My New Year's Resolution? I resolve to stop procrastinating... starting next week.
Funny right? I thought so. Until I looked down, saw that it was January 7, and that I had pulled one of those life-imitates-art moments.
Are you familiar with the myth of Atlas? He was a titan; the titans were this race of giants who lived in ancient Greece. Total badasses to the man. Atlas and his buds got bored and decided to start a war with the Gods of Mt. Olympus. It went surprisingly well until two titans defected to the other side; with their assistance the Gods laid a world of hurt on the titans for being so impetuous. The Gods had a habit of punishing those who had the gall to cross them. What did they do to Atlas? They threw him atop a mountain range, and had a conversation that went something like this...
Atlas: Ow! That hurt! You just threw me atop a mountain range. Not cool.
Gods: Shut up Atlas, we beat you fair and square, it's time for your cruel and unusual punishment.
Atlas: What?
Gods: You see those heavens over there?
Atlas: Yeah. What about 'em?
Gods: Pick 'em up.
Atlas: What? Are you crazy? That's impossible.
Gods: You heard us.
Atlas: Seriously? A black hole is wicked heavy! The heavens must way trillions of tons. Plus, I could totally burn my fingers on Super Novae!
Gods: Widdle baby Atwas finks de hehbuns is too heawy! Aww you gonna kwhy wittuh baby Atwas?!
Atlas: Fine. Fine. I'll pick 'em up.
So Atlas picks up the heavens, and rests them on his shoulders. They're just as heavy as he thought; heavier even. Aside from one break to go grab apples for Hercules, he's been carrying the heavens on his back ever since.
I don't imagine most people would envy Atlas. He's got an arduous job for which he is very rarely thanked; the rampant spread of monotheism really cut down on the number of goats sacrificed in his honor. But you know what? Crappy job or not, Atlas has a tremendous work ethic. Not once have I been crushed by the sky. The man just shows up and does his work, every day.
Acting for a living is way more fun than Atlas's job, heck so is my day job. So why is it Atlas is way more consistent about showing up to do his work? I've got some theories, but mostly it comes down to him being responsible for things greater than himself.
If I don't show up for my acting career, the only person who suffers is me. I don't have Atlas's advantage of having the entire world depending on me to do my job. I don't have a mountain full of pissed off Gods throwing lightning bolts at me whenever my motivation flags.
So how do you do it? How do you show up for yourself every day? How do you achieve that consistency? How do you make your career goals take precedence over what is comfortable?
These questions are not rhetorical.
