What Are You Waiting For?

Do you ever find yourself in a perpetual state of waiting? Waiting for the right moment, the perfect conditions, or perhaps for someone else to be available?

Back to solo hiking my local trail!

Lately, I've been caught in this cycle, using it as an excuse to hold back on my personal goals and creative projects. It's a trap that leads to procrastination, especially in my content creation journey.

Just this morning, I finally uploaded a new YouTube video after a long hiatus. It's a bit different from my usual content, and while I'm not 100% satisfied, I'm proud to have completed it.

This experience reminded me of the importance of pushing through uncertainty and embracing the process, even when it's not perfect.

In the past month, I've been waiting for various things: friends visiting, the right moment to be productive, and days without dog-sitting duties (which have become few and far between). These distractions, while enjoyable, have taught me that waiting for ideal circumstances is rarely helpful. Life is full of distractions, and it's up to us to find the discipline and desire to keep moving forward.

Working from home adds another layer of complexity. The lines between work and home life blur, making it easy to get sidetracked by household chores or other "side quests." It's crucial to treat work hours as sacred, just as if I were in an office. This mindset helps me focus on my goals, like writing blog posts or editing videos, without succumbing to the waiting game.

Reflecting on my solo hiking adventures, I remember the empowerment I felt when I first ventured out alone. That sense of independence and determination is something I'm striving to channel into my daily life. Just as I plan a hike with a specific trail or destination in mind, I need clear goals for my day-to-day tasks, whether it's completing a video or sending out this newsletter on a weekly basis.

Recently, I paused my newsletter to focus on video editing, which was my top priority. I realized putting this email together had become a distraction (albeit a productive one) from the main platform I want to find consistency on.

This decision helped me realize the importance of setting boundaries and avoiding procrastination. I'm hopeful that in the coming months, I'll find a better rhythm to balance my work priorities and stay consistent here, with my newsletter, and on YouTube.

This topic of feeling like I'm in a constant state of waiting has shown up a couple times in conversations and books over the week and I've realized what I was referring to is called the arrival fallacy. 

The arrival fallacy is that pesky cycle of believing we'll finally be happy when we've achieved X, only to find that once we've achieved X, the goalpost has now been moved to Y.

Achieving any goal typically involves short-lived or nonexistent happiness, quickly followed by the realization we now have a new goal. It's an endless hamster wheel. 

While there's nothing wrong with having goals -- in fact, I think it's great -- it can become discouraging to feel like we're always striving for the next big thing. This constant striving was an advantageous behavior to our ancestors, who wouldn't have survived if they were completely satisfied and stopped hunting after finding a meal. 

In modern times, this evolutionary quirk has made it difficult for us to find sustained happiness in a world where we don't need to be constantly fighting to survive. There are a few ways we can escape from the arrival fallacy and that dreaded feeling of always waiting. 

1. Practice Gratitude - This is the biggest antidote to dissatisfaction that I have found. I keep a five-year journal where I write a few lines, including at least one thing I was thankful for from that day. 

2. Prioritize Progress Over Completion - When setting goals, I'm all about the journey instead of the destination. Rather than choosing an end result, I'll set my goal to make progress or maintain a habit each day. For example, editing videos for at least one hour a day instead of trying to hit a certain subscriber count. 

3. Focus on the Present - The arrival fallacy occurs because we're so preoccupied with how much better we'll feel once we've reached some future point. Avoiding that trap is as simple as focusing on the present moment and what we have here and now. 

I've been reminding myself that I have everything and need and then some! I always want to be progressing in life, but that shouldn't take away from the happiness I feel around being housed, fed, clothed, and generally content with where I am :) 

This has been and will continue to be a challenge for me, probably throughout my entire life (thanks, monkey brain). At least being aware of this habit makes it possible to step out of that mental loop and start enjoying life as it is. 

Let me know if you've caught yourself in that loop. I'd love to chat!

Happy adventuring,

A