Production Needs Time and Attention, Consumption Has More Than Enough
We live in a time of incredible consumption. I am not just talking about food. I am talking about the consumption of media input of all kinds. It is fun and it is a learning opportunity. So what is the problem? Do we need to be concerned about being over-consumers? Yes. We do. If you want good results, it is up to you to produce them. It is impossible to produce a healthier life by consumption. Action/production must be taken. Reading about strength training will not improve your back health. Intending to take action is great but again will not eliminate your pain.
How did we get caught in overconsumption? Why is it so much harder to produce? Because our brain is wired to take the easier path, to steer clear of discomfort, and most importantly to avoid energy exertion to take on what the brain perceives as optional actions. Why change what essentially is keeping us alive? Maintaining the status quo is so much easier.
Historically, many generations ago, staying alive required a tremendous output of energy. When it was possible to avoid unnecessary expenditure of energy or discomfort our brain would offer the easier path as the best option to ensure we had enough energy available if we needed to outrun a predator. Times have changed- on a typical Tuesday, we do not need to conserve energy to outrun a predator. Unfortunately for us, our brain still perceives discomfort or effort as something warranting a full stop. To borrow from Mel Robbins, our default is to pull the emergency brake to stop us from going forward if forward is hard. This idea is so important to understand because to grow and create meaningful lives we must be aware of and be on top of this default mode of taking the easier path or pulling the emergency brake on doing hard things. Consumption is definitely a path of less resistance. It is so much easier to scroll Instagram posts on fitness than it is to actually get yourself into a regular fitness routine. Will you build a pretty biceps by scrolling or lifting heavy weight. Easy answer, you will need to produce a pretty biceps.
Being an entrepreneur has been the greatest career to date for me. I am in love with my business. Running my business has required me to learn many new things but more importantly to know when I have learned enough- not more than enough- just enough to take actions. Actions produce results. This is vigilence on my part because I love to learn and I do battle with imposter syndrome. The sentence I begin my day with is “today I will produce results”. This is how I send my brain out into the day so that it will look for and create evidence of this priority. Consumption for me is learning more and more and more so that I will know exactly what I need to do for a successful result. This is a beautifully packaged problem. My brain says- “Kim, you need to learn more because you have no idea what you are doing (Imposter syndrome)”. This is a huge excuse for consumption and leads me to procrastination. If I am not on top of this sneaky game, I will get stuck on the idea that I do not yet know enough and get swallowed up by consumption. Production needs to happen even if and especially if it leads to a failure because failing forward is growth.
What is in it for you? Production requires action. If you want something better you must take action. If you want to have better results in your life you have to take the right next step. The next right step might be a thought such as the one I use or it might be to make a list of all the possible steps you could take. Try not to be too practical, just dump all the possible ideas. From there you can pick a few that make sense to you and do the same thing you just did. Take that one idea and craft how you could do this one thing. If a block/problem with that idea comes up find a workaround- do not let it stop the process of creating a plan.
What is in it for me? I am going to create a membership program in 2024. If I allow imposter syndrome to take any role I will get nowhere. I can read and learn as much as I like but I will need to take action in order to produce a membership program. I will embrace (probably not ladylike) the failing forward approach with my eye on the prize of creating a community of shared experience, shared growth, and learning, available to all who desire a rockstar healthy life inside and out that is full of amazing possibilities.
May you produce more than you consume and please stay tuned as I create way beyond my comfort zone.
K
