Morning Would

You know what I’m talking about. That feeling that you get in bed when you first wake up. A lot of you guys get it. 

Morning Would.

Sometimes, your bed is just incredibly comfy and you just want to stay in bed with that morning would. Sometimes, it’s Monday morning. Other times, it’s Wednesday morning. 

“You see, I would get up and finish this project, but I can always do it later. Or tomorrow.”

The project can represent a lot of things in our lives, even for people who aren’t in school anymore (ayyyyyyy). I know that we’ve all been there before. We’ve had a project assigned for a week, maybe even a month, in advance and we pushed it to the side until the last second. Cramming, stressing, and often times, complaining. 

None of us ever really wanted to do those projects, but we did them anyway. Why? Because we had to. However, the timing in which we finished those projects was all thanks to one thing: The Deadline. 

As the Deadline approaches, the project becomes a priority. We put away everything that we’ve been distracting ourselves with so that we can finish up the project because we NEED to. If we don’t, our grades would drop. Eventually though, the project gets done. We turn it in, accomplishing some type of productive work and getting something way better than a zero and failing.

The focus here isn’t so much about the Deadline but more so on the effect of it. Like I said, the Deadline turned the project into a priority and, when something becomes a priority, it leads to a sense of urgency and necessity. 

Think about it. How often do we really only do things (that we should be doing all the time) when we know we absolutely need to? 

Gaining weight? 

“Damn, I need to workout.” 

Losing your significant other in a relationship?

“I should try more and tell them I love them.”

Feeling unbalanced?

“Wow. Maybe now I should start focusing on self-care.”

For those who don’t know, I moved to LA this year. I’m here for the specific purpose of building the business. With that being said, I left my job at Apple so that I can dedicate more time into building and growing. I’ve been saving up some money for awhile, so I figured that I could last a few months while trying to settle in and still be able to afford whatever payments I have to make. As time passed, I still hadn’t made any money. It ended up at the point where I was down to my last maybe $200, which was going straight to bills. At that time, that is when I realized how broke I was and how much more broke I would be if I didn’t do anything about it. I started searching everything. I went on Craiglist to see what opportunities might be available. I started texting random people asking if them or anybody that they knew needed photoshoots. I even tried driving and delivering for Postmates. I did it for three hours and only made $19, so I was done with that immediately lmao it was horrible. This all came out of necessity though. In that moment, money became a priority. I won’t go too much longer on that and I’m not saying I’m in the best position yet, but I figured out that moment in time because of a sense of urgency created through necessity. 

Now, let’s say someone assigns you a project. It can be on whatever you want it to be on. The best part about it? There is no deadline. You can turn it in whenever you feel like it. If you opt not to do it, there’s no punishment. Nothing will happen. Literally nothing. 

The Reward? Well, who knows what the reward could be. It could be anything. It could be nothing. 

You might be wondering, well, if there’s no punishment and maybe not even a reward, why even do it at all? This is kind of what life is. An ongoing project with no deadline. No promise of rewards for doing anything. Not much punishment for inaction.

One thing that I heard constantly in high school before going on retreats was “You get out what you put into it.” A lot of us went into retreats closed minded like, “What? Are we just going to be praying and singing the whole time?” (I went to a Catholic high school). At the end of those retreats though, it would turn out better than we expected. Some people would take the spiritual part seriously and take something from that. Others would focus on messing around and having fun with their friends. Regardless of what people did on those retreats, they still took something from it and it turned out to be better than expected because of what they put into the experience that they wanted. Not to say that one is better than the other at all, but everyone put something into those retreats and ending up with something in return. 

When thinking of this ongoing project of life, the same thing comes to mind. Whatever you feel like putting into your life, you’ll get right back. If you don’t want to do the “project,” that’s fine, but nothing would really happen. Maybe some ordinary things, but some people are content with that and that’s okay. It really depends on what you want it to be. Like I said, the project could be whatever you want it to be about, even if that “whatever” is “nothing.” 

For those who would decide on doing the project, despite the risk of no reward, try it out and give yourself a deadline. Although life really only has one deadline, why not push yourself and see how close you can get to accomplishing your goals within a self-given time frame? The good thing about deadlines is it creates a sense of urgency. Even if you miss your deadline but authentically tried to beat it, you would still be a lot closer to completing that project/accomplishing that goal in comparison to if you hadn’t done anything at all. “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” 

Let’s go back to that good old Morning Would. What gets you up in the morning? Hah. 

Seriously though, instead of thinking that you Would do something, just get up and go after it. As sad as it sounds, it’s really not guaranteed that you’ll get another shot. It’s always a blessing to get a new opportunity with a new day, but don’t take those for granted or let them go to waste. Create a sense of urgency around giving your life purpose and doing more of what you love. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” If that possibility of a “Deadline” doesn’t push you, I don’t know what will. Do a little bit everyday. If there’s a piece of advice that I can give that I want you to take, let it be this: Figure out what you love. Who you love, what you love, and why you love. When you figure that out, keep figuring that out. The rest of your life will start to come together as you put your energy and focus into the right place. It’s not guaranteed that there’s a reward at the end of doing anything, but you’ll never know until you give it a shot and I guarantee it’ll be a whole lot better than literally nothing. 

To Live and Prosper.

-JSquared