THERE'S A TIME FOR EVERYTHING
a newsletter for anyone feeling stuck
When I was growing up in the late 90s and early 2000s, I looked forward to certain times of the day when I could do and watch certain things. Saturday mornings were for cartoons, Sunday mornings were for weekly store discounts and coupons in the paper; during the nighttime, when I’d see advertisements for mature shows like ‘Nip/Tuck’ or ‘The Shield’, I knew I’d be called to go to bed soon.
When I got older, nights transitioned to periods of hanging out with friends and doing things on the weekends. Sometimes, it’d be driving around and grabbing fast food in the early morning at a place like WhataBurger or McDonald’s. Now, I don’t prefer to go out late at night— I enjoy being home and waking up early, so I can start my day sooner— but there are times when I miss it. Of course I can still do these things, but there’s a lack of enthusiasm that I once had for these activities. I might have grown out of them or those moments just might be a capsuled relic of the past.
Either way, I’ve been thinking lately of a quote that I heard a few years ago that sort of changed the trajectory of my life: “You can have everything you want. But you can’t have it all at once.”
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Even though most of my days are filled with things to do, there are times when I lack ambition. Ever since I was very young, I’ve feared wasting my life; it’s why I obsess over documenting everything (daily journals, food diaries, idea books, a work log of everything I’ve read/watched/studied for the past 3+ years, quote books, etc). However, another brilliant thing occurred to me a few weeks ago when I was at a DJ set in Romania at 5 am with a friend: “You can have do everything you want. But you can’t have do it all at once.”
So, those childhood times when I’d be in bed by 8:30 pm and eat Little Caesar’s ‘$5 Hot-N-Ready Pizza’ on Tuesdays while watching Moesha simply transitioned into being a young adult and eating a kabob while sitting on the sidewalk with friends after going out. I looked forward to Tuesdays— then I looked forward to weekends. And now, while sometimes I miss the things I used to do and the excitement I had when I did them, I simply have to recreate those moments in ways that are most suitable to where my life is right now. I’m no longer in Romania (sadly) but I can still play awesome setlists in my headphones when I head out for a run in the morning. I might not feel the most ambitious anymore but I can still make a plan and stick to it. (This yields better results, anyway.)
I’m a huge fan of watching Hormozi videos on YouTube, and recently came across one titled “How to Achieve Anything.”
Leila Hormozi is an incredible speaker and I like the format of her videos; she’s humble and her advice is uplifting. She advises that, if you’re in a place that feels stuck or disappointing, there’s a chance that you’re focusing on your goals too much and not your output enough. If you focus on how much you’re working on something, and being consistent (consistency = progress), then your anxiety will lessen and your confidence will increase. She suggests that feeling lost or misdirected can be a blessing in disguise; it can signal to you that you’re headed for a path of greatness, but you’ve got to be willing to take it.
Sometimes, I don’t think that I want to sacrifice the time that I have now to work on the things that I actually want for the future. However, my viewpoint has shifted; I used to worry about not being able to do the things I want if I prioritize my goals too much, but there’s no way that I can have the life that I want if I don’t prioritize them. I don’t want too many days to come when I think, I haven’t done the things that I thought I would. There might be time for everything, sure, but that time isn’t eternal. Being wise and doing a little bit each day to work on achieving my goals is my focus now. Sometimes it feels tedious, and my life feels a bit smaller, but this feels like a pretty incredible realization so that I can shift things into place. This way of thinking has lead me here:
“You can have build everything you want. But you can’t have build it all at once.”
If you’re feeling stuck, or uninspired, you aren’t alone. Trust me. However, focusing on what we can do each day instead of feeling like the deadlines are the biggest priority can help a lot. The things I want I can’t have; I have to make them. And quite honestly, I’d prefer it that way. Creating the life of my biggest dream feels like one of the greatest privileges that this life has to offer.
I’m willing to take it.
