Friday, April 01, 2011

The Importance of Doing SOMETHING

We are humans. As a whole, humans have constantly made progress. As a whole, humans will always make progress. Individually, however, so many people are letting their lives stagnate. And this, readers, is a problem that needs to be solved.


Look at the above quote. It has some deep meaning. But it's not quite what I mean here. To think that there's only two kinds of people (doers and losers) is oversimplified and wrong. I say that there are three kinds of people: doers, cogs, and mosquitoes. After looking at those categories, I can explain why it is important to do SOMETHING.

Doers

Doers are everything you expect them to be. They get an idea and go out and do it. Rock stars, CEOs, and entrepreneurs fit into this category.

Cogs

Cogs are most everyone else. These are the factory workers, businessmen and women, and just about any kind of employee. The cogs in the machine that keep businesses running and afloat. The vital but underrated components to everything. There's a lot of potential here; it's just untapped.

Mosquitoes

This is by far the smallest group of them all, but I'm sad to say that it's steadily growing. These are the people who are living in stagnation, sucking resources from other people, and not doing anything about it. They have no jobs, are not looking for them, and don't care about them. These people more than likely will not get this message.

So what exactly is the problem? There's not a lot of accomplishment going on by the non-doers. The cogs have fake feelings of accomplishment, but no real ones, and mosquitoes have none period. Doing SOMETHING is important. It gives you the real source of accomplishment to make you feel happy, increase your self-worth, and leads to bigger and better things. And here's the beauty of it all: what you do doesn't have to be big, fancy or important! 

Allow me to explain. A cog is a cog, right? Wrong. A cog is a cog if they only allow themselves to be cogs. If a person gets up, goes to work, brings home pay, and maybe gets a promotion or a raise once in a while because they are a hard worker, they are still a cog. But if that same person writes short stories and never publishes them, volunteers on weekends, or builds slides and swing sets for their kids, the are a doer.

How can this be? It doesn't fit the definitions I laid out earlier. Here's a better definition for you: A doer does something with little or no help from anyone, for no other reason but for the satisfaction it brings while doing it and upon finishing the thing they set out to do. Volunteers help out, and feel better about themselves later. Dads everywhere know how good it feels to build something for his kids and see the amazement and joy on their faces (I'm not a father, but my dad took much pride in this). Anything like this makes your life so much better.

It's easy to become a doer. Find a hobby. I've noticed fewer and fewer people have or partake in hobbies anymore, and that's a shame. Volunteering is another great way. I have this blog and another side project that I keep up with. Before I started them, I felt stuck in a rut, because I wasn't really DOING anything. After I started them, I feel happier and more motivated to do other things. 

Remember earlier when I said mosquitoes will misinterpret what I'm saying? Here's how: I'm not advocating for a society full of artists and craftsmen. Cogs are important and needed. But being a doer-cog is rewarding and maybe even better than being a plain doer (they have less to lose and less to stress over). The mosquitoes  I've always known have put too much faith into musical, artistic, or writing ability, and hope that one day they'll magically hit it big. This doesn't happen often. It's better to be a small time doer-cog than a mosquito with big dreams that are going nowhere. 

Doing something, ANYTHING, is important for a sense of self-worth and accomplishment. Feeling good about building a bookshelf on Saturday can spill over into work on Monday, increasing your productivity, helping the company you work for, which could make the next big, groundbreaking discovery. So go out and accomplish something, for your and everyone else's sake!

Agree? Disagree? Let me know! Leave a comment or contact me to let me know what you think!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

My choir teacher said something like this earlier (just a similar point) about waiting for great things to happen and actually making great things. "Things" was referring to music, of course.

&I think side interests are a big part of feeling alive. Definitely.

Anonymous said...

It is important to find ones gift! What ignites & energizes us can become our hobby, our passion, eventually, it can become a business or a gift for self & others. Personally it is empowering and the potential for self fullfillment and purpose in life. Helping others find their "Spark" has implications not just for productivity, but can serve as part of the equation for depression, ATOD, & other self destructive behaviors. So it is crucial to find ones "Spark" & sharing with others or pass it on!

taio said...

interesant