Dear You,

I bet you’re reading this right now in the middle of an internet-surfing binge prompted by a desire to avoid doing "that thing." You know, that thing that has been on your to-do list forever. It’s been in your phone’s notes for months and it’s your next greatest idea, or the beginning of a business plan, or an application you need to get started on for your dream internship. "That thing" will get done (today or tomorrow) and you know you can do it, if you could just start.

"That thing" is not a monster, but you have made it a monster by cowering from it. Why are you hiding from your future? Is it because you’re afraid of getting denied? Or maybe it’s because you don’t think you have what it takes to follow it through. Most likely, it’s a combination of both. And these pessimistic thoughts you might not realize you’re having are making "that thing" into a mountain you just can’t bear to climb. You’ll fail, you won’t make it, you don’t have what it takes right now, so let’s just put a pin in it until you do.

Or, let’s not.

How about you take the first step towards your future? There is a reason you haven’t deleted "that thing" from your to-do list yet. You still want it. You could even want it more than anybody else. But the world is not going to wait around for you to finally get moving. You might find the courage one day only to realize that it’s too late. The deadline has passed, someone else already created it - your window of opportunity is shut and locked.

It’s so hard to convince yourself out of subconscious thoughts that you didn’t even realize you were having. But the longer you put it off, the bigger of a monster "that thing" becomes. Hiding from it feels more bearable than even taking the first, smallest step towards it. The longer you spend questioning whether you can do it, the longer you are from finding out whether you can.

Stop reading this and go do "that thing." And I will, too.

Love,

Someone Who is Trying to Motivate You