2 Steps

I came across this notion, idea or whatever you may call it about doing the right thing.

There are only two steps to doing the right thing:

1. Decide to do the right thing;

2. Then, do the right thing.

That was all there is to it. There’s nothing wrong with not being able to. Just know that you didn’t do the right thing not because you can’t; you didn’t do it because you chose not to.

As to what the right thing is, we all in some way are aware of what it should be: don’t eat more than you should, be more compassionate instead of being angry, diligently work instead of procrastinating, apply for that dream job instead of getting scared while you rattle in your pants, and the list goes on.

It’s simple and fairly straightforward but it is one of the hardest things to do because instead of realizing that we chose to act differently, we justify not doing the right thing with reasons, excuses, and complaints about the circumstances. It isn’t easy — it takes a lot of practice. Get started with the simplest intentions and just do them consciously.

For today’s improvement, to practice this way of being:

I will do two push-ups as soon as I get off my bed in the morning.

No questions, no reasons, no mental circus acts. Decide and do. I feel like we eventually come to realize that it’s fairly easy and more than half of the battle in tackling most of our problems and fears happen exclusively in our heads. We list the pros and the cons and everything else in between. If it is important to you and you have somewhat of an idea of what the right thing to do is, do the two steps because the consequences and the outcomes will always be there.

It may hurt or it may lead you down towards failure but you can find comfort in doing what you thought was right with conviction — minus the regret of not knowing whether you could have done things the best way you know at the time.