“Stop thinking and start doing.”
That was the answer that my higher self, guide, soul, consciousness or God yelled at me earlier this year. I don’t mind what you call the voice that speaks your truth, the one we often ignore, the one that starts to whisper as it try’s to guide us gently but then when we ignore it is gets a little louder, a little more insistent until it might start to yell. Sometimes it yells as a voice, as a message and other times it yells through a situation that really, finally, makes us sit up and listen, to take notice.
On this occasion thankfully it just yelled, it was a voice inside and it had gotten very loud. No drama occurred for me to sit up and listen, no pain or disappointment or failure, just a voice yelling at me. It was a voice inside and as I sat asking for the 100th time “why isn’t anything happening for me? Why does it happen for others and not me? What can I do to start my dreams actually happening? Am I really meant to be doing this?” I got my answer, “Stop thinking and start doing.”
Stop thinking about it
Stop asking about it
Stop planning it
Stop talking about it
Stop listening to excuses Stop pretending
Stop hiding
Stop lying
…….and just start doing.
At the time the ‘thing’ I was contemplating doing was committing to getting up at 4.00am and doing my personal practices in the morning before the house wakes and before the day gets in the way. I had been given this message a million times. Ok maybe not a million but many, many times.
Many times I had sat and wondered, contemplated, asked what step I needed to take to grow the following I desire, to touch and inspire people, to do what I love and be financially rewarded for it. I was waiting for clear steps that I could link to this outcome. You know what I mean “go and write that blog and then send it to this person” or “offer this session” or “create this course”. Those were the sorts of steps and action I was waiting to hear. They would have made sense.
I am going to presume you know what I mean. I know I am not alone in asking these types of questions and then not listening to the answer because it isn’t what we think it should be.
Finally I listened to the answer. The answer I kept getting was “get up early, 4.00am, and work on yourself in that time.”
So I listened…. it was the new year and I decided that the 2nd January 2019 would be the day I started getting up at 4.00am and show that I was committed to my own personal practices.
On the night of the 1st January 2019 I set my alarm for 4.00am and I went to bed. I had the best of intentions. My journals were ready, I knew which meditation I would do. I was prepared. I went to sleep firm in the decision that I would get up at 4.00am and start my new routine. There were no doubts in my mind, I was doing this!
Wow, 4.00am certainly rolled around quickly…. the alarm sounded, I opened my eyes to the darkness, I reached over and turned the alarm off, I lay there thinking “I am awake that wasn’t too hard.” I started thinking about what I would do, I looked at the darkness.
Then it started, my mind began to kick in.
“Do I really have to get up now, ½ hour wont matter, it is so early, it is school holidays so I can do all of this later. This is ridiculously early, there is no real reason to get up this early.”
The other voice was there as well. “Get up, this is your next step. Just get up.” But it felt quieter, not because it was less important but because it was less familiar. I was not used to getting up at 4.00am and my mind was saying “well you didn’t get up at 4.00am yesterday and you survived so why don’t you just stay here in this warm and comfy bed.” This message was familiar and so easy to listen to. What we listen to, what we focus on, starts to feel more and more important and often more true!! Not because it is true but because it is familiar.
So what did I do?
Which voice did I listen to?
I stayed in bed. I rolled over and went to sleep with the thought on my mind “I’ll do it later and tomorrow is another day.”
The whole day I felt off. I knew I had gone against my soul, my inner voice, the voice of something bigger than me. I had not taken what I was clearly told was the next step to achieving my goals.
I recommitted.
Tomorrow morning I would get up.
I repeated the process.
I set the alarm, I went to sleep with the absolute commitment to get up as soon as the alarm went off. The alarm went off….. I decided to just lay for a moment, just a couple of minutes, that wouldn’t matter, I’ll get up in 5 minutes. In 5 minutes it was even harder to get up, my body just wouldn’t comply.
Again I fell back to sleep.
This repeated every day. I kept making the decision, committing to doing it and then not doing it.
I had thoughts of “this is too hard, I just can’t do it.” In reality it was just a choice I was making, and I was making it each day strengthening my habit of staying in bed until at least 6.30am.
I did this until the morning of the 10th January 2019. The 9th morning of being committed to doing this something changed and I am going to share with you what changed.
The alarm went off at 4.00am. It was dark, I was comfy, I reached for my phone and a voice literally yelled at me “stop thinking and start doing…. GET UP!”
I don’t know what happened but I listened, I got up. I didn’t turn the alarm off until I was standing and once I was actually out of bed it become so much easier to keep going. When I was actually out of bed I looked forward to what I was going to do rather than looking backwards at the fact it was still dark and the bed was comfy and that yesterday I didn’t get up that early and I had survived. I looked at what I was going to do not what I had done in the past.
Now this might not seem a very big deal.
You might be thinking “so what, you got out of bed at 4.00am.”
Well something shifted that day. I realised that I just have to stop thinking and start doing. So often the more I think the less I do. If I think about getting up and why I need to do that and what the benefits will be my mind kicks and with all the reasons I should stay in bed.
I realised I do this with so many things.
I think about editing my book and then, almost instantly I start thinking of all the problems I might find and how long it will take and how boring it might get.
I think about writing another blog and then I start to worry I wont have anything to say, or no one will read it or if they do they might not like it!!
The more I think the less I do because my mind comes up with all the reasons not to do it, to keep doing what I am currently doing, what I have always done.
Do you recognise yourself in this at all?
I am sure I am not alone. We know what we need to do, even what we want to do to get to a certain outcome. We commit to it, we make a decision and then the time comes and something happens. We just don’t do it.
We start thinking and the brain kicks in, the reasons, or should I say excuses, start to come up as to why we don’t have to do it, why tomorrow will be fine!!
Change requires us to act differently, to take action we haven’t previously taken, to commit to new processes and to create new habits and sometimes those steps don’t seem so obvious. We might not be clear on why they are important but we know what they are, we know what we need to do…. even when we don’t know why.
I knew that getting up at 4.00am and working on me was the next step to growing my business and my following (even though I didn’t know why) and I was letting my mind stop me! I was getting in my own way!
So I decided to just stop thinking and start doing.
That morning of the 10th January 2019 something shifted in me, I acted without thought in that moment, I just got up before my thinking could kick in. Since then I have gotten up every week day morning at 4.00am (except one) and I have had 3 hours to meditate, journal, practice gratitude, connect and go live in my private group. This time has had a huge impact on my life.
It has changed my business and changed how I feel. It has has been powerful. Weirdly I am not more tired than when I used to drag myself out of bed at 6.30 and even 7.00am. In fact I probably have more energy.
So often when we are desiring change and when we have to start taking unfamiliar actions, when we need to break habits we just need to stop thinking about it and do it. Don’t even give your brain 30 seconds to kick in. If you pause you are inviting your thoughts and so often they will hold you back.
Is it time you started to stop thinking and start doing?
Jodi Reeves