The Incredible Power of Freedom

[SatvikBeri]

Today I realized that my least productive in the last 3 months was better than my most productive day in the previous year. The reason is because I realized I don't have to do anything.

You don't have to do anything either.

Most people generate a huge amount of resistance when trying to motivate themselves to do simple tasks like get out of bed, or go to work, or eat healthfully-because they're not fully committed to their task. Part of them wants to work and part of them resists.

The problem is that we're trained to think we have to do things that we don't want. "I have to go to work"-no you don't, you can quit. "I have to earn money"-no you don't, you can be homeless. "I have to eat"-no you don't, you can always choose to starve. There isn't a single thing that you're forced to do-everything you do is either because you want to do it, or because you link it to something you want.

And once you feel that-not just recognize it at a conscious level, but really feel that way 24/7-life gets very fun and easy. You never have to worry about motivating yourself because you're only doing what you want anyway, and tasks that took an enormous amount of mental energy before flow effortlessly and easily.

So how do you get there? Like I hinted above, it's not enough just to have the conscious realization that you don't have to do anything. I don't know a guaranteed way to get there. For me, I tried lots of things including:
-Having conversations between the different parts of my brain that wanted different things
-Removing the phrase "I have to..." from my vocabulary and replacing it with "I want to..."
-Focusing on what was exciting every day
-Keeping a gratitude journal
-Meditating

And slowly but surely, I broke through. I haven't had a low motivation day in months, and it's wonderful!

[CindyCaldy]

I love your insight into freedom and the process of how you did it.

I too totally believe in the incredible power of freedom and have found that, in all areas of my life, if I focus on and listen to my 'inner guidance system' (sort of like a GPS ), it never steers me wrong. The trick for some is getting in touch with it. Mine is the feeling I get in my lower abdomen.

When I stay in touch with it (and I'm trying to do that 24/7) life flows much more effortlessly and on purpose.

Cindy

[wolfgang]

kudos!

[1by1]

Exactly! We have a choice! Right now I'm working on a new blog post to talk about a way of earning income that gives you more choice. I think Steve has written about it previously as well, it's called passive income.

[Cochonette]

*chews on this thought*

I dunno, not working for me so far. I'm glad it's worked out for you. I think I want to try Steve's stretch goals idea here. How does a self-disciplined person think, and how can I begin to vibe like that? What you mentioned above is one thing, but I need more than that.

Maybe I just need to stop needing things, too... Maybe I just need to stop thinking, "I need to go ruminate on this first... I need to do this or that first..." To get beyond thinking, "I need to THINK or ANYthing before getting straight to the action." Hmmmm...

[Andrew Gubb]

Cool topic. I've been on this one for a long time. I actually refused to go to school or get a job because I didn't want an authority above me telling me what I "had" to do. I still had some bit of this mindset though (I just instinctively knew I didn't want it to become more ingrained).

I went through a long lazy period while I was convincing myself I don't "have" to do anything. Maybe it's not the only way to go about this, but it did help me maintain my high self esteem that said no one tells me what to do. (Had this since I was a kid, I drove my father up the wall. Wouldn't bend until he understood that I would never do anything that was stated as an order).

Recently I have been having a lot more motivation, or shall I say activity because it doesn't feel like I'm "motivating" myself (making myself do something). I found a trick: thinking beforehand about the things I want to do. Kind of like savouring the thought, getting enthusiastic. It also functions as a way of ordering my day.

[Federer]

Great insightful topic.

If anyone gives freedom to themselves first to themselves they will manifest anything they want. This is the point you are talking and i really admire it.

This world try to resist our freedom and we try to tear it. Especially negative ones are ahead.(hehehe, they never succeed)

Cheers to freedom.

[Broderick]

Hell yeah! I saw this a while ago in a video on procrastination where the guy really drove home the point of freedom. I thought about it for like 3 days, then I started seeing "you don't have to do anything" everywhere. It's really a relief when you get all these have-to's, shoulds need-to's and all the other gunk that bogs you down.

[Canadian]

Very true!

I find that how productive I am is inversely proportionate to how strongly I feel obligated to be productive.

Originally Posted by Andrew Gubb

I found a trick: thinking beforehand about the things I want to do. Kind of like savouring the thought, getting enthusiastic. It also functions as a way of ordering my day.

I do this too, it works!

[elucidate]

Originally Posted by Canadian

Very true!

I find that how productive I am is inversely proportionate to how strongly I feel obligated to be productive.


I do this too, it works!

I'm like this. I grew up with a father who would wear a t-shirt advertising himself as being a "peak performer"! He used to work for Brian Tracy, a self-help motivational guru, and I found the more he pressured me to achieve like he had to to feel a sense of self worth, the more it made me want to just do nothing, which I realize isn't very good for me in the long run, but it illustrates how feeling pressured to achieve can have the opposite effect on a person who is very strong willed and only answers to their own authority within.

Besides, doing nothing can be productive in it's own way.

[Lauren]

Hello all,
I agree with Satvik and the others.... that the "have to's" bog us down so much.
Having left the corporate world a few months ago, I found that letting go of the "have to do something" concept was hard to learn. Slowly, the realization came to me that I was in charge of my thoughts and actions, thus needed to choose what was best for me at the time.
I love this new found freedom.
Lauren

[SatvikBeri]

Originally Posted by Cochonette

*chews on this thought*

I dunno, not working for me so far. I'm glad it's worked out for you. I think I want to try Steve's stretch goals idea here. How does a self-disciplined person think, and how can I begin to vibe like that? What you mentioned above is one thing, but I need more than that.

Maybe I just need to stop needing things, too... Maybe I just need to stop thinking, "I need to go ruminate on this first... I need to do this or that first..." To get beyond thinking, "I need to THINK or ANYthing before getting straight to the action." Hmmmm...

Like I said, it took a looong time for me to get to this point. There was no one trick-I consciously set a goal to feel totally free and tried dozens of visualizations, affirmations etc.

Self-discipline is something I've always been fairly good at. I see self-discipline as two major parts:
1. Building willpower,
2. Eliminating resistance (more important IMO)

For 1, the three most useful suggestions are eat lots of low glycemic index foods to keep your glucose levels steady (exercising willpower uses glucose) and do activities with complete focus (such as meditation, or putting your whole concentration on whatever you work on-doing this repeatedly is how you learn to study in a noisy room where people are playing games).

2 is more important and easier to modify. Some big tips are:
-Find the things that you've been putting off that are causing 80% of your worry, and get them done. When you develop a negative association towards some action and keep putting it off, the negativity builds upon itself and can get all consuming-even for a very simple action such as depositing a check or making a phone call. And this affects everything you do.
-Shape your environment to support your goals. If you waste too much time on the internet, then consolidate all the pages you visit into one RSS feed, and install an extension like stayfocusd or leechblock to limit your internet time. If you overeat then make it extremely inconvenient to get food, e.g. by putting all your food on really high shelves and only allowing yourself to get one piece of food at a time. If you're trying to get yourself to study, go to a place where everyone else is studying.
-Trigger your dopamine receptors early in the morning (from Pete Michaud aka MyEyeIsOpen). Your brain's desire for dopamine is what drives you to switch from one task to another. You can circumvent this by consciously triggering dopamine early on through sex, exercise, protein, laughter...pick one method and use it every morning. I prefer eating protein but exercise is a common choice.
-Actively monitor any mental resistance and develop a set of tools to remove it. My favorite tool is "talking to my brain"-whenever I feel resistance, I ask myself why it's there. It's usually because my brain doesn't associate what I'm doing with something I want to do. So then I use imagery and emotion to associate what I'm doing with what I want to do.
-Actively develop excitement about the things you need to do to accomplish your goals. It's easy to get excited about the idea of being an author. It's hard to get excited about the idea of writing 2 hours every day. But put yourself in an excited state and think about the tasks you have to do. Tell yourself how doing the task is linked to your goals. Constantly and consciously work on developing positive emotions for the actions, so that it's harder not to do them than to do them.

Originally Posted by Andrew Gubb

Cool topic. I've been on this one for a long time. I actually refused to go to school or get a job because I didn't want an authority above me telling me what I "had" to do. I still had some bit of this mindset though (I just instinctively knew I didn't want it to become more ingrained).

I went through a long lazy period while I was convincing myself I don't "have" to do anything. Maybe it's not the only way to go about this, but it did help me maintain my high self esteem that said no one tells me what to do. (Had this since I was a kid, I drove my father up the wall. Wouldn't bend until he understood that I would never do anything that was stated as an order).

Recently I have been having a lot more motivation, or shall I say activity because it doesn't feel like I'm "motivating" myself (making myself do something). I found a trick: thinking beforehand about the things I want to do. Kind of like savouring the thought, getting enthusiastic. It also functions as a way of ordering my day.

A long lazy period is a great idea-I was unemployed for 6 months prior to my current job which really forced me to figure out what I wanted. I ended up deciding that I want a job because I want to develop a specialized set of skills, but the answers vary from person to person. I'm glad you found your answers

There are so many motivation tricks, and it's fun to try them all! It's amazing how much you can actively teach your brain to be excited.

Originally Posted by elucidate

I'm like this. I grew up with a father who would wear a t-shirt advertising himself as being a "peak performer"! He used to work for Brian Tracy, a self-help motivational guru, and I found the more he pressured me to achieve like he had to to feel a sense of self worth, the more it made me want to just do nothing, which I realize isn't very good for me in the long run, but it illustrates how feeling pressured to achieve can have the opposite effect on a person who is very strong willed and only answers to their own authority within.

Besides, doing nothing can be productive in it's own way.

Haha, yeah, I know how it feels to have pressuring parents (my parents are Indian ). No amount of external motivation can match up to internal motivation in the end and it can take a long time to repair the damage-it took at least two years for me.

Periods of relaxation-both extended relaxation and regular relaxation during your normal life-help ensure that you're aligned with what you want, rather than what someone else decided what you want (even if that someone else is a past version of you!)

[sheffy4]

Great post! I love how you articulate this idea. The way you say it makes it so... easy! And "happy" sounding, if that makes sense. I'm very grateful for this post. I will remind myself now that "I don't have to do anything", I'm only doing things I want to do. It's amazing how just thinking that makes the resistance dissipate to a more manageable level, if not disappear completely.