If this is at all confusing, it’s because you have a difficult time accepting it. The same went for me at first.
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When there are things that you would rather be doing or that you just want to do, perhaps going to the art museum, hanging around the park more often, or reading more, you know that you have to keep doing what you’re doing.
That craving – when you are actually busy – to do other things (and sometimes even to do nothing) means you’re on the right track and that you need to keep going.
Our minds direct our attention towards things that we would rather be doing because what we are doing is hard work. Our brain wants to distract us, wants to pull our attention toward something more entertaining (and less productive). Often referred to as the lizard brain, this subconscious mental effort for distraction is a cloak of fear. The more we get on the path of productivity, reaching our goals, putting in emotional labor, and putting ourselves and our art out there, the more fear sets in and the lizard brain starts working in every way possible.
The most popular way clearly being the desire to do something more fun than what you are currently doing.
When really, if what you have to be focusing on now didn’t exist, you wouldn’t really be doing what you think you would rather be doing now. You’d be doing nothing.
Stay Positive & Outsmart Your Brain. Push Through
Garth E. Beyer
