Your mantra for 2021: Just f*cking do something

You say you want a resolution…

The start of a new year is a time when we reflect on how little we achieved over the previous 365 days, then set more unrealistic goals for the next 12 months.

It’s a bit different this year though, isn’t it? We should be giving ourselves a break after the the fiery turd pile that was 2020.

While we’re at it, we should rethink those bullshit resolutions and targets, and put a bit less pressure on ourselves.

Maybe we’re looking at things the wrong way round

When I was in my early teens, I decided that I wanted to be a songwriter. I got a guitar, learned some chords, then waited for inspiration.

Around the same time, a close friend of mine decided that he wanted to write songs. So he got a guitar, learned some chords, then wrote songs.

Skip forward a few years and he’d written hundreds of songs, whilst I had written roughly 6.

At the time I felt a little bitter. I didn’t feel that it was fair that he had so much inspiration, when I had so little. We were the same age, we grew up in the same village, we even went to the same schools.

Looking back now though, it’s clear what the problem was.

I wanted to be a songwriter

he wanted to write songs

It may seem like semantics, but it isn’t. I wanted to be seen as a songwriter. To have people respect me and like me because of it.

My friend wanted to write songs. He enjoyed sitting down, playing his guitar, and playing with melodies to create something new and interesting.

I was waiting for inspiration to strike, when I should have been writing songs.

Just fucking do something!

Last year, before the world fell apart, I listened to the audiobook of Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. I’m not going to pretend to remember everything that happened in the book (a lot has happened since then), but one thing has stuck with me:

“If you lack the motivation to make an important change in your life, do something — anything, really — and then harness the reaction to that action as a way to begin motivating yourself.”

This has evolved and manifested itself in my head as ‘just fucking do something’. because apparently I get verbally abusive towards myself when I’m irritated.

The good thing about this mantra is that it applies to whatever it is you want to do, but have been making excuses not to do it.

Does it work?

I’ve found that this approach is not only effective, but it’s also much healthier than setting arbitrary goals and targets.

In the past I’ve set myself fitness goals like ‘run a half-marathon within 18 months’. Then I’d get bummed out when I didn’t achieve it. Even if there were legitimate reasons for not doing so.

So in 2020 I decided not to set a goal, I just told myself to fucking do something. So I went for a walk, and I felt great for doing something. And because I felt good, I went for another. I ended up going on over 100 walks last year off the back of that first something.

Using the same method I’ve made steps towards changing career. I’ve baked more. I’ve even become a slightly tidier person! Although if you ask my wife I’m sure she would assure you that there’s still room for improvement.

I’ve also decided that I want to write more as I attempt to move into a freelance writing career. I’ve been pondering what to write about, where to write it, how to get readers etc. But then I remembered my mantra.

Just fucking do something.

So I did.

And I hope you enjoyed reading it.