Being out of bed doesn’t mean you’re awake.

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The moment we wake up; we’re not just awake yet. We’re putting ourselves onto auto-pilot mode every day. We snooze our multiple alarms when we realize that we’re running out of time or we’re close to getting fired from that job, or missing that bus, or that promotion that we have been longing for. We swing our feet to the floor and drag ourselves to do the things that we don’t love.

I hope you got that notion we’re talking about here. That’s why wise people say “Do what you love.”

In today’s world, we’re surrounded and driven by distractions. We simply don’t know what to do with our lives as we are indulged in social media, binge-watching, unhealthy eating, wasting time, not having a schedule, and going out with anybody, anywhere and anytime, which is not related to our purpose or goals in life.

By acting aimlessly, we waste a significant portion of our lives. Since binge-watching impairs memory and perceived understanding, most people can’t recall what they watched on television. It’s a vicious cycle: the more you watch, the less you know. The more you know, the more you watch. Video games, in particular violent ones, can have serious consequences on players in terms of developing aggressive, antisocial, and otherwise dangerous behavior.

YouTube reels, Instagram and Snap, these social platforms have changed the way that we watch videos, and they’ve made the world a much smaller place. The moment we’re out of bed we’re already on our phones, and the moment we’re off our phones we’re already on the internet. We don’t enjoy the nature of our surroundings, the people we’re surrounded by, as we’re sleepwalking through life. We’re on autopilot mode, and it feels like someone else is controlling our lives.

We are making decisions while sleepwalking (unconsciously) because the autopilot is starting to become our default operating mode. We’re not even aware that we’re doing it. Unless, when we analyze our day that how productive we were, how much we slept, how much we ate, how much we exercised and so on.

We don’t know who we are, which is why we’re far behind in life. We want to do one thing, but end up doing the complete opposite, which is not where we should be in life. We must understand who we are and what we want to do to succeed, rather than just doing things for doing sake. We constantly attempting to do other things, which is why we aren’t where we want to be. The solution is simple: We need to wake up from our sleepwalking.

We need to have realistic goals in life. I’d say for everyday life we need to be goal-oriented. We must journalize our goals and thoughts on paper and try to write down why we’re doing what we’re doing. Analyze, we’re absent-minded most of the time, we don’t pay attention and that’s why we’re not achieving our goals.

Most of the time, our brains are wandering. According to studies, 96% of people admit to making the majority of their decisions automatically; this epidemic-level behavior is already commonplace. It’s almost impossible to avoid making decisions subconsciously when watching videos on YouTube. The question is, how can we make our decisions more consciously?

We also become more susceptible to anxiety due to our continuous exposure to the news and other information sources that flood our lives. This constant inundation of information and the globalization of the news source world has made it difficult for many people to discern what is true and what isn’t. It has also made it more difficult for people to focus on what is most important and direct them to productive activities that are most likely to bring about their goals.

The result is that many people are living in a state of constant distraction, which leaves them feeling unfulfilled and unfocused. To combat this, we need to focus on the following:

1. Finding your passion and focusing on it.
2. Developing a healthy diet and roughly 30 minutes of exercise daily.
3. Reducing the amount of time watching television and the amount of time you spend on social media.
4. Spending more time with people you love and less time with people you don’t.
5. Developing a positive attitude and a healthy outlook on life.
6. Developing a sense of purpose and a desire to make a difference in the world.
7. Pay attention to what you have accomplished and what you want to accomplish.
8. Finding a balance between work and personal life.
9. Read, write, and meditate daily, at least for 30 minutes. And enjoy life to the fullest every day.
10. Most importantly, having a daily schedule or planner and sticking to it.

There are zillions of self-help books/articles about it. And we all know what has to be done to make it happen. But the truth is, you need to do it on your terms. You need to set yourself up with a daily schedule that you can follow, figuring out what to do each day about what your goal or purpose is. This will help you to get out of bed early and stick to your goals.

I know it’s hard, we all are humans and we all make mistakes. Believe me, almost every day I tend to relapse on my planner and I feel guilty about it. But, hey! I’m human. And at least I’m trying to stay on track and stick to my daily schedule. Whenever I have a relapse I just remind myself that I can’t afford to waste another day. It’s only putting me back to where I started from. And that’s not a good place to be. I’m trying to be better than that. And I’m sure you are too.

From now on, spend a moment writing in a journal about your goals for the day as soon as you get up in the morning. What goals do you have for that particular day? What do you want to do on that day? Day by day, one step at a time. You can accomplish your objectives in this manner. You’ll have the ability to complete tasks. Rather than drifting through your life, you will be able to live it. Instead of just surviving it, you’ll be able to live.

So, from hereafter on, as soon as you wake up in the morning, take a moment and journalize on what you would like to achieve that day. What would you like to accomplish that day? What would you like to do that day? One step at a time, one day at a time. In this way, you will be able to achieve your goals. You will be able to get things done. You will be able to live your life than sleep-walking through it. You will be able to have a life than living through it.

Please show your support by liking and sharing this post on social media. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day. :) -Aryan Khazin.