Forward motion is no guarantee of improvement, but sometimes it gives you the momentum you need.

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	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more “Everything changes as long as you keep moving.” Forward motion is no guarantee of improvement, but sometimes it gives you the momentum you need. Chris Guillebeau May 24   READ IN APP   Tokyo train motion, moving forward (or is it backwards)? 📷 I’ve been thinking a lot about this quote from my interview with KC Davis a couple weeks ago. There’s more context in the interview, but the part that stuck with me was this:  “Everything changes as long as you keep moving. Think about how your actions affect those around you, and after that think less about yourself.” Perhaps another way to say it is: you only get stuck if you stay in one place. We often get stuck, or at least feel stuck, and we don’t know what to do. This idea offers a solution: don’t stay in one place!  Many years ago I wrote a post called forward motion. Here’s an updated excerpt of it:  I had an early-early flight, so I booked a hotel near the airport and took the train out the night before. Problem was, I’m so used to going to the airport that I forgot to get off at the hotel stop and instead rode all the way to the terminal. Then I stepped off the train and thought: Whoops. Wrong stop. It wasn’t a big mistake—I had only gone about fifteen minutes out of my way. But when I got back on the train to return, I realized I had a choice: take a stop that was further away from my hotel and walk the half-mile in the cold, or wait on the train an extra ten minutes for the more logical stop. It was a no-brainer: I took the first stop and walked. Reaching the hotel, I was frozen solid, but victorious. I made this choice and felt victorious (though frozen) because of a lesson I’ve learned: always keep moving. When given a choice between forward motion and remaining in the same place—choose forward motion. Not Tokyo, still moving forward. 📷 Just like “don’t stay in one place,” I think of this advice as being in the category of “what to do when you aren’t sure what to do.”  There’s no guarantee that advice like this will work. When you’re choosing between two random directions, who’s to say that forward is better than back? Sometimes it’s better to move backwards! And of course, sometimes it’s better to remain in one place than to move at all.   Nevertheless, after many years I’ve continued to think of this example whenever I’m feeling stuck or stagnant. Which direction is forward? Let’s find out … and then let’s go that way!  It just feels better, and sometimes that’s all that matters. Share Leave a comment You’re currently a free subscriber to 🌻 A Year of Mental Health. For the full experience, consider upgrading! Upgrade to paid   Like Comment Restack   © 2024 Chris Guillebeau New York, New York, + Airplanes ✈️ Unsubscribe