Do you want to read this email right now?

Are you sure?

My goal isn’t to stop you from reading this—though maybe I’ve done that—but to make you think about what you’re doing right this moment.

Are your actions fulfilling your values?

Ali Abdaal talks about this in his video How I Manage My Time:

At any given moment you are doing what you most want to be doing.

- a fortune cookie

Brian Tracy also speaks about a similar concept in Get Smart!:

Action is Everything

How can you tell what a person really wants, thinks, feels, believes, and is committed to? Simple. You just look at his or her actions. It is not what people say, wish, hope, or intend that counts. It is only what they do, and especially what they do when faced with temptation or put under pressure.

These are two different ways of looking at the same concept. Our actions may be the outcome of a complex system, but they always resolve to what we most want to be doing. Regardless of what we tell ourselves.

If there is something you think you should be doing, why aren’t you doing it? Do you feel some resistance?

What is causing this gap between intention and action?

Try to better understand the beliefs, values, and motivations that are leading you on your present course and, if needed, make some adjustments.

Perhaps consider being more accepting of who you are. There is nothing wrong with spending some time relaxing, reading emails.

Feel satisfied in deliberate action, whatever the action may be.

2021-04-25