Virtus Family!
Happy Friday Legends
The last week has gone past in the blink of an eye. After three months on the sidelines, working virtually, I’ve been fortunate enough to return back to work. To be completely honest, I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated what we have more than I do in this moment.
It’s a warm, fuzzy feeling. To be 4 and a half years into building what was at one point a pipe dream, to be filled with gratitude and excitement at this stage of the journey is a blessing. There’s been laughs, tears, feelings of jubilation and feelings of dread. There’s been everything, good and bad. But here we are… still moving the needle.
Unlike Charlie from Top Gun, I certainly haven’t lost that loving feeling.
This got me thinking about desire and more importantly dissatisfaction.
Our aspirations should be shaped and fuelled by our desires. We should chase the things we want. We should do things that make us happy. Lifes too short to not do things we love, with people we love.
I’ve learnt a few things in my 28 years on this earth, and one of them is this:
Short term satisfaction, does not equate to long term happiness.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite… Long term happiness is cultivated by delaying short term satisfaction.
We can all recount the times we have decided to swing past the drive-through on the way home, skipped a session, hit snooze, eaten a pile of sugar, or had three too many drinks. The times we have chosen short term satisfaction only to be filled with disappointment and regret afterwards knowing you could have made a better decision.
Don’t feel bad about it, we are all just pleasure monkeys hard wired to do the things that make us feel good in the moment.
Take this understanding and reconsider your decision-making mechanisms.
If you were to make the difficult decision in the moment to delay immediate gratification, how would it change your day?
If you decided to do this often, how would it improve your life?
Would you get out of bed instead of hitting snooze for the third time?
Would you drink more water instead of reaching for another beer or glass of wine?
Would you stop after just one episode on Netflix and get to sleep earlier?
Would you journal rather than checking social media for the 27th time?
Would you eat food that will nourish you, rather than something made in a factory?
Deep down, you already know the answer to these questions. If you allow yourself to be dissatisfied you’ve won the moment. If you win a whole bunch of moments, you’ve won the day and it snowballs from there.
A level of dissatisfaction is healthy, it leads to growth and adaptation and action. It builds resilience.
But too much can make you miserable. Every now and again, go through the bloody drive-through.
A few weeks of making difficult decisions for future you, and you’ll begin to realise that maybe the dream isn’t too far removed from the life you’re currently living.
Maybe what you need to be immensely happy, grateful and appreciative is right in front of your face. Maybe, just maybe, you already have everything you need to live the life you dreamed of and all that’s in your way is a couple of tough decisions to shift your momentum in the right direction.
I love the analogy of tending to your garden. You can’t build a garden in a day, week or even a month. You must show up, consistently to cultivate a healthy, happy garden. The same goes for a calm mind, a healthy body and a house full of love.
These things take time. These things take sacrifice. These things take commitment.
People don’t win by accident. They win because they decide the person they want to be, and they prove it to themselves every day. Success leaves clues.
My questions for you:
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What does winning look like for you?
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What difficult decisions do you need to make, often?
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Who will you lean on for support?
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How will you know you’ve done well?
All I can ask of myself and anyone else is that we try our best. Unfortunately we don’t always do our best, but herein lies the gap. The gap that will slowly be erased by making the right decisions.
Be amazing
Lachie.
