About 5,000 years ago, the aliens landed and handed out little calendars to everyone who built those statues on Easter Island.
“Here,” they said, “look here.” And they pointed to a box labeled January 1st.
“Wha,” said the Easter Islanders. “What? What? What????”
‘It’s the first day of the year, idiot. Every year from now on, when you wake up on this day of the year, you say, ‘THIS IS THE YEAR!’”
“This I Yee”
“THIS IS THE YEAR!”
“THIS IS THE YEAR!”
“Yes, say it like you mean it. Don’t eat anymore. No more dating losers. Excercise. Keep a diary. No more business bankruptcies. This is it! Improve non-stop!”
And then the aliens left. Everyone stood around looking at each other. “January 1st” said one of the Easter Islanders. “January 1st!” another repeated.
They started jumping around, “January 1!!” Then they started doing push-ups. All. They started eating better.
They joined a gym on the other side of the island. They invented disco.
But just three months later they were back at it, dragging huge stones thousands of miles to make those big statues.
“January 1st?” said one to the other.
“Well,” said the other, “maybe next year.”
And that, Mollie, is the story of how January 1 became the most special religious holiday in the world. It is the day we wake up and say: now I am different.
‘January 1’ then went viral. First in Australia. Then with the Eskimos. And others.
You’re such a good fatherMollie never said.
In 1501 there was a block of marble. Michelangelo chiselled it out, removing marble every day for three years, until it eventually became the largest sculpture ever created.
David by Michelangelo.
Most people when they start something think: I have to DO, I have to ADD, I have to CREATE.
Many New Year’s resolutions are about doing more. Be more. Achieve more. THIS IS THE YEAR!
But greatness cannot be achieved unless you subtract something from it. You can’t be a surgeon unless you wash your hands of the dirt. You can’t have energy until you learn to sleep.
Knowing when to do nothing is the key ingredient to achieving anything.
I learned this from at least thirty years of doing pointless things.
Here are some times when I try really hard to do NOTHING:
FURY
Things don’t always go the way I want, even though I have enormous control over them The power. And so sometimes I get angry.
Anger is the winter coat on top of my fear.
When I’m angry, I try to figure out what my underlying fear is.
Maybe I’m afraid I’m a bad father. Or that no one will like me. If you know where the roots are, you can harvest the field. I try to sit down and do nothing about my anger.
Sometimes it works. Sometimes I scream. Excercise.
PARANOIA
Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel, wrote: “Only the paranoid will survive.”
That’s a pretty ugly world. Where the only survivors are left are people who are constantly looking over their shoulders and whispering conspiracy theories to each other.
I have often become paranoid. Someone is trying to fuck me! And usually I’m right.
Paranioa is a ‘scarcity complex’. I think, “If they do this, I’ll be lost forever!”
When I’m paranoid, I try to take a deep breath and… do nothing.
But don’t spend time (do anything with…) with people who make you paranoid. That’s another example of “nothing”.
STRETCHED
Will this deal work? Will she like me? Will I run out of money? Will they like my next book? Or project? Or whatever?
Did I say something wrong at the party? Am I a good father or husband, friend or partner?
Of course, all these things are important and important. But fear never helps them. Fear only weakens you right now and does nothing to fix the future.
And thinking about what others think of you is the best way to hand your life over to them. Your life!
Do you outsource your sense of self-worth to the opinions of others? Or the hope that ‘something’ will happen that will change your life?
Don’t. Always think: how can I regain control? This is the fastest way to well-being.
TIRED
Anatoly Karpov, former world chess champion, said he studied only three hours a day. After that, he said, it’s useless.
Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational and one of my favorite podcast guests, says we reach our peak productivity 2 to 4 hours after we wake up.
So I try to be productive during those hours. And when I’m tired, I try to read and take a nap or sleep in for the night.
I woke up about three hours ago. So this is my peak time of the day.
In an hour, I’m going to spend the rest of the day watching “The Twilight Zone Marathon.”
I admit, I woke up today and thought to myself, “THIS IS THE YEAR!”
Because there’s nothing wrong with thinking that. This is also the day. This is the hour. The moment!
And who knows. Maybe that will be the case.
But at first I didn’t do anything. I fell asleep again and had a strange dream about Easter Island.
James Altucher is the author of the best-selling book Choose yourselfeditor at The Altucher Report and host of the popular podcast, The James Altucher Showthat takes you beyond business and entrepreneurship by exploring what it means to be human and achieve well-being in an increasingly complex world. Follow him further Facebook And Tweet.
Image courtesy of Luiz Fernando.
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