Do You Want it Now?

Despite making major life plans, are we just doing what we want? 

For example, if we spent a summer watching Sex and the City reruns instead of building a business, did we procrastinate on the business we wanted to start, or did we not want to start that business? It’s a riddle, yet it’s solvable with some curiosity and reflection. 

Many people talk about this concept—that you're doing what you want to do while you’re planning other things. This leads to another layer… 

What do you want, and would you do it today?

The second part of the question is the real zinger because so many things look great next week, month, or year. This helps find us clarity—do I or do I not enjoy doing X, Y, and Z? And now, not some random date in the future. 

Here's why it’s great to check in with this: 

Reason #1: It's easy to get excited about other people’s plans and dreams. This can come from other people’s ideas or something they say you’re good at. The point is that it may not be your dream, but theirs (despite how fun it may sound to join them). Also, just because you're good at something doesn't mean you want to do it. 

Reason #2: If it’s not something you want to do today, it could be a perfect “future life.” It’s possible that you might not even want it to become a “now reality,” and it’s worth looking into whether you want it to happen. Sometimes, we can think that one day, we will “get there,” and it will become us. Some people love waking up at 5 am to run, while others hope they will “get that discipline one day.” 

Perhaps you love working from home, but you sometimes fantasize that an office vibe would be really fun. Finally, you get that dream job you thought you wanted, and you are miserable. You curse the commute every time you get in the car. The great news is that you realize…you love working remotely. 

Time won't usually change our nature. We can force ourselves to do things we don’t want to, but if we want to be happy, we can look at our lives and see the clues to what we truly enjoy doing. 

They may have been there all along. 

So…what do you enjoy doing? 

And would you do it now?