"Tomorrow will be better"

How many times have you said that to yourself?

How many promises have you made that the future will be better than the present.

Only to wake up and make the same choices, have the same thoughts and delay a better life.

Living in a perpetual state of lack.

Tomorrow will be better, but for now let me indulge.

Netflix, food, porn, socials…

Each of us have our selection of vices.

In the attempt to satisfy that constant craving for pleasure.

"It's okay i'll start tomorrow"

Relying on our future selves to do the work, to live intentionally, to break the cycle of hedonism.

Except…

All we have is now.

Tomorrow, never, comes.

Therein lies the problem.

There is no guarantee you will ever show up in the "future".

There is no guarantee of a future.

If you live another year, week or day.

How many times do you expect to change but aren't willing to do so right now?

Too many.

Change can be hard, it's unsettling. we are comfortable in shit situations because, it’s all we know.

We rely on a better tomorrow, providing a false sense of security in the now.

This reality is uncomfortable.

Change is a conscious decision (in most cases).

If you can't rely on yourself to make the difficult decision today, why will tomorrow be any different?

Let that question breath for a second,

If you can't rely on yourself today, why will tomorrow be different?

Here come the excuses:

• "It's late"

• "I'm tired"

• "I don't know where to start"

• "I'm not ready"

What does “ready” look like, what does it feel like? How would you know when you are “ready”?

The truth is, you may never be “ready”.

What goals did you set for 2023, have you completed them or made significant progress?

Don't hide from the truth.

Embrace it.

Be honest with yourself, no excuses.

Side Note

I'm sweating buckets writing this.

The standards I set for myself, have not been met. Expectation and reality out of sync. As they usually are. Yet, I can’t help but wonder…

If i took away any and every excuse, did i put everything into reaching my goals.

The answer,

No.

This truth is painful, yet awakening.

I set a goal at the beginning of the year to quit vaping. it took 8 months to finally hit a week sober, I hit the 3 week milestone and caved because 'i earned a break" (let’s not dive into the ridiculousness of this logic). i'm writing this piece after purchasing my third in 8 days.

Addiction is difficult. it's a constant mental battle. one which becomes more difficult when out of balance.

For me, that addiction becomes a crutch to regain balance in the short term.

Short term pleasures, in high amount, chip away at long term growth.

*3 weeks after this initial input I now don’t identify as a someone who vapes and haven’t had much struggle in sobriety. I will go into more detail of how in a future letter.*

3 factors that influence positive change.

Your reason why

Why you do what you do, why you want to do things differently. Understanding where you are and where you wish to be.

The reason why you want change is crucial.

Typically people drive a car with a known destination and a reason for going there. To know how to reach the destination you must know where you are starting from.

Lets say you intended on going to the shop today to pick up a new set of towels, it’s not an urgent errand. So If your friend asks you to go to the cinema to see that new film you wanted to see, that will now take priority.

However, if you were going to the hospital to see a family member. Nothing that came up would take president.

When your why is powerful, the chances of follow through increase.

All habits have reasons behind them. The action is an affect, the cause is some form of need being met. More on this at a later date.

Discipline

Discipline in the case of this letter:

The ability to stay in alignment.

Like driving a car, there are clear road markings which you drive between.

Deviate from the lines, you risk crashing.

Define your own road and stick to it.

Sometimes we need to change lanes, roads and directions to reach the destination. This change happens when the time arrives and not every moment of the journey.

Unlike driving, where consequences for deviating are visible and immediate. going off track in life may not be noticeable until weeks, months and years later.

Discipline can be difficult, it can take time. it’s a muscle that must be worked, stretched and progressively over-loaded to improve.

Words are powerful, I write “can be” because you don’t want to give unnecessary power away. If you believe discipline is always difficult you are creating more work for yourself.

No one is born with discipline. Just as no one comes out the womb jacked.

Presence

When driving a car you must be present to understand road markings, cars in close proximity, traffic etc.

A lack of presence whilst driving puts the lives of you and those physically close to you at risk.

Unconscious action leads to distraction, unwanted tendencies and repeat behaviours.

To change, we must be intentional. To be intentional we must be present. Conscious to our choices and to our actions.

Exercise:

• What can you see right now in the surrounding area

• What can you smell and hear

• Feel your body connected to the surface, the texture of the phone or laptop you’re touching

We live in a constant state of distraction, seemingly mundane moments come to life when we take a step back and be.

Your reason why defines the destination.

Discipline defines the roads to take

Presence brings awareness to each moment of the journey.

Be Patient

These topics can seems daunting at first. Things will take time to fall into place.

Time to understand yourself.

Time to find your direction.

Time to find alignment.

Knowing you want to grow is a great step forward.

Be patient.

This is an infinite game. Meaning you'll never reach a final destination. There will always be improvements to be made, more to understand about yourself and the world.

There is no going back.

Are you ready?

Resources

If you want to learn more about each of these topics:

Why - Start With Why, Simon Sinek

Discipline - Discipline Equals Freedom, Jocko Willink

Presence - The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle

All the Best,