I’ve spent a lot of my life looking around for that perfect something that fits my inner so and so. You know, that just right job, just right house, just right this, that, or the other thing?  Looking for that something that makes you feel complete, warm, and fuzzy inside.  Do you know what? It isn’t out there.

I’ve found, that the thing you really want out there is inside you already. It’s in your brain and heart.  You’ve gotta just make it happen. You have to build it.  Create it from scratch.  Kick ass, push for it, think about it, plan it, and fucking do it. There you go.  Low and behold, with a little elbow grease, the thing you hoped was “out there” somewhere in the world waiting to be discovered, is actually now materialized, right there in front of you.  Because you made it happen.

There’s a Buddhist concept stating the importance of the marriage between thought and action.  It’s a place of mental focus where your thoughts initiate your actions and you remain fully concentrated during their accomplishment.  You have your thought and out proceeds the proper action to accomplish it without a moment’s hesitation.  It’s like, you think about raking leaves in your yard then you just go do it.  No dithering.  No procrastination.  Sure you could sit and visualize raking each and every leaf, thinking visualization alone will get your yard cleaned up.  But that ain’t gonna get your yard raked, son.  At some point you’re going to have say,  “Damn, I’ve got a shitload of leaves in my yard, I’d better go rake them” and then simply get up and go do it.  That’s a marriage between thought and action.  Perfect thought.  Perfect execution.

You can apply this attitude to any task, goal, or desire.  See it as fully  accomplished in your mind – and it doesn’t have to be perfectly detailed yet at this stage.  Just see what you want to do and start doing it until it’s done.  Simple.  No advanced techniques needed.  Just clear, concise thought and the power of execution.  If you simply waited for it to fall into your lap, you would be in for a long period of frustration.

This is the only way to get anything done.  And, I’ve learned why there’s no other way beside this.  Life would be colossally unfair if you could get something for nothing.  True success comes from your own diligence, perseverance, and drive to make accomplishments.

There’s a lot of literature and movies out there like “The Secret” that teach you all sorts of passive ways to try and get where you want to be. They teach things like visualization, meditation, etc.  All of which can be very useful, but not a single second of meditation or visualization ever got a blog post written for me.  It never poured concrete, built a brick wall, nor did it rake my leaves.  Things happened when I disciplined myself to go beyond what was comfortable.  To do what wasn’t easy.  I could visualize a completed article all I wanted.  And it helps to see the grand picture before embarking on any creative project.  But, until I got off my ass and sat on my ass in front of my computer, nothing ever got written.  The world is full of great ideas.  It’s lacking people who have the wherewithal to make them happen.

Nike was right. Just do it.