Walking Backwards at the Speed of Light
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 by admin | Posted in Unconventional Thinking | Comments
It seems to be quite often that I talk to people who tell me they really don’t like their careers, plan to do something else but are just waiting for the time to be right. For the planets to align. For who knows what.
For the most part, they never stop talking about it (how frustrated, often miserable they are) but never seem to quit, find a new path, make a U-turn, take a chance, extract themselves from the morass that deprives them of the exhilaration life has to offer to those who reach for it.
I have never understood this feet in quicksand way of living. Whether it applies to a career, business strategies, artistic endeavors, relationshipships: if it’s not working, it if fails to bring passion and joy, if it is like going through the motions in wet clothes and heavy boots, it needs to be tossed, junked, bypassed, viewed as an experiement that failed, that we learned from and that we use as a launch pad for a new adventure into the wild blue yonder.
None of these excuses to remain stalled in a hopeless holding pattern ring true. None of them work. Zero are authenic. All of them lies designed to buy time, to postone the pain and/or fear that will come for awhile as you walk the shaky bridge to a new life, a new business, a career change, a relationship that actually needs no work and affords immeasurable rewards:
- I will do it next year
- I just need to get my head straight
- I want to play out the one chance that it will turn around on its own
- Maybe this was meant to be
- Perhaps this is the best I can hope for
Even as we udder the words, we know they are lies. But what is often not nearly as clear, is that as long as we cling to the excuses, we are doing far more and far worse that getting stuck in the straits of nowhere.
We are walking backwards at the speed of light.
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December 27th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
You are exactly right. Stagnation is more than the loss of momentum, it is being left behind as others continue forward.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
There is no reason to allow ourselves to believe our own lies.
December 28th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
I’m a new reader. I was just recently exposed to your book and, of course, found myself stalking you online for more information. Sadly for me, this post… and your book for that matter… is me. I had to chuckle at your choice of spelling of the word ‘udder’. As in… ‘milking’ these excuses for all they’re worth!
My time has come. I’m planning my Manhattan project as I write.
Thanks for the inspiration.
December 29th, 2011 at 12:00 am
“I’m a new reader. I was just recently exposed to your book and, of course, found myself stalking you online for more information.”
Same here, but not stalking, just wanted to say how much I like the book. How bad is it?….well, last night, past midnight and I finished my internet reading, eyes glazed over, about to fall asleep in my chair. Decided to read a couple pages from “Your marketing Sucks” while brushing teeth.
Might as well have drank 5 cups of coffee. Noticed the bathtub was still clogged. Wide awake on a fine morning like this, might as well fix the plumbing. Outside on my knees in the winter with a cold wet metal snake pushing it into a pipe. Maybe I have issues, but no really, it’s the book. It’s all MS fault.
December 30th, 2011 at 5:52 am
Really good article, specially on this time of the year when we think about the excuses we put to ourselves that stop us to go further, to be better.
I’m the type of person that avoid excuses and make things happen…I’m always trying to find challenges in life and if something has been boring or don’t motivate me enough…I try to change it. But still… I think I have some excuses still…perhaps it’s part of being human, it’s part of being in a comfort zone… but I truly believe it depends only on us to change it, and this is one of my objectives for next year.
Thanks for writing and share it with us.