The workplace stillness produced by this valley between Christmas and New Year’s Day has inspired in me an unsuspected interest in self-motivation. I still think Chicken Soup is meant to be eaten and Stephen Covey’s plastic smile creeps me out, so don’t expect to find me at the next Tony Robbins seminar. However, the idea of Getting Things Done (GTD) appeals to me. It is a system — a very loose system, developed by David Allen, open to modification and tailoring — for setting and achieving goals. For some, this means file folders. For others, it means index cards or text files or Moleskines. For me … it means I need to do more reading and some experimenting.
As I’ve researched, I’ve uncovered some other things that address the same concern of getting done or getting over or both. One that missed me during a previous and recent tour through the blogging universe is an essay called “Hack Yourself” by Michael Montoure. Ostensibly, the piece is about combatting writer’s block, but the ideas could apply to just about any obstacle that lodges between where you are and where you want to be.
You don’t exist.
You just think you do.
We’re nothing but the stories we tell ourselves. We know in our hearts what kind of people we are, what we’re capable of, because we’ve told ourselves what kind of people we are. You’re a carefully-rehearsed list of weaknesses and strengths you’ve told yourself you have … You owe no allegiance to that self-image if it harms you. If you don’t like the story your life has become — tell yourself a better one.
Cool, eh? And that’s not even the best part of the essay.
