You Don’t Have to do Anything

I get it. You want things to be epic.

Me too.

But with that we tend to fuck things up. In our pursuit of epic, we put all this gigantic, crushing pressure on ourselves to be the most-amazing-human-to-ever-exist-ever, and then our inner 15 year old is all like “no, I don’t have to!”

And if you’re anything like me, that inner-rebel has been giving a lot of power. He’s single-handedly responsible for you seeing the truth about how bullshit capitalism, organized religion and lots of other societal nonsense is. Maybe your inner rebel is what led you to have the courage to ditch the template and pursue a life of entrepreneurship too.

Clearly, he is very important and if you’re like me you proudly self-identify as a rebel, nonconforming type person.

The problem is rebelling against ourselves.

What do we do when we rebel against ourselves?

Easy shit. Shit that we’re not sure makes us feel fulfilled at all. Like mindlessly flipping through Instagram or getting sucked into the time toilet of Youtube.

Sometimes we might even fool ourselves into calling these things “research” (in which every scientist in the world vomits just a little bit).

Here’s the problem: working for yourself is not the easiest thing to do. External consequences, like getting fired or shamed by your boss turn out to be pretty useful incentives to focus and get things done. But when there’s no one to answer to but yourself, everything seems easier and more enjoyable than the Insanely Epic Project you’ve dreamed up.

Whether you’re working for yourself right now, or are on the path to reclaiming your freedom, you have to find a way to overcome the resistance. Or, you’ll just end up in a van down by the river (which, come to think of it, doesn’t sound all that bad).

Other than artificially engineering shame into my work by publicly committing to doing something, I find it useful to remind myself that:

a) my work doesn’t always have to be so god damned epic

and most importantly…

b) I don’t have to do anything

Yes, there are always consequences for everything. But in reality, I don’t ever have to do anything. I don’t have to have a job, I don’t have to pay rent, I don’t have to write blog posts every single week.

I don’t have to do a giant, epic, megalaunch. I don’t have to do any of that shit.

And because I’m the ruler of my own business, I get to decide the rules.

Oh really? I don’t have to follow the typical online business, blogging game template?

You mean, I can make things up?

Sure, to an extent. I mean, you have to create a game that others are willing to play with you. Otherwise you have a hobby, not a business.

But still, the “rules” are much more malleable than you might think.

The key is to question your assumptions.

If you think it has to be a certain way, see if that’s really true. Hell, you might be more successful than you could ever imagine by doing things your way. In fact, maybe that’s the secret, magnetic ingredient you’ve been missing in your business building efforts.

You’ll never know until you try.

So, question your assumptions. What’s the worst that could happen?

Calm down your inner rebel by reminding yourself that you don’t ever have to do anything.

Ahhhh, feels better already doesn’t it?

Now, get to work, slacker. ;)

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