Speaker 1: Hi everyone, It's Carli Taylor for this week's Mojo Monday.
Speaker 1: So before a start, I just wanted to mention the
Speaker 1: weather in Melbourne. It has been incredible lately. It is May,
Speaker 1: we are in mid May and we're still walking around
Speaker 1: in tank tops and t shirts. We are still soaking
Speaker 1: up the sunshine. I was just yesterday I had the
Speaker 1: warmth of the sun on my back and it was
Speaker 1: just it was just beautiful. It's almost like we've borrowed
Speaker 1: a week from summer. But I just also with that,
Speaker 1: like so many things in life, this there's this tension.
Speaker 1: So this sunshine holds this kind of tension because while
Speaker 1: we're enjoying the warmth and the beautiful days and the
Speaker 1: blue skies, we also have to think about our farmers,
Speaker 1: particularly in Victoria, and what this lack of rain means
Speaker 1: for them. So they're having the same experience of these
Speaker 1: beautiful days, but it has a very different impact on them.
Speaker 1: So it's really a reminder that life is rarely one thing. Okay,
Speaker 1: we have our perspective of our experience and it's full
Speaker 1: of contrast. It's full of mixed feelings and competing truths,
Speaker 1: and so that kind of maybe in a roundabout way
Speaker 1: brings me to the topic of this week's Mojo Monday.
Speaker 1: It's not about the weather. I actually want to talk
Speaker 1: about willpower. So willpower can be our fuel for being disciplined.
Speaker 1: So it provides us energy and motivation to resist short
Speaker 1: term comfort, short term temptations and distractions, and it allows
Speaker 1: us to focus on more on long term goals and
Speaker 1: maintain a consistent approach. But so many of us struggle
Speaker 1: with willpower because most of us already know what we
Speaker 1: should be doing. So we should be getting up earlier,
Speaker 1: we should be exercising more, we should be eating better,
Speaker 1: we should stop scrolling, we should start the project, we
Speaker 1: should pay that bill, we should clean up the house.
Speaker 1: We know what we should be doing that knowing isn't doing.
Speaker 1: And this is where there's this tension inside of us.
Speaker 1: There's a kind of tug of war going on. There's
Speaker 1: a part that's clear and focus and even wise might
Speaker 1: not feel like it, but we do have this wise
Speaker 1: part of us that knows what we should be doing.
Speaker 1: And that's the one that sees the big picture and
Speaker 1: knows exactly what we need to do or what we
Speaker 1: need to do to move forward. And then there's this
Speaker 1: other part. This one is a master at coming up
Speaker 1: with reasons why today isn't the day. And I'm sure
Speaker 1: that sounds familiar for many people out there. It's not now,
Speaker 1: not yet, maybe later, I'll do it tomorrow. So we
Speaker 1: tell ourselves we're waiting for something. So maybe we're waiting
Speaker 1: for more time or more motivation, we're waiting to feel
Speaker 1: like doing it, or we need a clearer path, or
Speaker 1: we're waiting for the perfect conditions. But the reality of
Speaker 1: this is that life doesn't deal in perfect conditions. Life
Speaker 1: deals in messiness and it deals intentions. Life is really messy.
Speaker 1: And I've got really clear on this recently. We will
Speaker 1: never have a we will never have the perfect conditions,
Speaker 1: we will never be completely safe. We will always be
Speaker 1: confronted with various levels of pain and discomfort. And the
Speaker 1: reality is there will always be a tension between what
Speaker 1: we want and what we actually do. So the tension
Speaker 1: between comfort and growth, the tension between the safety of
Speaker 1: the known and the uncertainty around putting ourselves out there
Speaker 1: and taking the risks we need to take in order
Speaker 1: to grow. And it's within that tension that we have
Speaker 1: a choice. And I think this is where awareness. Self
Speaker 1: awareness comes in because often we feel like we don't
Speaker 1: have a choice. But that choice is not going to
Speaker 1: be a perfect one and it's not going to be
Speaker 1: pain free, but it's a real choice. So you can start,
Speaker 1: even if it's messy, even if it's tiny. You can
Speaker 1: edge your way forward, one uncomfortable inch at a time.
Speaker 1: So here's the reflection for this week. Ask yourself, what
Speaker 1: is the payoff of not staf what's the hidden cost
Speaker 1: of that? And then what is the payoff of starting
Speaker 1: even if it's just small, even if it's just five
Speaker 1: minutes a day, And if things stay exactly as they are,
Speaker 1: what are the consequences in say six months time or
Speaker 1: a year or six years. So that leads to your
Speaker 1: future self. What does your future self need you to
Speaker 1: do right now? Not to feel better, but to be better?
Speaker 1: And I use this all the time now I consider
Speaker 1: the needs of my future self and I find this
Speaker 1: so motivating. It motivates me and it's like filling me
Speaker 1: up with the willpower because my future self, whether that's
Speaker 1: the near future like tomorrow or next week, or whether
Speaker 1: it's six months or six years, will be the result
Speaker 1: of what I do now. So Donald Robertson, who pull's
Speaker 1: hat on the podcast a couple of times. He's a
Speaker 1: psychotherapist and here for expert in stoic philosophy. But he
Speaker 1: said something years ago which I love. He says, get
Speaker 1: out of the library, something like this. I don't have
Speaker 1: the exact quote, but it's get out of the library
Speaker 1: and become a warrior of action. And I just love
Speaker 1: that because you think about it, we are consuming knowledge
Speaker 1: all the time. We're coming up with ideas, we have
Speaker 1: these fantasies about what the future looks like. We actually
Speaker 1: need to embody those. We need to close that gap
Speaker 1: between the knowing and the doing. And yes, there is
Speaker 1: no denying that that can be super uncomfortable, but so
Speaker 1: will staying stuck. So will stay in your comfort zone.
Speaker 1: So there is that cliched saying which I've heard many
Speaker 1: times before, but I'm going to say, You've got to
Speaker 1: choose your discomfort. So I hope that has been valuable
Speaker 1: for you. If there is something that you know, you
Speaker 1: need to get started on a small step, a small
Speaker 1: step towards whatever it is that needs doing, and take
Speaker 1: that today. Because as soon as you take that first step,
Speaker 1: just notice you're going to get this little dose of
Speaker 1: motivation and then all of a sudden, all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: the wheel power is going to kick in. So thanks
Speaker 1: everybody for joining me this week. Have a great week everyone,
Speaker 1: and I will catch you next Monday.