'Do or do not, there is no try'. You probably recognise that as a Yoda quote, which it is, but... what does this really mean?
Well its easy to forget when you're in the middle of watching a star wars film, but this actually sums up exactly what you are, who you are. Who do you think you are? What is your perception of yourself? What kind of a human being are you, what kind of things do you like to do?
Now- what have you done today?
I watched a video by 'Better Ideas', which I very highly recommend you check out, where he talks about the idea that in fact, life is just a single day, on repeat. You wake up, you eat breakfast, you go to work, you come home from work, you eat dinner, you watch Netflix, you go to sleep. The chances are your day may have looked something like that, and if it does, chances are that you'll do the same thing tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that. For the next 40 years, maybe, if you're in your 20's. And then you'll be old and retire, and then eventually die.
Essentially the point of this video was to tell you that in a weird way, a lot of us are waiting for tomorrow- when in fact, tomorrow is already today. Tomorrow is just a repeat of whatever you probably did today.
And you might think 'well yeah, I work a job and I don't like it, but I'm planning on quitting in a few years time so I can follow X goal'. Well are you planning? Right now, are you planning? Are you saving, getting ready? If you're not then you are literally going to just repeat the same actions, over and over again. You repeat your day, which means you repeat your week, your month, your year, your decade, and it's likely your 20's will be somewhat similar to your 30's, as will your 40's, and your 50's. Life isn't nearly as predictable as you wish it was- because your life is a reflection of what you do.
You've been in the driver's seat your whole life, but rather than drive... you've been going in a straight line, so that you can sit back and relax. You have let life happen to you, most likely. I mean of course there are very unavoidable situations that you don't have control of... but you have control over how you react to them. But that's a whole other topic I won't get into.
Anyway- here's where the mind fucking comes in. What if we take this '16 hours of life on repeat' thing a step deeper?
Your perception of 'now', the present, lasts about 3-8 seconds. After that, your brain labels what just happened as 'past'. The past, doesn't exist anymore, it's just records. The future hasn't existed yet. The only thing that ACTUALLY exists is NOW. Whoever you were 10 seconds ago isn't technically who you are now. I mean, it is, but how would you know? You only know that because your brain is telling you that, and your brain plays lots of tricks on you. You could bump your head and wake up with no memory of anything. Did it even happen? Did an old you exist? It doesn't matter, because the only thing that exists right now is you.
Take this into account as to who you WANT to be. I'm assuming you want to change or improve an aspect of your life. Maybe you want to become fitter, for example. So you say, 'Tomorrow I am going to exercise.' Are you a fitter person now? No, because you aren't doing anything. You're just thinking about exercising.
Does that mean you'll exercise tomorrow? Who knows? You can't make your tomorrow self exercise, your tomorrow self doesn't exist. But you can, however, make you exercise right now. And I'm not saying if you want to be fit you have to now exercise 24/7 or it doesn't actually happen, but technically speaking, your tomorrow self could just choose not to, and spend the day inside eating fast food. I mean, chances are that isn't going to happen if you're being solid with your planning, but I mean... it could. Nothing is set in stone.
Take this into account. You wanna be rich in the future? Cool, work on being rich right now. I always thought that 'living in the moment' meant that it was just giving into every instinct you ever have. A drink is passed to you, you drink it, without thinking about the future, because all that matters is the current. But actually, without living in the now, without living in the present, nothing will ever, ever get done. If you are taking action for tomorrow, then that is living in the moment, much more than most people will ever do, because you're taking action. It's a massive difference.
So that all probably seems really confusing, and it is. But what I want you to take away is this- What are you doing right now? Are you happy? If not, stop waiting to be happy, because YOU RIGHT NOW is the only version of you that will exist, ever. What can you do to become happier? Do it. Helpful tip- becoming happy usually means getting rid of things in your life, not adding more.
So reflect on your now, not your past, or your future. Your now is the only thing you can actually change, because it is the only thing that exists. If you want to change the future, change the now, it's the only way. Live fully in the moment, because the moment is the only thing that can and will ever exist.