I have a friend who had a roommate who was always too tired to do something. Or too busy. Or too broke.
She always relied on one of those “reasons” for why she couldn’t achieve something she said she wanted.
And at some point, my friend got tired of trying to motivate and encourage her.
My friend still liked her and cared for her. But they realized she was choosing to impose nonsense limitations on herself because hse wanted to, because it felt familiar, or because, well, who knows why? But she was clearly choosing to hold herself back based on false narratives she kept telling himself.
When they realized that, they gave up.
See, I have learned that people are rarely too tired, busy, or broke to do what they want – whether it’s something minor like seeing a movie or something major like getting in shape.
Rather, we tell ourselves these familiar stories, so we don’t have to face what’s really holding us back. Usually, that’s a fear of some kind. Fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of how a new experience might cause us discomfort.
And you know what? That’s fine. Nobody likes to fail or be embarrassed, and some people only want the comfort of familiar experiences. But at least understand your motivations. Probe your mindset enough to recognize the limiting self-beliefs you’ve adopted and move beyond them.
If what you want is important enough, you’ll make it happen. If it’s not, just say so.
