Have you ever felt discouraged when making up a long-term plan and then being swamped and overwhelmed by the multitude of tasks that are required to get to where you want to go? Me too. So if you’ve been there, keep reading. I plan to break this down.
Currently, there is a lot on my plate, most of which are new skills that I am in the middle of learning and am struggling to do so.
Basically, I have been locked into a certain way of life that I am not completely happy with and have wanted to change for a while now. I am currently in the middle of changing my life, mostly consisting of what I do for money and how I spend my time. I have never been interested in doing something I dislike in order to make money to pay for the things I do like. I know this pretty much includes everyone, but I am locked out of a lot of opportunities due to my lack of desired skill sets, which I am now in the process of acquiring.
Missing the woods through the trees.
My day gets filled so quickly with micro-tasks that I often forget how they relate to the big picture, yet when I sit down, I remember that in order to do X, I need to figure out Y and Z, and so on.
I relate this to my favorite sport, rock climbing. It is not a sport I partake in as much anymore, but I am still in love with it. While climbing, it is very easy to climb an easy route from start to finish without much thought, but once you progress in difficulty, you begin to realize that every detail matters. Should you rest this finger on that nub of rock or that finger? Should I start with this foot or that foot?
Every move may have a multitude of correct methods that will vary per person, and each route will have several moves. For climbing boulders, you can easily have less than 10 moves; on sport climbing routes, the number of moves required can increase drastically.
When tackling a particularly difficult route, instead of climbing until you fall and then starting from the beginning every time, you will climb to the point of difficulty and work that move over and over again until you have mastered that move. you will continue to do that with every move.
But the work is not done. there are individual moves that have been mastered, but you must sequence them together and do them all from start to finish without fail.
The greater the problem in life, the more individual skills you must acquire in order to stitch together a cohesive plan and execution. Just like in rock climbing.
What you are doing may not look like the end result you want, but it is a means to an end. This is a required step to accomplish the whole.
So I would encourage you to never give up. Mastery takes time, and sequencing takes longer. You are doing a crucial part; hang in there.
“I know of no better life purpose than too perish attempting the great and impossible. The fact that something seems impossible should not be a reason to not pursue it. That’s exactly what makes it worth pursuing. Where would the courage and greatness be if success was certain and there was no risk. The only true failure is shrinking away from life’s challenges.” Friedrich Nietzsche.
Read more here.
Are you stuck? If so, why?
Often, when you feel stuck, it is because you have stopped learning. At least I have found this to be true for myself. If you are not learning, then you are not growing; if you are not growing, then you have become static and will find yourself in a state of stasis or inaction.
Just like music.