are two choices and you will get something from each. Which one do you want?