2023 Is Ending. Where Do You Stand?
What Did You Achieve? What Is Left?
Hi friends. Welcome to the YouTopian Journey. Today’s issue discusses your actions in 2023 as the year comes to a close.
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Did you use 2023? Or did you waste it?
“Most people these days are so spiritless, so deserted by grace. Lost in this life they cling to this life, out of nothing they become nothing, their life is a waste.”-Soren Kierkegaard
In less than two months, 2023 will be over.
Gone.
Finished.
The future becoming the past.
It takes with it the possibilities of tomorrow. It leaves you with questions. Painful quandaries that the multitude avoids.
But that you cannot.
What did you do this year? How did you spend it? Did you make choices that benefited you? Your career? Your future? Or did you squander it? Did you waste the year in the pursuit of the illusory? Did you make choices that had no effect and made no difference at all?
These may be difficult questions to answer. After all, no one wants to reflect on investments that didn’t pay, but cost.
And time is the biggest and most important investment we could ever make.
These questions will be uncomfortable.
They will make you question your actions, your past, your present, and your future.
Yet, answer them, we must!
Our time is the only true resource we have and that we can properly use. But so many people waste it. They delay and delay and delay. But you cannot and must not delay forever.
It will catch up to you.
And then what?
What is left?
Regret. Depression. Anger.
No positive feelings and nothing that can help you move forward. After all, it is hard to climb out of the abyss, especially if you are the one responsible for arriving there.
“Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow, and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune's control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.”-Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
It is a hard thing to admit. We will protect our reputations, our careers, our friends, and our families. We will fight for king, for country, for our property, and our way of life.
But our time is rarely defended. It is given freely when it should be protected at all costs. We busy ourselves, falsely believing that productivity equals time well spent. Constantly on the move, we never take a moment to truly think about what we want and need. There is always some task, some meaningless objective, some meeting that we must attend.
We think this will result in a good use of our time, one that will lead us closer to our goals.
It doesn’t.
Instead, it only feeds the beast that stalks us all.
Think about it:
How many meetings this year actually made a difference in your life?
How many activities truly benefited you? Your health? Your life?
How many connections were life changing?
This cannot stand.
It isn’t too late to change.
It isn’t too late to make a choice and make a stand.
To decide on what you want and take action to get it.
To stop confusing the busyness of life with the business of life.
To take back your time and make sure that 2024 will be the best year of your life.
It is that simple and that difficult. Ultimately, only you can do it. Only you can take responsibility.
Here is how.
First and foremost, you must stop wasting your time.
Focus on what is most important to you and give that all of your attention.
Stop wasting away on the trivial. Stop constantly questioning yourself and your actions.
No more binging shows you aren’t interested in. No more following the herd. No more wasting time on meetings that won’t result in anything fruitful.
No more living for some ideal that social media promotes but that doesn’t exist.
Instead, create your own ideal.
Decide on what you want and take action.
Become the person you want to be, utilizing every moment of your time to get there.
It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.
“Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?” -Charles Bukowski
The VOW of NOW
"From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do – now.”-Epictetus
There will never be a better time than the present moment to act. Circumstances may change, but that is to wait for sunshine on a cloudy day and we need every available moment.
The multitude foolishly continue to waste their most precious resource. They squander it at every turn. They want to free themselves of the responsibilities of a troubled existence, but at the same time remove the opportunities and possibilities that are found within those troubles.
It is far easier to march along with the herd. To wither away. To waste your time on the trivial. To take the long walk into oblivion, never to return.
Next week you will start.
Next month will be the perfect time.
Next year, I promise.
On and on, forever remaining still.
Do not make this mistake. This path is comfortable and easy, but it is never a worthy exchange for a life where you can command your time and use it for something worthwhile.
Take a vow of now and act!
“I can feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future, but only in the present can I act. The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.”-Abraham Maslow
You don’t need to wait until the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.
You don’t need to wait until your friends are ready.
And you certainly don’t need to wait for permission.
It begins at this moment.
Forget the excuses.
Forget waiting for the right circumstances, they don’t exist.
Forget the holidays and the season and the weather.
All that matters is your ability to act in the present moment, in spite of the difficulties.
The future we desire is legitimate. Our goals are legitimate. But it requires acting in the present, at this very moment, to bring that future to reality.
It comes down to you and where you stand.
Do you stand in the present moment? Are you ready to take action and use your time? Will you be able to continue even though the investment of your time may result in failures? Setbacks? Anxiety and misfortunes? And ultimately, the possibility of success and victory?
Begin now, and together, we can transform your present into a future that you deserve.
“Although this may be a most difficult thing, if one will do it, it can be done. There is nothing that one should suppose cannot be done.”-Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
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Shaun
Excellent post. We self-published our first book and are working on growing our Substack. Book two is already in the works. Keep up the great content!