In and Out of the Groove, or Limbo - The Future is Now
Once a year, I carve out two full days to focus solely on getting my tax records in order. Those are a couple of my least favorite days of the year! Poring over receipts, reconciling statements, and reviewing tax regulations all go completely against the grain of my interests. But then, so do a lot of the daily tasks of life.
Everyone has a groove. Some of us love business, some of us love sports, some love fashion, some love animals, some love creating – the list goes on and on. The lucky ones find their grooves and find ways to spend their lives working in their grooves. But even those lucky ones still have to spend time outside of their grooves.
No matter who it is, no matter how successful they are, no matter how fulfilled they are, they still have to deal with mundane activities each and every day. The star athletes don’t get their days in the spotlights without spending hours practicing and preparing each day. The movie stars and music stars don’t get great roles and recognition without hard work. The CEOs don’t get to run companies without tolerating long hours, withering abuse, negotiations and politics. Nothing great in life comes easy. Every overnight success took at least seven years, so they say.
To be in the groove, we have to be out of the groove, a lot. Having the will to be out of the groove, pushing through the mundane and challenging tasks is what gets us in the groove. If you have ever felt resistance to something, only to feel great satisfaction after you got it done, then you know what I mean. It’s easy to give in to laziness. But the decisions we make affect the way we feel.
Giving in to laziness puts us in limbo, that place that’s neither in nor out of the groove. Limbo is escapism. But it catches up. I know that if I don’t do my morning workout, I will feel weaker, more tired, and less enthusiastic about life all day. But if I do the workout, I feel stronger, more alert, more enthusiastic, and more satisfied. To get over that initial resistance, I have to get myself to live in the future now. I have to understand and appreciate how I’m going to feel after I have made the decision to motivate.
I love to just chill out and relax, even when something needs to get done, until I reach the end of the day and feel the frustration of another day that slipped by without anything to show for it. For me, it’s so easy to give in to distractions and temporary pleasure. Some of these activities can actually feel productive. Chatting it up with friends, surfing the net, goofing off on facebook are so much fun. But I know I’m in limbo when the guilt, the regret, and the realities of unpaid bills and unfulfilled goals set in. Limbo feels so easy at first, yet so painful later.
So how do we get out of limbo? How do successful people find the fortitude to do the out-of-the-groove activities necessary to get in the groove? Simple: they see the future now! They are able to push through that initial wave of distraction and resistance because they can clearly see the options that lie ahead. They can see themselves doing the mundane and enjoying it because the mundane is on the road to growth – the road to the groove.
Spending a little time out of groove is sometimes called “putting in the time” because it is something that reduces over time as our skills develop. Practice makes perfect, right? Are the music stars still playing those sleazy clubs to empty houses? Are the CEOs still pulling all-nighters to crank out reports? Are the pro athletes still spending their entire days working out and preparing. Of course they are still working hard; but they are over the hump. The hardest work is behind them. They still have to put their time in each day. But now it’s not so hard because they have developed good habits. They are out of limbo. They know the future is now. They found their own way to enjoy the journey.
What’s your future? See it. Believe it. And make it now. Take the journey. Spend some time out of the groove, knowing that you’re really in the groove, and knowing that the groove keeps gets groovier.
Get out of limbo. The future is now. See it. Believe it. Live it.
P.S. I wanted to write this entry two days ago; but I had to finish my taxes.
Everyone has a groove. Some of us love business, some of us love sports, some love fashion, some love animals, some love creating – the list goes on and on. The lucky ones find their grooves and find ways to spend their lives working in their grooves. But even those lucky ones still have to spend time outside of their grooves.
No matter who it is, no matter how successful they are, no matter how fulfilled they are, they still have to deal with mundane activities each and every day. The star athletes don’t get their days in the spotlights without spending hours practicing and preparing each day. The movie stars and music stars don’t get great roles and recognition without hard work. The CEOs don’t get to run companies without tolerating long hours, withering abuse, negotiations and politics. Nothing great in life comes easy. Every overnight success took at least seven years, so they say.
To be in the groove, we have to be out of the groove, a lot. Having the will to be out of the groove, pushing through the mundane and challenging tasks is what gets us in the groove. If you have ever felt resistance to something, only to feel great satisfaction after you got it done, then you know what I mean. It’s easy to give in to laziness. But the decisions we make affect the way we feel.
Giving in to laziness puts us in limbo, that place that’s neither in nor out of the groove. Limbo is escapism. But it catches up. I know that if I don’t do my morning workout, I will feel weaker, more tired, and less enthusiastic about life all day. But if I do the workout, I feel stronger, more alert, more enthusiastic, and more satisfied. To get over that initial resistance, I have to get myself to live in the future now. I have to understand and appreciate how I’m going to feel after I have made the decision to motivate.
I love to just chill out and relax, even when something needs to get done, until I reach the end of the day and feel the frustration of another day that slipped by without anything to show for it. For me, it’s so easy to give in to distractions and temporary pleasure. Some of these activities can actually feel productive. Chatting it up with friends, surfing the net, goofing off on facebook are so much fun. But I know I’m in limbo when the guilt, the regret, and the realities of unpaid bills and unfulfilled goals set in. Limbo feels so easy at first, yet so painful later.
So how do we get out of limbo? How do successful people find the fortitude to do the out-of-the-groove activities necessary to get in the groove? Simple: they see the future now! They are able to push through that initial wave of distraction and resistance because they can clearly see the options that lie ahead. They can see themselves doing the mundane and enjoying it because the mundane is on the road to growth – the road to the groove.
Spending a little time out of groove is sometimes called “putting in the time” because it is something that reduces over time as our skills develop. Practice makes perfect, right? Are the music stars still playing those sleazy clubs to empty houses? Are the CEOs still pulling all-nighters to crank out reports? Are the pro athletes still spending their entire days working out and preparing. Of course they are still working hard; but they are over the hump. The hardest work is behind them. They still have to put their time in each day. But now it’s not so hard because they have developed good habits. They are out of limbo. They know the future is now. They found their own way to enjoy the journey.
What’s your future? See it. Believe it. And make it now. Take the journey. Spend some time out of the groove, knowing that you’re really in the groove, and knowing that the groove keeps gets groovier.
Get out of limbo. The future is now. See it. Believe it. Live it.
P.S. I wanted to write this entry two days ago; but I had to finish my taxes.
posted by Colin Maduzia at
11:21 PM
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