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I find that by telling myself what “not to do” I become focused on that behavior. “Don’t do that thing” turns into doing that exact thing.
However, I fall into deep engrossment by distracting myself with a different task.
I am not doing that thing I don’t want to do because I’ve not given myself the opportunity (time or energy) to even think about it.
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Assessing inefficiencies and perfecting systems is a unique and meticulous cognitive labor. It can also become a safe harbor by which to avoid reality.
When mental labors never manifest or encounter reality or peers, it is disguised. It is either masking laziness or a deep fear of failure.
When thinking negates doing, your planning steals you from the world.
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A mistake costs you three times, sometimes four.
The first time you do it and mess up, the second time is taking it apart, and the third time is putting it back together properly.
The fourth time is when you need to gather more materials after ruining some.
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The work begins before the “work.”
Most of our work is knowing what to prepare for: foresight from former floundering.
The dynamic moment of doing the work (the moment we charge for) is the testing ground against which we gauge our mental models, and appear worthy of the challenge.
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If your small goals lead you on a path to your larger goals, great! Pac-man your way to success.
If you are more interested in points (completion over speedy achievement) your small goals are eating your larger goals.
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The action that moves the needle (really makes you productive and moves you forward in life) is seldom the thing you enjoy doing.
Yet, by undertaking it, you can ensure deeper fulfillment and joy later.
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Karl Marx, in 1875, critiques seeing workers as only workers, diminishing them through categorization and ignoring their diversity of human beings.
Contradictorily, to be “brought under an equal point of view” is a social form we apply to better measure and account for equality.
“… unequal individuals (and they would not be different individuals if they were not unequal) are measurable only by an equal standard insofar as they are brought under an equal point of view, are taken from one definite side only – for instance, in the present case, are regarded only as workers and nothing more is seen in them, everything else being ignored.”
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There are days when your accumulated foibles, your crafted predilections, and adherence to productive systems syncs up into a harmonious payoff. There are days where any request made of you feels effortless as you respond easily, flowing through the day.
And you realize you are pretty damn good at this life thing.
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To achieve we must be productive, garnering accolades which reaffirm your role and status within society. Achievement grants respect, and perhaps a kind of love.
The darker side is that the more you do the greater the odds of failure or attacking polarization, which can lead to a cycle of more achievement to stabilize and counteract your compromised role (respect).
Unfortunately, doing “even more” also increases the odds of second order consequences and unintended harm. Yet, to refuse the challenging cycle of achievement (to do nothing) robs any potential for positive consequences.
