I know what's right for me but don't always pick that action.

[Z Y G G Y]

Are you like that? I assume many are.

I know very well what would make my life better but I am often too lazy to act on that. I know the right things to say but often say stupid stuff. Some days are better, some worse. It all pretty much depends on my level of energy. High energy leads to being productive. If I don't feel like doing something I won't do it.

How do you deal with that?

 

[Changed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUvKE3bQlY

 

[malakaix]

Story of my life.

Me and my housemate have had countless discussion's on this exact topic, yet we still choose to do 'nothing'. We both know what we should be doing in life, but we continue to live in a comfortable routine of doing very little.

In the past i have had to force myself into doing something active and productive as soon as i woke up, in order to get momentum flowing just so i could do what i knew i needed to do that day, otherwise i would just put it off until tomorrow, then next week, then next month.

I find this to be a common problem in the modern age, for the first time in our evolution we've reached a point of comfort where we have easy access to food and water, and little to no threat to our safety. Our survival use to be the driving force behind our actions, now if we don't feel like doing something.. we're able to justify it to ourselves, because it's not directly effecting our ability to survive, therefor it's not a priority and can be done at some other point in time.

My best advice is to just force yourself to do something productive as soon as you wake up, this will create momentum and it should then be easier to flow with that and continue on with anything else that you feel needs to be done. As soon as you start thinking about it, you wont do it. I know this to well.. i've been able to convince myself i don't need to do something important, because i've thought about what it would involve.

 

[HoneyRoastedPeanut]

Eros vs. Thanatos as I see it, the futile fight against entropy, a.k.a. the path of least resistance. When your mind knows the inevitable result is death, it's pretty hard to fight for life. However, life feeds on life, so the more you fight, the easier it gets... at least in theory. 8)

This has been one of the bigger issues of my young adult life.

 

[Sweet P]

I know it would be right to eat healthy, stop smoking, quit drugs, become an upstanding member of society, and so on.

But life is short, and would probably be less enjoyable without my vices.

 

[Changed]

My best advice is to just force yourself to do something productive as soon as you wake up, this will create momentum and it should then be easier to flow with that and continue on with anything else that you feel needs to be done. As soon as you start thinking about it, you wont do it. I know this to well.. i've been able to convince myself i don't need to do something important, because i've thought about what it would involve.

Maybe the question should be: is it actually worth getting out of bed in the morning when you have to trick yourself motivationally?

Is it too late to fix the way we live? Is the all-mighty dollar worth more than our sanity? Has technology replaced all human interaction? Is death by stagnation noble, or the ultimate cop-out-- do we have a choice?

 

[qwe]

i've been making slow but steady progress at "doing stuff" rather than "can't be fucked, follow my desires*" aka sublimating my desire for something in the present to invest in the future.

* which isn't as self-destructive as may sound: it usually involves pursuing programming science and game software, doing art, learning, playing, instead of going to school

I know what's right for me but don't always pick that action.

is this intellect vs wisdom? my intellect is always running 24/7 and i'm always thinking thinking thinking. but there are still somatic/emotional/w.e barriers to following my will (or, what i'd like my will to be). is intellect understanding this stuff, while wisdom is working with the "deeper" parts of your mind/body to enable that?

I know the right things to say but often say stupid stuff.

i believe this is unrelated. in different environments, different parts of your brain are functioning at different levels. when you feel expected to talk, that can lead to a "brain freeze"... at least for me... where your "filter" for expressing thoughts isn't fully functional.

but it does point to how we can plan for something, and then do something totally different because our state of mind, or our environment, changed.

anyway.. i think it's like a treadmill. you can get used to a comfort zone or a sedentary lifestyle, and then it's hard to get out. getting out hurts like slowly running more miles over time hurts.

 

[malakaix]

Maybe the question should be: is it actually worth getting out of bed in the morning when you have to trick yourself motivationally?

Is it too late to fix the way we live? Is the all-mighty dollar worth more than our sanity? Has technology replaced all human interaction? Is death by stagnation noble, or the ultimate cop-out-- do we have a choice?

I spent most of 2010 pondering this question, while doing nothing. I only worked about 14 hours a week, the rest were spent sleeping, on here or reading through information on how i felt from a spiritual perspective.

I honestly can't say i've come to a satisfiable conclusion, i still struggle to get out of bed because it feels like been stagnant is the better option over forcing myself to continue on with a lifestyle in a society i do not agree with at all.

I did however do some traveling to Europe for just under two months between the end of 2010 leading into 2011, and it really gave me a new appreciation for life, waking up each day to something different.. connecting with people from a different country, and immersing myself within a culture that didn't so harshly reflect that of one driven by capitalism, it was very refreshing.

Coming back has been somewhat difficult to re-integrate, but the experience made me realize how much i enjoy been around people and interacting with them..and has opened up the possibility of working with/helping people, which im beginning to feel is the only genuine satisfaction i can gain, through self-service.

 

[AfterGlow]

Are you like that? I assume many are.

I know very well what would make my life better but I am often too lazy to act on that. I know the right things to say but often say stupid stuff. Some days are better, some worse. It all pretty much depends on my level of energy. High energy leads to being productive. If I don't feel like doing something I won't do it.

How do you deal with that?

Discipline! The more you do something, the more habitual it becomes. So when you have that high energy, come up with a plan to do the things that are good for you on a regular basis. Then follow through. When your energy starts to get low, you are more likely to follow the habits you developed. And if you don't, just wait until the high energy comes back and get right back on track. Don't let that "awww fuck it" voice win. And don't beat up on yourself for not being perfect all of the time. None of us are.

Today, I don't feel like going to the gym. I had to take a couple weeks off due to an injury and its tough getting back into it now after 2 weeks off. But I know if I wait and put it off longer, its going to get tougher to get back into a routine. I think of how good it will feel afterwards and that's my motivation. When the thought of gaffing it off and just relaxing comes to mind, I try to quickly break my train of thought and stop that thinking from getting the best of me. When it comes time to get ready to go to the gym, I let my actions happen automatically without thought, like you do driving a car. It's the negative thoughts that stop us from taking good action, so I recognize those thoughts as soon as they appear and I stop that train of thought from getting the best of me.

 

[Changed]

I'm pretty thankful that this thread is here. When I typed up that last response yesterday, I think I couldn't believe what i was saying. The words I wrote were heartfelt yesterday, but looking at them even seconds after I typed them made me cringe.

If you've got one life and one shot at enjoying it, why let a shitty system (or anything else) get in the way of you reaching your full potential. Sure, I've been sitting here in the room, complaining about how bad the weather is, how few jobs there are around me, and thinking of excuses for why I shouldn't workout or go running-- but fuck that. My body has literally gone into shut-down mode and I can tell my brain has been totally stagnant-- I've been sick for 2 months straight-- probably because my mind is telling my body to die.

So the weather is bad and there are no jobs here: well, I'm moving this weekend. Doing nothing cannot be better than doing something-- anything.