Ryan, you’re an idiot
“Ryan, you’re an idiot” – is a greeting I’ve become accustom to from my Dad. We have that kind of stupid name calling relationship we should have grown out of a long time ago, but we just can’t let go. We are both idiots.
Yet when I told him about my daily routine and considering the amount I swear, it was something I definitely couldn’t put down on paper. I think he even made up some words, I can’t be sure. Then I explained my reasoning behind it and his reply was simple and to the point – “well, whatever makes you happy”.
That’s exactly why I do it.
My Uncle Steve, me, Dad and my brother Liam. A gaggle of idiots if you will.
I know that a 4:30am start isn’t for everyone, that would be crazy. I’m crazy. But the reason for documenting my daily routine was to point out setting time aside for yourself is important.
You can’t learn a new skill or develop as a person without putting in the time and effort.
This is the point where I insert the famous Gandhi saying, “be the change you want to be”, which admittedly is corny as hell, but it’s true. I want to become a better writer so I have begun to write, it would be ludicrous for me to even consider there is another way around it, I’m certainly not going to wake up next Monday morning a savant writing prodigy with a new Harry Potter up my sleeve. However I may wake up 18 months down the road, sit down in front of my computer with a belly full of eggs and coffee, get tapping away on my keyboard and stop and think for the first time – “shit, this is really quite good!”
That’s the dream, to get better however long I have to suffer. It may take 18 months for me to come to that realisation and be proud of what I have put down on paper or it might take 5 years, but I’m here for the long run, because I certainly won’t stop there.
I know I can be a bit selfish with my time, as you can tell I set aside a lot for myself and make sacrifices to fit everything in, not everyone can do that. Yet I try to not allow my sacrifices to effect other people, that’s why when I wake up at 4:30am, Anna is still tucked up in bed not snoring. I’m selfish with my time, but respectful of other people’s, we don’t get much of it.
A final thought
I strongly believe setting aside time to make you happy and learn something is important. Even if you only get to set aside 40 minutes a day on a lunch break to plant your face into a book, or maybe you put aside an hour a week and sign yourself onto a crocheting class at the local college, it all adds up in the end.
I read because I want to learn, I write because I want to become better at it and I head to the gym and eat well because I want to be healthy. It’s that simple. Figure out what you want to become better at and what makes you happy and go and do it. Maybe even write about it like this idiot. But I guarantee that you will be happier and it will present you with more opportunities and ideas in the future, and maybe just maybe my Dad will greet me with “Ryan, your a little less of an idiot, but still an idiot” next time I see him. Now that’s the dream.