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I’ll just throw it out there, I am very impatient. I don’t know if I’m just a product of my generation, but I hate waiting for things to happen. I live in a fast-paced world. I think quickly, act quickly, and expect results quickly. Due to the demands placed on my life and the incredible demands I place on myself, patience is not one of my virtues. I’m also rarely satisfied with what I accomplish because I only see what could have been. There is no doubt that much of my life is focused on productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, and outcomes. I want more than I have and I expect more than I can produce. This is one of the double-edged swords of my life. My ambitious attitude is both my greatest strength and my greatest weakness.
One day while driving to work and listening to one of my many podcasts I heard the quote, “there are no shortcuts to any place worth going,” and something clicked. That quote made so much sense to me. Something shifted in my brain and in my life the moment I heard those words. I wouldn’t call it an “Aha!” moment, but it was meaningful. I am the type of person that likes to take on a challenge and accomplish the entirety of the project from start to finish as quickly as I can. I don’t like to drag things out, or disperse the work over the course of a few weeks. If I can get something finished in 24 hours, I finish it in 24 hours. I carry this same attitude from project to project, from marathons to debt payments. Last week I edited a video in 3 days that I procrastinated working on for almost 3 months. However, once I started it, I focused on nothing else until it was done. I find that my intense focus and laser sharp drive to accomplish my goals helps immensely to cross tasks off my to-do list, but it reinforces my lack of patience.
The reason why the quote made so much sense to me is because I realized that the long-term goals I have set for myself as hard, extremely hard. I can’t expect to accomplish them in 2 weeks, 2 months, or some in 2 years, let alone 24 hours. I like to use baby steps to accomplish large tasks because breaking them down into manageable pieces definitely allows for incredible progress, but it doesn’t help my personality flaw of expecting amazing results in a short time span.
Maybe my Type A personality is starting to get the best of me. Maybe I’m losing my mind and tweaking out a little. I don’t know. However, I do know that my attitude towards my goals is highly effective. It might make me insane in the process, but something will be getting done. At this point in my life, I’d rather risk insanity than sit on my butt and let mediocrity take over. In fact, I can confidently say that I would choose stress over boredom, insanity over mediocrity, and difficultly over trouble-free every day of the week. Life was never meant to be easy and the fascination with making things easier can weaken you like a slow boil. I feel a strong urge to throw conflict in front of me every day just to see how I will respond.
Today I created a running schedule to finish my 2nd marathon, which is scheduled for 6 weeks from now. At this moment I am over 200 pounds and no where near marathon healthy. Do I expect to finish the race? Hell yes! Will I look like a dying turtle crawling across the finish line? Probably, but that’s okay with me. I am willing to fail. I am willing to put myself on the line to see what I’m made of. It won’t be pretty and chances are I will be far from satisfied with the results. That’s fine. At this point I don’t see any alternatives. I need challenges to keep my life interesting and sometimes I need to put myself in harm’s way to make that happen.
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going, and I am intentionally choosing to go places that I believe are worth the effort. It’s easy to talk-the-talk before an intense battle, but it’s an entirely new discussion once you’ve stepped out onto the playing field. When I look back on challenges I faced, especially the really ominous ones, I can clearly remember the fear I faced before taking that first step. Fear is paralyzing. Fear is limiting. Fear is usually irrational and unfounded, and that’s why I constantly focus on eliminating it. I can’t let fear hold me back from my full potential.
I want my life to have meaning. I want to go places I’ll be excited to talk about later. I want to take on challenges that make others’ cringe. I want to avoid shortcuts and intentionally choose the harder path so that I appreciate the work that much more.
I hope I’m not alone on this issue. Let me know how crazy I am in the comments below. I’m looking forward to your feedback.
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The Clueless Graduate,
Jeff Sanders
Follow @cluelessgrad
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