Today’s dreamers get so busy with productivity processes, motivation mentorship, and positivity propaganda, without making much actual progress. While these activities help, they often also add to our work-stack. Here is a short poem summarizing my quest of finding the right set of disciplines, processes, and philosophies to help me with the pursuits of my ambitions.
I thought of growing rich, and it made me feel invincible, but it didn’t get me anywhere.
I developed highly effective habits, and it felt great, but it didn’t get me anywhere.
I learnt that today matters, and it made me value my values, but it didn’t get me anywhere.
I got shit done a lot, and it felt really good, but it didn’t get me anywhere.
I tried thinking big, but the world wore me down, so I just found myself right where I began.
I tried putting first things first, but my needs won over my wants, so I just became a frustrated juggler.
I got to inbox-zero — replying or classifying every email — and it made me feel on top of things, but I just became an actively busy.
I managed my calendar — and committed to every hour of it — and it made me feel in control, but I just became a time keeper.
I diligently took notes — collecting, tagging, and categorizing information — and it made me pretty efficient, but I just became a good organizer.
I am not the dreamer who built yesterday, for whom the century old practices prescribed by religion worked like a charm.
I am not the dreamer who built today, for whom the need for income and survival made the clock work.
I am the dreamer of tomorrow, for whom purpose and actualization are most important.
So that I can pave the path to tomorrow,
So that I can pursue my ambitions for tomorrow.
I will need the tools of tomorrow,
the habits, disciplines, and principles of tomorrow,
the solutions, processes, and philosophies of tomorrow.
Cross-references
- Think and Grow Rich (Book by Napoleon Hill)
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (Book by Stephen R. Covey)
- Today Matters : 12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow’s Success (Book by John C. Maxwell)
- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (Book by David Allen)
- The Magic of Thinking Big (Book by David J. Schwartz)
- First Things First (Book by Stephen R. Covey)
- Inbox Zero (Email filing and productivity process by Merlin Mann)