No B.S Friday: You’ve got to use your will-power in the right way or you’ll burn out.
A man can’t thrive on will power alone.
This is something I had to learn the hard way. But will-power can only get you so far.
You have to be able to tap a much deeper, stronger and more primal energy.
And I think it’s an energy that most of the world has just been disconnected from.
And the dumpster fire of modern life is the tragic and inevitable result.
Think about it this way.
What is will-power? Will power is the ability to guide your animal against it natural instincts.
Your animal wants to sit on the couch and watch Friends re-runs. You know you have to be at work.
And so you exercise will-power. You steer yourself around to a better outcome.
And that’s great.
Think of it like a horse and rider. Your horse is your powerful animal body, you are the rider, guiding the animal. Will-power is the reins.
But he way I see it, most of us are doing it wrong. We’re off the horse, trying to pull on the reins and drag the horse in the direction we want it to go.
Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried dragging a horse somewhere it didn’t want to go. It’s hard work.
It’s thoroughly exhausting work.
(Have you noticed that everyone you know is tired?)
No, we don’t want to be doing that. What we want to be doing is riding the horse – letting the animal drive, because that’s what it was built for. Will power is then used for course correction – a little diversion here, a little redirection there.
This is what we want to be doing. We don’t want to become over-reliant on will-power. We don’t want to be dragging a horse around.
Energy and drive must come from the body, not from will-power.
Will-power is for steering, not for drive.
If you use it constantly for drive, you’re going to get burnt out.
So the challenge for us is to bring ourselves into a reality where we are riding the energy of our animal body.
How do we do that?
First, we have to give the animal space. That means allowing and not resisting it’s emotions and felt experiences.
(Lol, I can feel my therapist cocking her eyebrow at me. It’s that simple is it?)
And just as importantly, you have to feel a deep connection to where you are going and where you want to be going.
If your animal understands that spending a year working extra hours is going to set you up for a big deal in 18-months, it can get on board with that.
If it realises that you’re not going anywhere good with this, and you’re just stuck working long hours in a job that makes you miserable, it’s going to resist. It’s going to start pulling away.
And at that point, you’re going to have to get off, and pull the horse yourself, relying on will power alone.
And very quickly, you’ll be tired.
You’ll be exhausted.
So have a think about that.
If you’re feeling tired, ask yourself, am I riding or dragging my animal?
And how do I get back up on the horse?
JG.
Michelle Jackson-Webb says
Yes I’ve noticed everyone is tired. I’m writing this today as taking a day off work because I realised I was dragging the horse. Working extra hours to find I was marginally better off as it all went to tax. Tax to keep the country going paying for free this and free that, shower roses, free light globes, free electricity metres (that don’t work) The solution. Sit and reavalute and come up with alternatives, but don’t go on dragging the horse.