Detour
Sometimes we miss the signs. We set on a path that we’re blindly driving down and somehow we forgot to pay attention to the road signs telling us to exit, detour, or route a different cardinal direction altogether. If we think back to how many times we missed the signs, we’re drive ourselves crazy, which is also the opposite direction of where life’s road map is taking us.
Even though we might feel like we missed the signs looking back, maybe we were supposed to miss them at that stage in our lives? Maybe freewill wanted us to look back and realize we missed them right in front of our faces, but because of where we were at in life, we truly weren’t ready to take on that adventure yet? Whatever the truth might be, it’s okay that we missed the sign that would’ve streamlined our journey, because those intricacies of getting lost and finding our way back to the path is what makes builds the human we are today.
Another thing to remember is that the fastest route isn’t always the best. Although the highway will get us to our destination the quickest, it’s the backroads that provide us with the beautiful scenery, being able to see landscapes otherwise missed if we were focusing on going 88mph with views of straight pavement, landscapes zooming by without a thought or a moment to soak in.
I’ve certainly been one to prefer the shortcuts in projects and in life. I thought the end would always be more exciting than the route, but I’m starting to realize it’s not about how long it takes, it matters more that you started.
With this yoga business, there’s no security in knowing if it’ll really go anywhere and/or be able to provide me with a full-time income. Obviously, I have to put in the time and effort to give it a fair shot, but there’s still a chance it flops. I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure it thrives and takes off, but there’s still a chance of it not working out as a business, as with any business. This is the risk of being an entreprenur. And that’s the best part of it: not knowing, trusting and enjoying every turn.
By committing to something as a life-long endeavor and having the mindset that there is a solution to every problem that arises, it makes it pretty easy to commit and flesh out all the obstacles that come up to stop you in your tracks. This applies to yoga too. There will be poses and mental blocks that feel like barriers, but can only be broken through with the persistence and commitment to overcome.
For me personally, I’ve been getting over the hurdles in video editing that slow down my process significantly. Recently, I had to face the reality that I have to organize all my data onto a hard drive to clear space on my new mac. Who knew you had to organize data and keep track of it in a neat way instead of downloading at random with an abundance mindset without paying much attention to what’s taking up however much space?
Well apparently you do and apparently, that’s a pretty crucial element in being able to use technology properly: organizing your endless files, docs, and art. So instead of editing the video I needed to release this week, I had to spend over an hour clearing off my mac by transferring files to a hard drive. And the work is not even close to done, I just band-aided the situation for a little while until I’m really able to deep dive into organizing out the mess that is my file storing technique, which isn’t really technique at all, more of a touch-and-go solution, to be changed starting today.
All these detours are certainly not mapped out for in the allotted time during the week that I have to focus on content creation for Midwestern Yogi and the YouTube channel (about 2-4 hours daily), but are essential to address for longevity and sustainability purposes. If not addressed now, they will continue to snowball effect and create an avalanche of work for me later on (and it already feels like a mini avalanche).
These extra side obstacles in anything we do are what make us better at the craft. I’m now becoming more adept to what it takes to be a solopreneur/content creator and starting not to feel separated from the people who I see do this for a living. I’m on my way and it’s just a part of the process, which I’m still figuring out and I’m getting 1% better every week.
The best part of sticking to a consistent schedule with something is that you learn to hold yourself accountable. The purpose of any endeavor is to create a life around happiness, not add more stress to it.
And so, I’ll leave you with this: In November 2023, I went down a Naval Ravikant wormhole and there was this mountain climber analogy that really stuck with me in his podcast with Joe Rogan. I’ve applied it in so many ways to the creation of my yoga business and it’s really helped me push through problems and start over on things that I didn’t like or felt could be better.
“It’s the greatest artists and creators that have the ability to start over that nobody else does.” - Naval Ravikant
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