In life, we have goals: get physically fit, declutter and organize our home, learn a new language, meditate regularly. But these feel like mountains to climb because time and commitment are required. And that’s where procrastination hits us. Going to the gym makes us uncomfortable, so we look at Instagram instead. “Declutter the whole house? Nah, I’m putting that off because I won’t finish anytime soon.” This struggle is where the concept of process vs. results, or laying bricks vs. completion of the wall, is so helpful.
The wall is the result of our efforts, and laying one brick at a time is the process. Don’t focus on the wall. For bigger goals, the wall will almost always feel overwhelming. Instead, put your focus on the bricks, the process.
My tip is to see life as a series of 24-hour missions. Make each 24-hour mission a brick, and execute on that mission. Plan your days and break them down into smaller pieces. When we can break things down and make tasks more manageable, we resort to procrastination much less and make real progress on the wall. For example, 30 minutes of exercise on a regular basis is a brick you can lay down.
Compounding the brick-laying process over days, weeks, and months leads to powerful results. Think you can’t achieve big goals? Think again. Focus on living life in miniature, one day at a time, and lay down bricks as perfectly as you can.
This is such a great analogy. I’ve been unknowingly using this to declutter by donating something every Saturday morning. It’s been really exciting to get rid of stuff. But I hadn’t thought about how to apply it to other goals that I have. Great article!
I love this idea! I think as a society we are so focused on perfect end results and are led to believe they can happen in an instant. But it’s in the process where things really happen. Just one step at a time. Thank you for this reminder!
Bricks vs The Wall, a super way to break down into manageable pieces, an overwhelming task.