The Hardest Work There Is
Henry Ford is reported to have once said, .“Thinking is the hardest work we do, which is probably why so few engage in it” Lately, I am discovering firsthand that he is right. I had previously accepted the idea because it sounded good, and if we look around, we see all sorts of people following the crowd, accepting the status quo without giving any real consideration to other ways of thinking. (Not that either you or I would ever be guilty of that). It's just much easier to follow the crowd. It also does not require any critical thinking (or even much uncritical thinking!)
This is the 8th issue of “Waking Up” that I am drafting. For me to write these has been surprisingly challenging. The main reason for this, I think, is that it requires me to think. I am reminded of something attributed to the author Stephen King, who reportedly said, “We do not write because it is easy, we write because it is hard.” It appears that, for me, writing a newsletter fits this, because it has been very challenging for me. There is no complaint in this; I WANTED this, but that doesn’t alter the reality that it is hard. I am always looking for “better, smart ways to work and live”, it's part of my unique ability (see Issue 5). But to proactively grow, I push myself proactively.
The process of writing these seems to be a never-ending stream of stumbling blocks. What should I write about? How do I decide what should be available only to paid subscribers? How can I structure my thoughts so they are both interesting and helpful? (More importantly, just precisely what are my thoughts. Often, when I write these, I have no idea what I am going to say when I start.) The list of blocks is endless. To address any of these questions, I must “think”. But the thinking required is not my normal level of thinking; I have to go deeper, dig, work. That is where the challenge comes in. It is really hard work. But I also find myself in “flow”, losing track of time. I am loving the challenge and find it stimulating and invigorating. But only loving it after the right words appear on the page!
Writing, right now, is my chosen path for pushing myself, and the actual content is intended to supplement and support our What’s Next course (www.whatsnextcourse.com). The entire What’s Next course came about in much the same way.
One of my teachers is fond of saying that “Intuition is the highest form of intelligence.” Intuitive ideas “appear” in our awareness. They come via a pathway quite different than our intellectual thoughts. I’ve discovered that all of my best, most powerful ideas come to me via intuition and while I don’t claim to be good at “hearing” those intuitive impulses when they first appear, they generally keep appearing, and I eventually figure them out. The What’s Next course was something I did not know how to do when I started it. (“..knowing how to do it”, though, is an expression of intellectual thought.) My intuition, much more than my intellect was the driver of the content and am quite pleased with how it turned out.
I’ve already explained much of why I am writing these newsletters. I certainly don’t expect my reasons for doing this to be the same for you. But I think you have something rolling around inside of you, probably bubbling to the surface, now, that would lend itself to thinking at a deeper level that you have been avoiding. Without knowing what it is, I do have some suggestions as to how to approach it.
First, I actually don’t think that “thinking is the hardest work we do”. I think learning to hear and trust intuitive impulses and find ways to put words on them, to bring clarity, is harder because both the intuitive and traditional thinking approaches must be utilized.
My expectation is that when I said, “I think you have something rolling around inside of you, probably bubbling to the surface,” that you knew exactly what I meant and what that was. If you don’t, just sit quietly and wait, and something will appear when you do it, now. In either case, that something may be a thing you want to avoid dealing with, but have been trying to ignore. Don’t ignore it! (I am also not saying you have to address it, at least now. But you need to honor it and “let it have its say.”)
“If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.”— Joseph Campbell
In my experience, when they first appear, intuitive impulses rarely appear fully formed in a manner that is easy to understand and articulate. They are murky and not clear at all. On the other hand, if you have been dealing with, say, a dysfunctional relationship for an extended period, the idea that now pops out of your head may be very clearly defined: “I need to end the relationship.” But it didn’t start with that. It started with uneasy feelings and intuitive impulses. Either way, record the idea with whatever clarity you can, on a piece of paper. For me, I write in a journal, but a pad of paper can be just as good. But writing it down is essential. Writing it down, often, is hard work. Do it once, and then you don’t have to recreate it later. As my mother drilled into me, “If you can’t write it clearly, then you don’t understand it.” Writing brings clarity.
I’m having this very experience right now. Something is forming within me about what will be next for me, and each time I focus inward in that direction, the intuitive impulses each paint incomplete, unclear pictures. I record them as best I can as they occur. When I reread them later, they tend to trigger those states and reconnect me to those impulses. And, taken together, the impulses usually (in my experience) start connecting and creating a much clearer picture. I would never figure it out without recording it in writing. When the patterns and connections start to appear, that is also the place that I (and I’ll bet you) start to get excited about.
I can almost guarantee you that if you embrace this and work it you will feel like you are crappy at it. That’s OK. I’ve been writing my thoughts for over 35 years, consciously, and I still consider myself crappy at it. But I’m getting better! In the words of the late Zig Ziglar, “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly, until you can learn to do it well.”
If you found this issue helpful and want to hear more from Greg, be sure to subscribe to his podcast, Pants Around Ankles Prevention, where each episode delivers a punch of truth to help you wake up, gain perspective, and live with greater clarity and purpose. Listen and subscribe now on Apple Podcasts or YouTube.