Grind It Out

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say that they "don't have time" for something. Don't get me wrong I understand most people today have a lot going on and everyone's situation is different but I still don't like it. Because when it comes down to it it's just an excuse. It's a cop-out to not get things done. A lot of people think that their situation is an outlier from everyone else, that they have it way harder than their peers. Newsflash, 99% of the time it's not. 99% of the time it's just you making up excuses in your head of why you can't get things done. Or why you're prioritizing other things that you think are more important.

"I don't have time to workout" is a classic one and at this point it just makes me laugh. Really?! You don't have any time to workout? I bet if you added up all of the time you spend on your phone, watching tv, or scrolling through social media that you could get AT LEAST a 45 min. workout in. And contrary to what some fitness guru on Instagram will tell you you don't even need more than about 10 min. a day to get a great workout in(I could talk about this one for hours). But, again, it comes down to what's important to you. What do you really want to do? You can always find an excuse for anything. We live in a society now that is pulling us in thousands of different directions each day. Think this, buy this, use this trick to save you time, etc. And the list doesn't stop there. We are constantly told through television ads and mainstream media that we need certain things that will save us time and make our lives easier.

Easier?

Who would ever want that? In a world of easy and convenient, I'm always on the hunt for new ways to make things harder, to have new experiences, and to find better ways to do things. But I'm rarely ever looking for easy. I've grown to like hard things and have learned to enjoy the grind and work.

Everybody's busy but not everybody is grinding. To me, there's a difference. Busy is doing things for the sake of doing them just to say that you're doing things. You know, to check off that box for the day. Or procrastinating to the point where you have to do them. You don't have a choice because you waited so long(back to priorities). Grinding, on the other hand, is purposeful. It's driven by goals and it is powerful. It can't be stopped. It's grinding through your daily work and prioritizing what's important to you. It's throwing out the BS and working on being purposeful in everything that you do. Ask yourself, "Will this get me closer to my goals and ambitions?" If yes, then do it. If not, then don't. It's that simple. We become what we prioritize. If you prioritize Netflix over working out well guess what? You won't be as fit as you would probably like to be. You know where I'm going with this. We are what we repeatedly do and what we give attention to.

It won't always be easy and you're going to want to complain and think about why you're doing it and if it's really worth it. That's inevitable. Quieting that voice comes with time and repeated effort. It won't happen overnight. But watch how fast you start to make changes when you learn to say "no" to things that aren't important to you and start saying yes to what is going to get you to where you want to go. You'll start to notice you're actually not as busy as you think.

The next time you're tempted to say to someone "I'm just super busy right now". Instead, say "I'm just grinding man. Every day I'm going for it". Notice not only how they react to what you just said but also to how you feel inside. You'll feel a sense of fulfillment, pride, and, purpose knowing that you've got this ship pointed in the right direction.

Keep Grinding.

Get After It.