The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology

Even if you have plenty of items on your to-do list, you still need to ask the question, “How do I know what needs to be done?” Why? Because being busy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing what’s important, or what’s needed, or what’s meaningful. In fact, one of the most common situations we find ourselves in is getting a lot of urgent things done

we need to choose when to say yes and when to say “Thank-you for asking. I am honored, but not now. My plate is currently full, and until something comes off there is no room for anything else to go on.”

One of the puzzling lessons I have learned is that, more often than not, I do not feel like doing most of the things that need doing.

And—this is critical—the difference in reality before and after the decision is… NO DIFFERENCE.

Dr. Hans Selye, a leading authority on stress, provides reassurance

But for the most part your mind lives in a lazy world where it can think anything it wants to because it doesn’t have to act. Your body, on the other hand, has to be very discriminating about what it does because just about everything requires energy and that’s a precious commodity for your body.

So Maurer made a commitment to write for one minute a day. One minute! He found that often, after one minute was up, he kept on writing – for five more minutes. Or ten. Or forty. That’s how he wrote a book. He used Newton’s First Law of Physics. He created momentum – and he finished his book.

So perhaps we can take a lesson from our friends, the trees, and simply do our best with whatever situation we encounter.

We actually have very little control over our thoughts. Thoughts arise. They dissolve. Other thoughts arise and dissolve.

But a popular procrastination strategy is to do something else instead.