If you are like me, you have all these goals you want to accomplish and all these paths you want to take. It can be overwhelming. You move one way and feel the tug to go another, just as you are picking up momentum an obstacle rolls right in front of you, you finally get to where you think you’re going only to find out that’s not where you wanted to go at all.
Plans fall apart. Things fail. That’s life.
No matter how much time we put into preparing, it’s not going to work out 100% of the time. It’s a lesson I’ve learned many times in the last two years as a freelancer and was reminded of today. How good things are today is no indication of how good they will be tomorrow. You have to learn to deal with it all quite stoically or you run the risk of doubting yourself or thinking you’re crazy or ruining what you’ve built or giving up.
This is when I like to step back and do something I call “Slacking Ambitiously.”
What does it mean?
Slacking ambitiously is what happens when you are neither productive nor wasting time. You’re not finishing that big project, but you aren’t checking your email or watching television either. It’s a period of spiritual and/or intellectual growth that will likely help you on your path, but which offers no immediate benefit besides the pure joy of doing it.
In times like these when I get stressed and see certain things slowing down or not working out, I do whatever I can to wrap it up as neatly as possible (even just temporarily) so that it doesn’t interrupt me. Once I can stop being reminded of it, I take a look at my life from a third-person perspective. I note my accomplishments, my successes. I remind myself that one failure doesn’t make me a failure. Even a series of failures doesn’t make me a failure. And once I realize this lifestyle I live makes cubical dwellers envious, I remember how lucky I am. How lucky I am that in all the disappointment I might receive, it’s still my disappointment and I still have everything I need to change my path.
The things that disappoint you are illusions
Most of the things that people (including myself) get disappointed about or stressed about don’t even really exist. They tend to be the result of limitations we put on ourselves. For example, if you are a freelancer living in a minimalist apartment in the middle of a beautiful city with the man or woman you love and every morning the sun drips through the blinds and wakes you to the total independence offered by self-employment, why should that one job that left your client with a bad impression matter?
No matter how much you succeed or how much good you do, it will never seem like enough. That’s why you have to remind yourself that as a wage slave rebel, you are already remarkable, you are already successful.
How can I slack ambitiously?
What do you love to do? Not what do you love that you can get paid to do. What do you love to do?
I’m a web designer. That’s what I’m paid to do. When I want to slack ambitiously, I focus on my true passions — music composition, drawing, writing, theology and photography. I’m an artist and a poet at heart. Nothing can heal me like sitting outside with the sounds of nature and getting that creative flow while drawing something I’m seeing around me. Capitalism, self-employment, and business in general can, at times, suck the joy and the soul out of everything because it’s just a series of transaction and impressions.
Slacking ambitiously reminds me that life is not transaction after transaction. It is flow. It is creation. It is poetry.
For just a day, take a break and do something that offers you no financial or professional benefit. Do something that doesn’t push you closer to your goals, but fills you with the passion and joy of just doing for the sake of doing and being for the sake of being.
Live simply.
Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/aarongeller/ / CC BY 2.0
Related posts
- How Not To Handle The Hard Times
- In Pursuit of Being
- The Non-Conformist’s Secret Weapon – or – How To Fuck Up Like A Winner
- Diary of a Wage Slave Rebel: The Truth About Working For Yourself
- The Courage and Confidence to Quit
Hey, I'm JD. I'm a writer, web designer and contrarian entrepreneur. Wage Slave Rebel is a place where I (and others) explore alternative and ethical ways to earn a living apart from the corporate hierarchy. The goal of this site is to help people escape wage slavery and start reaping the full rewards of their skills and passions. 
"Nothing can heal me like sitting outside with the sounds of nature and getting that creative flow while drawing something I’m seeing around me. "
These words are absolute truth for me as well. Instead of drawing, I write, photograph, or simply sit there and let my thoughts wander. There is much more to life than paying the bills.
Rasheed
Definitely. In fact, I'm not all that great at drawing… I just love the feeling of drawing. That creative flow is priceless.
I like this post a lot. Especially how you say that life is not a series of transactions. It's a flow, and if more people realized that they would be a lot happier.
And stress and worries really don't matter all that much, what I do is ask myself, Will this matter 10 years from now? Most of the time the answer is no, and I just drop the worry.
I'm glad you said that. It's something everyone would do good to remind themselves. Will it matter in 10 years? Usually not. I need to make that a habit in my own life.
That was a great article. Thoroughly enjoyed and was entertained. Great points about living life. You should check out ZenHabits article today
Dave LifeExcursion
Thanks, Dave. Will do!
Great post JD.
Slacking ambitiously, that sounds like exactly what I am going through. I agree with Nate about the validity of your point regarding life being a flow. Life is not about the the milestones, but rather about the path you take to get there, and I am being constantly reminded of that these days.
That's true. It's all about the path. That's not to say milestones aren't important, but at least in my case that broken milestones aren't important. That we can move on and continue on the journey is the most important lesson.
The Illusions theme is coming up a lot for me today. I may have to go read that book again. It's one of my favorites anyway.
Don't forget the words you put here in this post during those times you get disappointed
I probably will. You know how those things are. It's hard to take your own advice, haha. But I'll certainly try to remember!