Get Up, Get Out and GET SOMETHIN’.

Last updated on April 6th, 2021 at 11:14 am

Let’s build on some thoughts from yesterday’s post. I said that inspiration and/or motivation was something elusive, often absent from what we do daily.

Yeah, that’s not exactly true. What’s REALLY going down is that we’ve gotten complacent. Fat. Lazy.

I’m not talking about everyone here, but there’s a certain demographic that stopped dreaming. Stopped yearning for more out of their lives and more MEANING from the things they do. They step in line, unquestioning of their marching orders.

I call it the Legion of Office Workers.

While it is a given that no two offices are alike, you tend to see a LOT of similarities, such as:

• spaces sectioned off in a claustrophobic fashion to give the illusion of individual working space
• monochromatic layouts
• cheesy inspirational saying or posters intended to get people through the day
• the quiet of the non-interaction between coworkers, pierced only by the tapping of computer keys, vocal intonations of a phone conversation or the chatter of gossip around the water cooler

What’s the output of these types of working environments, though? Since these offices are filled by workers who are minuscule cogs in a massive corporate machine, it’s often difficult for them to see the importance of their work in the grand corporate design.

And there’s always work.

So:

Workers who don’t see where their work fits in + Knowing that there will always be more to add to the plate regardless of how well you work = an ambivalent set of workers

Take that and add in the fear/concern that this is as good as it might ever get. You got your job. You get paid pretty well—enough to cover the monthly bills, right? You don’t want to risk going back into the world of the unemployed and searching—you’re too used to the security. So your option then is to move up in the company you’re in. It might take months, years—it might NEVER HAPPEN — but this becomes your new focus: trying to climb the ladder.

Far too often, for too many nothing else matters. The time you might have invested into practicing guitar goes into writing spreadsheets. Painting is replaced by the demands of being an executive assistant. That restaurant you wanted to open? Doing hours of unpaid overtime reviewing endless pages of documentation should nip that in the bud!

So:

An ambivalent set of workers + the looming fear that things might never get any better = the complacent worker, never happy with their station in life, but unwilling (or UNABLE) to make the moves necessary to improve it

I don’t really blame anyone for this, though—after all, it really is up to the individual to excel beyond whatever limitations life may seek to put upon them.

BUT, many of the best and brightest in the world today are borne from going against the grain—NOT being happy where they were at and making an effort to turn their ideas of an ideal life into reality. They often come from strife and conflict— lifestyles where they knew that one either succeeds or succumbs:

• Those who are successful in hip-hop usually come from having next to nothing and being hungry enough for success to crawl to the top
• Many of the great streetwear brands today (123Klan, par exemple) come from graffiti artists who recognized that the more you tagged and the more notorious you became—the more the cops will want you behind bars; so they would transition into a safer, smarter way to get their message out
• Many organization that help the victimized are started by those who have once been victims themselves

So what’s your excuse? What keeps you on your butt instead of heading out in the world to see what you’re capable of?

It’s not about being irresponsible—we’ve got bills to pay and mouths to feed—but if you want to transcend your current self, something’s gotta give.

Figure out where you’re wasting time.

Figure out what it is that you want to do.

NOW GO DO IT.

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