For a long time, I didn’t take the time to enjoy the day to day architecture of building the person I want to be. I wasted mind space and energy. Daily, I would go through the motions and felt frustrated by the distance of my goals ignoring the progress made and possibilities in front of me.
Even things like self-improvement can make you feel more insecure when looked at the wrong way. The insecurity comes from looking at how far is left to go versus the accomplishments and progress made so far while ignoring any current efforts.
“I’d Rather Be…” Mentality
We spend our entire lives living in the present moment. For some of us, we struggle to keep our mind situated there. Our prognostications of the future and dwellings on the past monopolize our time and attention.
We’ve all seen bumper stickers and home decor items with the message “I’d rather be (fill in the blank).” Whether you fill that blank with fishing, crafting, sleeping, or anything else, the real question is: Why aren’t you doing it?
The message is meant to make us laugh, but the mentality behind it, unfortunately, seeps in. Whatever you are doing, why are you doing it if you would instead be doing something else? Maybe financial reasons, lack of skill, fear of success? How could anyone enjoy what they are doing if they’d rather be elsewhere?
I wanted to be thin, wealthy, or at least work a high-paying job, happy, brilliant, on vacation, but I was impatient. This list could go on, but you get the point. As usual, I wanted to skip the process of achieving those goals. But I look at it this way, I got stuck in a negative pattern, but now I know my choices dictate my outcomes and opportunities.
For too long, I spent much of my life focused on where or what I would rather be instead of what I was doing to get there. Now, I’d rather be here in the now taking time to enjoy whatever it is I am doing.
Enjoy the Process to Prevent Disappointment
Regardless of what we believe at any given moment, predetermining or expecting desired outcomes leads to disappointment and less satisfaction when you reach the destination. We receive the most value throughout the longer processes that bring us the desired results.
In learning to enjoy the process, I realized that the destination only provides short-term satisfaction. And when I have exclusively focused on the end goal throughout my life, I experienced even less joy. Instead of a goal, I have particular intentions and take steps toward those intentions while accepting the other aspects of life as they come.
How I Enjoy… Carnivore and Fitness
Unlike with other diets, I can visibly see my body changing rapidly. I’ve never followed a diet similar to this and never cared for my body this well. I cannot begin to imagine what I will weigh or look like when my body balances out at a healthy weight. Since I cannot imagine my destination, I have found that I enjoy the process of getting healthy much more. I have no determined size, weight, measurements or timeline in mind; my sole focus is on eating to heal my body. Eating limited foods improved my self-discipline in the sense that I eat what I eat regardless of boredom.
Dwelling on what I didn’t do, for example, missing a workout, serves little purpose in my life. I don’t dwell or punish myself when I miss a workout. If anything, I push myself harder during the next one. It wastes time and distracts from the task at hand. This mindset change allows me to focus on proper form and long-term growth since no individual workout dictates my success.
Projects/Work
In my honest opinion, we weren’t put on this earth to work jobs at least not in the current sense. Now, before you quit your job, hold on. You have to build a sustainable life first. Sometimes our work ethic benefits others more than ourselves, so the suffering does not bring happiness. But with proper choices and mindset, you can transition to a better state. Ultimately, the greatest satisfaction and success comes from the appropriate utilization of the overlap of your passions, strengths, in your available market.
Clock time is useful for scheduling appointments and making plans, but psychological time is terrible. When you focus too much on the future (or past), you never embrace the fullness of now. When I take the time to enjoy the process, I can take passion with me even on undesirable work. I cultivate passion in whatever I do through taking pleasure in the process and zoning into the workflow.
Artistic Endeavors
With artistic endeavors for years, I would hate everything I drew to the point where I stopped working on art. Realistically, I reached the middle part of the art project where it gets ugly for a bit so I would never finish making it into a masterpiece. Much different from the way I do art now.
I get into a state of flow where I work my magic on the current medium. I don’t over think ahead or set high expectations for the end product; instead, I consistently focus on the motions of my hand. Present in the moment, I create better expressions of what’s in my mind.
Failure Teaches
For a long time, I feared failure, which often leads to not trying new things. Since then, I realized if I don’t care about something it is ok to fail. I let those failures serve as motivation for the things that matter to me. Conversely, succeeding at many things can inspire you to try even more new stuff it often spirals into more and more accomplishments as you notice the success in your life particularly the smallest ones.
Simply stated: Focus on what you enjoy and are good at and master it. Enjoy every moment of it. If something challenges you, cut your losses and outsource it whenever possible. 
Growth Starts with simple Decisions
When you change yourself, it impacts your entire impact on the world. When doors open in your head, you will notice the doors opening in your life, and with that consciousness, you will walk right through that door. You can’t rush the process. The destination is the worst part once you get there there’s nowhere left to go. On the bright side, it does mean you can start another journey.
Enjoy doing whatever it takes to get where you want to go.
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