Hello and good day to you all!
I need to start this week off with a one-to-one because I know that you miss me. I just want to reestablish that connection to you, my reader. This blog is intended to be many things, but I want it to be fun. So, laugh, and let us enjoy the game. I have given you my weekly food-for-thought below. We are getting serious! I know, I know, I am so funny. I am glad that you are here. Since it is time to roll the dice again, I will go… This has been Tristan from HQ as always. I’m here every week! I’ll catch you next week. Bye-bye!
Productivity
What do you define productive to mean?
Productive is starting to mean something different to me. I see people all the time completing tasks that feel productive, but that ultimately only maintain the world that they have created so far. My definition of productive is changing to mean something different: to be productive is the act of doing something that improves your world. By this, I mean completing tasks that do more than just get us back to zero. For example, doing the laundry is a necessary task, but doing the laundry only makes up for the dirty clothes that are dirty. There’s no way to wash the clothes ahead of time. Unless we can improve our processes or gain something new, we only get back to zero, back to a neutral state. This also applies to work and income. If we are working to only make ends meet, we are not being productive–we are simply surviving. To be productive we have to work ahead of our schedule. We have to work beyond maintenance. We have to improve. There is no issue with only being able to survive. Survival alone is a mighty task, but dreams are made from small percentages. Every percent beyond baseline one hundred compounds overtime almost magically. To be truly productive is to acknowledge this reality and work beyond our minimums. Only then can we ever hope to provide ourselves with something greater, can we ever hope to dream.
To be productive you have to exceed one hundred. For example, if someone is, let’s say, living paycheck to paycheck, there one hundred would be equivalent to however many hours they work a week. This is just a financial example, but one hundred represents the amount of work required to maintain the lifestyle we have and survive. To magnify this number we either need to require less or output more. Someone who can only output one hundred will never grow. Anything less than one hundred means something is being lost. Someone at two hundred, by factor of compounding, will traverse life at many times the speed of someone at one hundred and fifty. This is not linear. This is exponential.
The rules for productivity vary between each individual because we all have different situations and priorities that complicate what being productive means. For a student, it might mean completing an extra assignment every Tuesday. For a working professional with a family, it might simply mean spending an additional afternoon with the kids. Since we all have different goals, what is productive for one person might not be for another. If we hope to be our best selves, we must continue to analyze our motivations, our goals, and the actions we are taking every day to be as productive as possible.
The ideal version of yourself that you see exists. Realize that there are over 8 billion people in the world. There exists individuals that exceed your greatest imagination. Realize all of the propaganda and distractions that exist in our society to keep the impoverished where they are. There are people building empires as the majority slave away at the daily, expected routine. Look back at history, look at the severely impoverished, look at an older version of you. At this moment, anyone viewing this blog has access to incredible tools and resources. Realize that your greatest limitation is psychological. Don’t let the world brainwash you into believing that you need to relax every day. Beware of thinking that places you as average. We sleep for 8-9 hours. That is all the time needed to function efficiently. Anything beyond that is luxury. Luxury is great and at times just as necessary as work, but unearned luxury is a sacrifice; it is weakness. There is no problem with relinquishing yourself to pleasure as long as you are content with the consequences. Every action has an… you reap what you… what goes around… Each individual has incredible power. If you want to know your power, use what you have been given. No. Excuses. Your friends can talk tomorrow. If they can not, they are not your friends. We live in a great time where almost all media is on demand. Your show can wait. Cherish relationships and little moments, but set yourself up for success before you indulge. GO! GO! GO! NOW! Your time now means as much as it ever will. Compound it! Improve your life, and in doing that, improve our world!
Delusion
Do you really want it?
If you want it bad enough you will work to get it, but you have to delude yourself into sensing what you do not yet have. This is the abstract energy of motivation. Let me write a formula to simplify my thought: Ambition x belief x delusion = motivation/energy. Ambition is the amount that you want something. Belief is the probability that you believe your ambition is attainable. Delusion is the mental state you put yourself in to both minimize doubt and amplify ambition.
Allow me for a moment to inject a perspective: First, looking at your life by the struggles you went through to get to where you are now. Now, looking at your current struggles. While life has no guarantees, realize that all the self improvement sacrifices that you make today define you already as the you of tomorrow. You are already there, time just has not caught up. It is like a math equation. If x+y=z, you have gotten to “z” by doing “x” and “y” in the past. If this equation remains consistent, then we can also look into the future knowing that our “x2.0” and “y2.0” will equal “z2.0.” Define your “xs” and your “ys,” and you can predict your future. This is of course a delusion, but results ultimately can only come from certain variables. We are intelligent creatures that can comprehend consequences. Your life will eventually reflect your variables. Do you see your “z3.0” yet?