I have a lot of thoughts running through my head right now.
How about you?
Let me challenge you with something… For just 15 seconds, think about nothing. Just for 15 seconds.
3-2-1… go!
OK, you’re back. How’d that work out? Were you able to do it?
Unless you’re very, very, unusual, or not being honest with me, you couldn’t, could you?
All day long, except maybe when we’re asleep, there are constant thoughts in our minds competing for attention.
Not that that’s a bad thing, because if we weren’t thinking about something, we’d sort of be in a comatose state, right? And we don’t want that.
So some of those thoughts running through our heads are pretty trivial, for when there’s nothing better to think about.
Like how cold, hungry, tired, bored (insert other physical feeling) you feel.
Like the song you just heard keeps playing through your head.
Like nasty thoughts about the driver who cut you off this morning.
Like do you look good today.
Like “I can’t stop thinking, darn it!”.
Like how hot that person is.
Like what a jerk your boss is, those major projects staring you in the face that you’re behind on, where you’re going on vacation this summer, how much something costs, and how much better your life would be if you just had that one new gadget.
And on and on and on, all day long, you’re thinking of stuff, some trivial, some important, but there’s always something.
Now let me ask you another question, and give you something else to think about…
What’s on your to do list?
Do you have a to do list?
If not, there’s always something to do, right? Just like there’s always a thought going through your mind.
What are you doing now? What are you going to do when you finish reading this blog post? What are you going to do tonight, tomorrow, next week?
There’s always something to do, and everybody always has a ton of things they CAN do.
You can get something to eat, make a phone call, read a book, watch a TV show, talk to your spouse, kids, friends, people at work.
You can take the dog for a walk, feed the goldfish, do the dishes, go grocery shopping, make a to do list of what you really should be doing.
You can work out, think about something, take a shower or a nap or go for a drive.
You can surf forums, watch YouTube videos, check the balance in your PayPal account, your Clickbank stats, read emails, send emails.
You can be reading sales pages of the next bright shiny object that’s distracting you and costing you money.
You can try to find new apps for your smart phone and play with them for a while.
There’s always something to do, right?
And, you’re always doing something, no matter how trivial, even if just sitting around thinking about what to do next. Just like you’re always thinking.
But here’s the last, and toughest question…
Are you doing what you need to do to move yourself to a better place?
I’m not talking about moving from the slums to the richie neighborhoods, I’m talking about moving yourself towards your desired goals, the place that your “why” wants to go.
Like your goal might be to quit your job.
Why? Because you hate commuting, you want to spend more time with the family, you’re in a dead end career and you need to move on up, whatever.
We all only have a certain amount of time on this planet, that’s a certainty. Most of us don’t know in advance what that amount of time is. I hate the thought, but one person reading this (certainly not you, hopefully not me) will no longer be on this planet by this time next week.
So…
What are you going to do when you finish reading this (and making a comment about it)?
Are you going to do just “whatever”?
Or are you going to figure out, out of the almost infinite possibilities of things you can do either by default or by design, what you SHOULD do?
Yes, you are either doing something by default or by design.
By default you can just wander around and stumble upon something to do. You wander into the living room and see the newspaper, open to the TV listings, flip a switch, and you’re mesmerized for a couple hours.
Or you can design what you want to do.
You can make things happen. You can get closer to where you want to be.
Which will it be?
What are you going to do next?
What if we knew that we only had XX hours, days, weeks, or months to live? Would we be more focused on doing the things that we should do, rather on the things that we stumble around doing?
I know I would.
Here’s a piece of advice, which I just went through less than a month ago, that really helped me.
My partner Rachel and I were talking about our new year goals, we had accomplished most of our 2010 goals, and I told her that I wasn’t really all excited about how we’d accomplish even bigger and better things in 2011.
It came down to the fact that the “why’s” that I had been passionate about in 2010 had been accomplished. I didn’t have a new one yet.
Sure, I wanted to do things to improve the business, but there was no “why” to do those things.
So, the most important thing for me to do at that point was to figure out a “why”. Once I did that, I was far more motivated to do the other things to make the why happen.
How about you? If you don’t have a “why” or two, maybe figuring one out should be the most important thing for you to do today.
And please, make your personal “why” a big one, a specific one (not a wishy washy one). You’ll know it when you come up with it, I assure you, you’ll have a sudden surge of energy and passion to start doing what you should be doing. So…
What do you think (I know you’re thinking something)?
What are you going to do now (I know you’re going to be doing something)? 
Please, share your thoughts about this, and then figure out what you really should be doing, and why.
Thank you.
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