Just Do It!
In November, I challenged myself to try to apply Jim Rohn’s life lessons as an experiment to see if it will improve my life. My gauge was my income going up. I am well aware that there are many other ways of measuring success but income is a good objective measure.
I am now on day 147, and my net worth has not increased yet. I have 33 more days to go, I am very hopeful but oh boy, this is very hard.
I know what I need to do but I just don’t feel like doing any of the tasks I should be doing. I am physically able to carry out the tasks but my body just doesn’t want to move!
This is my solution to this. Everytime I need to do a task, I will be asking myself if I need to do it. If it will bring me closer to achieving my goal then I will do it even if I don’t feel like doing it at all. An example of this today is doing the laundry. I need to do it because I have 3 baskets full and I will be working a few days in a row this week. So I asked myself, “Do I need to do it?”. The answer is yes, so I got up, put the first load in the washer. After that’s finished in the wash, I put it in the dryer and repeated this 3 times until all 3 baskets were empty. The whole time of doing this task was torture. I was like a robot. I was physically moving but I didn’t want what I was doing. I wanted to be sitting and watching youtube videos instead. But I carried on and just performed the task.
Even creating this blog post right now, I don’t feel like doing it but I am just typing anyways because I need to do it. I know I need to do this if I want to improve my life.
When I am imagining the best version of myself, I would be someone who acts on my goals with urgency. No overthinking, no delay. Very responsible and dependable. I would take action even if I don’t feel like working. But right now, I am not on autopilot for those characteristics yet, I just have to keep moving and carrying out the tasks even though my emotion is completely detached from it.
I am listening to the book 5-Second Rule by Mel Robbins. She says that if you need to do something, you need to act within 5 seconds or else your mind will talk you out of it. So if I need to do the dishes after I have eaten, right after thinking of washing the dishes, I need to get up and start gathering the dishes and putting them in the sink within 5-seconds, or else I will end up delaying the task because my mind will start giving me reasons as to why I can’t wash the dishes yet. In my case, it would be that I need to delay it because I just came from a 12-hour shift and I am very tired so I deserve to watch a few youtube videos after dinner. Which has been proven to be a very bad decision because I will end up watching videos for 1-2 hours. At that point it will be close to midnight and then I will have to rush to wash the dishes and clean up and go to bed. If I had only gotten up within 5 seconds from the time I thought of washing the dishes, I would have avoided wasting 2 hours of my time and have been able to sleep earlier for the next day.
The 5-second rule is also beneficial if I wanted to avoid doing unnecessary tasks. Take for example my addiction to mindlessly browsing the internet. Once I have the thought of picking up my phone and watching youtube videos, I will count 5-4-3-2-1, during that time I am giving myself time to talk myself out of wasting time. I am giving myself time to stay away from the temptation.
I am very hopeful that in the next 30 days, I will be very proud of myself. I need to just do it. Keeping in mind that I will never feel like doing anything that will bring me closer to my goal of being more productive at work and home.
So help me God.
Day 147/180 (ChatGPT version)
Just Do It.
Back in November, I challenged myself to apply Jim Rohn’s life principles as an experiment—to see if they would actually improve my life. My main gauge was my income, because even though success can be measured in many ways, income is one objective metric.
Now I’m on day 147, and my net worth still hasn’t increased. I have 33 days left, and while I’m still hopeful, I can’t deny that this is incredibly hard.
The truth is:
I know exactly what I need to do… I just don’t feel like doing any of it.
I’m physically capable, but my body refuses to move. It’s like I’m dragging myself through mud every day.
So here’s the system I’m trying to follow:
Whenever I face a task, I ask myself one question:
“Do I need to do this?”
If the answer is yes—and if it brings me closer to my goals—then I will do it, no matter how much I don’t feel like it.
Today’s example is the laundry. I had three baskets full, and I’m working several days in a row this week. So I asked myself, “Do I need to do this?”
The answer was yes.
So I got up, put in the first load, transferred it, repeated the process, and emptied all three baskets. The entire time felt like torture. I moved like a robot—physically doing the task but emotionally detached from it. I wanted to sit and watch YouTube videos instead, but I kept going. Because it needed to be done.
Even writing this blog post—I don’t feel like doing it either. But I’m typing anyway because I need to. If I want my life to improve, I need to keep showing up.
When I imagine the best version of myself, she is someone who acts on her goals with urgency. No overthinking. No delay. Responsible, dependable, and consistent. She takes action even when she doesn’t feel like it.
Right now, I’m not that version of myself—not yet. I’m not on autopilot with those habits. So for now, I just have to keep moving, even when my emotions don’t match my actions.
I’ve been listening to The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins. She says if you need to do something, you must act within five seconds or your mind will talk you out of it.
So if I think, “I should wash the dishes,” I need to get up and start within five seconds.
If I don’t, my brain will convince me to delay:
“You just came from a 12-hour shift. You deserve a little break.”
And that “break” always turns into 1–2 hours of watching videos. Suddenly it’s close to midnight, and I’m rushing to wash dishes, clean up, and go to bed—exhausted.
If I had moved within five seconds, I could’ve saved myself two hours and slept earlier.
The 5-second rule also helps me avoid unnecessary actions. When I feel the urge to pick up my phone and start scrolling, I count:
5-4-3-2-1
Those seconds give me a chance to interrupt the impulse and talk myself out of wasting time.
I’m very hopeful that in the next 30 days, I’ll be proud of myself.
I need to just do it—even knowing I’ll never feel like doing the things that bring me closer to my goals.
At work. At home. In my habits. In my life.
So help me God.
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