Hello everybody.
I like to run, and I’ve recently restarted running with ankle weights and wrist weights. Eventually I’ll ad the vest, but I’m going up slowly. Right now I’m only wearing two and a half pounds on each limb. In time my arms, legs, body, and mind will adjust, and then I’ll move up to five pounds… then ten.
I’ll probably look ridiculous.
But that’s fine. I don’t have to do it forever and, who knows, maybe one day there will be subtle little weights you can wear that nobody even notices.
I think it’s cool to wear them.
I also think you should be doing the most productive thing at any given moment.
Now that probably sounds like I have a stick up my ass (believe me, I know). But the most productive thing isn’t always, “work.” Sometimes the most productive thing is resting, calling your grandma, writing something down, or starting a blog post like this one.
Right now, though, I’m putting on my weights.
I had misplaced two of them. I was about to just go without them because I took some pre-workout and there’s a bit of a timing situation with that.
Usually I plan it right, but today I forgot.
The whole weight situation is what triggered this recording.
These weights are a little bit of a pain to get on with one hand. Not terrible, it’s actually pretty simple, but you have to adjust the strap, let it sit correctly on your wrist, and decide which direction you want it to fact.
Even with two hands it can be a little tricky to get the strap through the little loop, that tiny slot the strap has to pass through before you pull it tight and Velcro it in place.
I kept missing it. Over and over.
Which is funny, because it’s such a simple invention, yet somehow it can still be a little finicky.
But then something interesting happened.
Instead of just fumbling with it again, I paused and pictured it.
I visualized the strap going through the loop.
I saw it in my mind’s eye, strap through the hole, pull, done.
And the moment I pictured it clearly **BOOM** I got it on the first try.
So the little value from today is this:
Visualize Success.
Actually see yourself doing the thing.
Feel what it’s like to succeed before you do it.
I think this is part of the value I’ve gotten from living more in the present moment. Whatever we want to call that mindset– psychology, philosophy, spirituality– it really doesn’t matter.
But often we forget to do this.
We forget to imagine success.
To step into it.
To really picture it in our mind’s eye. Full resolution. 4K Ultra HD. Whatever they call it these days.
If you’re playing basketball, you have to see the shot going in.
**Swish**
You’re doing reps in your head.
There’s actually a study about this. Somewhere out there you can find it.
They had one group that didn’t work out at all, and another group that only imagined working out. The people who imagined it actually gained measurable muscle mass.
Now there might have also been a group that physically trained, the details escape me at the moment, but the point stands.
“Where your focus goes, your energy flows.“
That’s a famous quote. I love it. I forget who said it first, so please feel free to Google it.
But it’s true.
There’s also the double-slit experiment in physics, where observation itself changes the outcome of what’s being observed.
Reality behaves differently depending on whether or not it’s being watched.
But here’s the tricky part.
You can’t obsess over it.
You imagine it clearly, build it vividly in your mind, and then you let it go.
Go do other things.
Have faith that it’s coming.
Because when you imagine your future self (the version of you that already has the thing you want) you start bringing back pieces of that reality with you.
You begin thinking like that person.
Acting like that person.
Moving like that person.
And often it happens subconsciously.
Things begin to fall into place.
But one of my favorite quotes about this actually comes from BoJack Horseman.
There’s and episode where Character Actress Margo Martindale ends up in a convent. One of the nuns is complaining about something to Mother Superior, and the Mother Superior finally interrupts her and says:
“My child… who are you to ask god for a sign without first showing Him one yourself?“
That line is permanently engraved in my brain.
Because you have to meet things halfway.
you have to put in the work.
Sometimes something is already falling into place for you… but you still have to step forward and do the small thing required to meet it.
Make the phone call.
Take the step.
Put the strap through the loop.
I don’t see it written anywhere that you can’t have what you want.
If your intentions are good (and if you deserve it) you’ll receive it.
And if not, you might just have to put in the work to get there.
That’s the journey.
And the journey is your own.
I used to be a little nervous about talking about this mindset for… reasons.
We’ll just leave it at that.
But I eventually realized something.
If you want something, you will naturally have to do the right things in order to get it.
That’s built into the process.
The fun part is the imagination.
Spend a few minutes imagining your future.
Maybe twenty minutes.
Then let it go for a few days.
Then come back to it again.
But to keep it simple… I love the KISS principle.
Keep it simple, stupid.
Which is basically the same idea as Occam’s Razor: the principle that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.
People love to complicate things.
Sometimes the complexity is fun. It exercises the brain. That wrinkly little organ inside your head gets more surface area when you use it.
But simple works.
If you’ve never read The Alchemist, go read it. The story follows a young boy who meets an old man who teaches him about two paths.
The complicated way.
And the simple way.
You get to choose.
Sometimes it’s fun to take the complicated route.
But sometimes the simple path is waiting right in front of you.
So go exercise your brain.
Watch documentaries.
Go for a run.
Lift some weights.
Actually, those last two are what I’m about to go do right now.
So I’m going to let you go.
I hope you enjoyed this little thought.
Wishing you all the best,
Full Color Psycho 🙃
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