Resistance to Progress
Lately, I’ve been feeling a lot of resistance to working and making progress for several reasons. One major reason is not knowing exactly what the best thing to work on is. But a big part of my struggle is the uncertainty I face. I hate wasting time. My biggest fear in life is realizing I’ve worked on something that had no meaning or purpose. Of course, like everyone else, I sometimes waste time through doom-scrolling or working on things that don’t matter. I’m not perfect, even though this fear of wasting time looms over me.
There is always a learning process when you have your own startup, but opportunity cost scares me. I can take a route full of uncertainty but high reward, or find something less uncertain. I realized that the more uncertain your plans, the greater the potential reward. In these situations, it’s vital to connect your efforts with the core reason behind why you’re doing anything. Being well-aligned with your motivations makes it easier to know if you’re working on the right thing.
Aligning Efforts and Discipline
Alignment is crucial, but it requires discipline. You need to plan out your actions and stick to them. Without execution, your ambitions are wasted. Staying aligned is a constant challenge. The question is, how can we live in alignment?
The simple answer is to have the discipline to reflect on your core mission constantly. Regardless of your current situation or urgent tasks, always stay connected to that core mission. Detaching from it leads to feeling lost, where everything feels urgent and important, which is mentally draining.
Mastering alignment involves living each day intentionally. Know what actions you need to take every moment. Habit formation is key here. By cultivating proper habits, you can work on things that keep you aligned.
The Distractors
Being mindful of distractions is crucial. For me, it’s something as small as playing with my mustache, which hinders my focus. To live in alignment, you can’t juggle too many projects at once. Focusing deeply on one thing while delegating other tasks for later preserves mental clarity. My to-do list has been cluttered for four months, and it disrupts my habits and whole life.
The solution is straightforward: let go of things that don’t serve you and have the discipline to focus on the right things. My uncertainty and loss of self-trust in succeeding with my startup come from too many distractions, like other projects and, to an extent, women.
Discipline and Rewards
I need discipline and a way to reward myself when I’m disciplined. Recently, I’ve been poor at maintaining focus and often indulge in distractions and excuses. This needs to stop.
Financial concerns are part of the distraction too. While money is important, velocity, users, and customers are essential for success. I must focus on delivering value and engaging with these audiences rather than getting sidetracked by finance.
Intentional Living
Living with alignment increases confidence and trust in myself. It helps to reduce uncertainty by deciding on and committing to certain tasks. Uncertainty often stems from a lack of self-trust, though external circumstances play a role. However, we can only control our response.
Confidence comes from wanting, believing, and doing the work. Only by doing the work can you develop confidence and certainty. You need to give it your all; otherwise, uncertainty will persist.
Actionable Steps
The key to overcoming these challenges lies in being intentional every day and every hour. Intentionality in how time is spent is crucial for alignment, productivity, and ultimately, success.