Finishing off two powerful books recently, Gary John Bishop's Unfu*k Yourself and Gary Vaynerchuk's Crushing It, the vibes my brain is putting out there are all about action. Getting things done and getting out of our heads to achieve what we are meant to be doing. Discipline over long stretches of time is something I'm good at but it can be hard for me to jump into something new if there are any sort of doubts or fears attached. Reading these types of books tends to disrupt that circuitry and push me back out of my comfort zone.
As Books & Beers grows, there are goals I too hope to achieve. Travel the world and find interesting breweries that are changing the game and providing guidance to those who follow behind. Finding the most interesting books and helping others connect to those books in hopes that they too may be inspired.
If you are like me, I tend to have dozens of ideas always floating around in my head and at times struggle to get them bottled into something that I can then apply that discipline too. Instagram has slowly taken off through daily effort and constantly trying to refine my own abilities as a photographer and writer. This blog has sputtered along, slowly. The doubts about being able to write long form have always haunted me because well, those are doubts that float around in my head. That comfort zone I need to push myself out of.
As both men repeat over and over that action is king, I find myself climbing out of the ruts that have made themselves present in my brain. Listening recently to Michael Pollan on the Joe Rogan podcast, he made reference to the idea that we need to imagine our mind as a ski hill that people (thoughts) are riding sleds down the hell slowly forming grooves in the hill. As time goes on, these grooves become so deep that we find ourselves unable to get out of them. What a great analogy to something we all face. GJB's book has tried to help correct the balance and point out, what may seem obvious, that we can get out of the rut. We can pick up our sled and find some fresh snow with which to experience life.
Goals over the next few months include trying to build my own skill at writing more useful reviews about the breweries I visit and start to branch into the travel aspect. An upcoming trip to New York will be a good test to see if I can stick with it so I hope you stick around and give feedback. YouTube has also been something that I've made countless excuses why I shouldn't try; that's changing this weekend as I take the plunge so stay tuned!
What are the storylines that you tell yourself that prevent you from taking the next step at something you long for? You can see from above that this is a daily struggle but with awareness and diligence we can take those steps. Would love to hear from you on your own experiences.
A shoutout to Railyard Brewing for hosting me the last few weeks to brainstorm and give thought to next steps! Be sure to check out their nitro milk stout if you stop in!