Note : You are reading a video script.
To conquer yourself, first, you need to know what you want to conquer in you and why. Well, we all have certain goals in our lives and we want to accomplish them with everything we’ve got. But mostly, we still can’t work on them. Ideas come in our mind but they stay there without being processed. And sometimes, we start to work on them but then we lose the tempo.
In this video, we will talk about 5 factors that are within you, that stop you from doing new things in your life. Without further delay, let’s start with the first one.
Status Quo Bias:
“Most people avoid change in their lives.” It’s not our statement but a result of a research work.
In 1988, two scientists, Richard and William, published an article in the journal of “Risk and Un-certainty,” which says that people want that “things stay the same as they are.” They call this concept “status quo bias.”
This means it’s our own minds that stop us from doing new things. Our mind does not like change and so, it wants us to stay in the present scenario. But why? Well, because every change is like making a new tracking path through a wild shrubby mountain when there is no sign of track at all. It’s risky and thus, unsafe. It also needs much more effort and thus not easy. Plus, we don’t know the outcome and thus, we are uncertain.
To break the status quo bias of your mind, you might need to become adventurous. For adventurous people, failure is acceptable but not taking chance is never acceptable. They do new things to experience “the happening” rather than thinking of “what will happen.” It’s like they prefer to jump in the water to have the experience of cold water instead of standing at the bank of the river and thinking of what will happen.
Your Identity:
The second biggest hurdle within you is your identity. Depending on your new goals, certain things might compel you to change yourself. The person you are today might not be enough to handle or achieve what you want to achieve. This means you might need to become a new person to achieve what you are after.
For example, if you begin to write, your mind is going to think differently because writers are deep thinkers. To process your deep thoughts, you might need to spend more time alone. There are many psychological phases which you might go through to become a writer. All those phases are new for you until you get used to it.
And, it doesn’t mean that you first have to become a new person and then you will start what you are aiming for. Actually, when you start your journey towards your goals, you have essentially already started to change yourself. All you need to understand is that you are changing. Be ready for it, don’t resist the change. Or in other words, don’t stick to your old identity.
To achieve your new identity and to get used to it, you need time and acceptance.
Your Habits:
Habits are those tasks that you can do automatically, without planning, without putting extra effort and even without thinking. To start something new, you need to make a plan. And for that, you might need to think how, when and where.
“When” is a barrier. People plan and stay in this phase for years. “How” is an even bigger barrier; you will face hundreds of questions on how you would do it. And “where” is not easy either.
I’m not a professional writer yet and that’s why I have to face when, how and where all the time. But I know, once writing becomes my habit, I would do it without any hesitation. Because habits make things easy, the task goes to autopilot mode. Once you get used to what you are doing, you will do that in an effortless manner. To establish writing as a habit, I need to repeat the process of writing.
James Clear described this in his famous book “Atomic Habits”. He talks about the “when” and “where” in one of the chapters. There are many ways to establish new habits and repetition is one of the most effective ones.
Also, your old loop of habits gives you a comfort zone. That’s why you keep doing it! So, if you want to get comfortable with your new task, you might need to repeat it until it becomes a natural part of your life.
Desires Vs Dreams:
My dream is to have millions of followers. I want a lot of people to watch and learn from my videos. However, at the time of writing this script, the YouTube channel Solid Clarity has less than 100 subscribers; 64 to be exact.
The video you are watching right now was first just an idea. I
thought of it for several days, and then I wrote it. After that, it went
through an editor and then it became a voice. And at the end, it was presented
to you guys in this animation.
How can I put all this effort, time and energy when the outcome
seems almost zero? Well, because it’s a dream.
And every dream needs sacrifices.
On the other hand, scrolling through social media, going out with
friends, and enjoying my life in so many other different ways are my desires.
Desires are anything that makes you instantly happy, but in the
long run, they don’t make you
satisfied. However, the fulfillment of your dreams makes you feel proud and
satisfied.
Desires are attractive because they give you pleasure right away.
On the other hand, fulfillment of dreams seems hard.
The journey of dreams is unfavorable and sometimes even hard and
harsh. But the taste of their fruits lasts forever. While the process of
desires is energizing, but let say they come with a hangover.
To accomplish any big goal in your life, you might need to
sacrifice a lot. Along with so many other sacrifices, one of the biggest
sacrifice is your desires. You are fighting with yourself all the time, for the
things you wish to do VS the things you are supposed to do.
Life is purely Desires VS Dreams.
So, one of the biggest hurdles in your way to your goals are your
desires.
Be tough on yourself when it comes to your dreams. Because that’s
what you want the most.
Lack Of Patience
Let’s try to understand this one with a
famous story. A man was trying to cut a tree with an axe but it was not
working. And so, someone told him to sharpen the axe. He replied that it will
waste his time.
Although he was
wasting his time even more and he was surely not stupid to not understand this
simple logic, his desire to get the tree down as quickly as possible was not
allowing him to think logically. This desire to get the result as soon as
possible is called impatience. And this lack of patience can make you look like
a fool because it can steal your logical thinking.
Most people don’t get what they want not because they
can’t get or they don’t deserve it but because they don’t have the patience to wait for the
results to come.
Patience is the
key to every success. It is the biggest requirement to achieve anything in your
life. It is literally the only barrier between you and your dream life.
Today, I have
less than 100 subscribers on my YouTube channel. I don’t have any doubt that this channel
will have more than a million viewers one day. If I want to witness that day, I
just need to wait patiently.
And how do I
learn this patience?
The answer is; by
being busy in the process. I don’t need to wait for the outcome. My
job is to do things in the right way. The result will take care of itself.
Because the outcome is obvious.
If I plant an orange tree, water it, and take care
of all the other necessities, it will produce oranges. If I open a restaurant,
make delicious food, serve it in a nice way, people will come and eat. My job
is to fulfil the requirement of my business; the result is bound to come.
So, to achieve
any goal in life, first we need to conquer ourselves. Let’s summarise the key points.
> To
break the status quo of your mind, be curious about the results. Fill your mind
with that kind of thoughts which glorify the outcome for you. See yourself as
victorious in your imagination.
> Working
on something new might change you too. Embrace the change. Get ready to see the
new best version of yourself.
> Things
get easy-peasy once they become your habit. One of the easiest ways to bring
something in your habit is repetition.
> Hold
on to your wishes and desires because the fruit of your dream is much more
delicious than everything else.
> Enjoy
your work, be busy in the process of your job, the result will take care of
itself. And if it’s taking long, it means you are doing something big.
