Mental Masturbation

 

Before you start reading, do both of us a favour, try to note down the many times you must have had a groundbreaking idea, a project or thought that made you feel like you’d finally found your breakthrough. The idea that had you thinking you could finally leave the trenches, then beside it, write how many times you’d executed that project. 

Now, think about the times you’d told your friends that you’d finally found that thing that works for you, that thing that can catapult you to a great place and then weeks later when they asked how far you’d gone with it, how many times have you answered with “I don’t know or I’ve not started”. some of you could have given up already. 

After doing that, continue reading because now you have a practical definition of mental masturbation.

If you are still not clear. Here’s a definition. 

Masturbation itself is when an individual stimulates their genitals for sexual pleasure. 

Now imagine doing this to your mind. 

Mental masturbation is the act of engaging in useless yet intellectually stimulating conversation, usually as an excuse to avoid taking constructive action in your life.

Simple enough? 

That period you get a huge flow of ideas and creative ways to make money, get more engagements on your page or just to move yourself to another level. Then you start to share your ideas with your friends and you feel even more excited when they agree with you that you have amazing ideas that could really change your life.

 “yet intellectually stimulating conversation”. 

Looks like you’ve a great opportunity staring at you, then days later you are still in the same place you were before you got the ideas. Friends ask how far you’ve gone and you already have another great idea.

Every single time you have a great idea, you are stimulating your mind, giving yourself the mental pleasure of having great ideas, feels really good but then do you ever see those ideas through?

Masturbation of any type can easily become an addiction. 

If you keep having these amazing ideas often without actually sitting down to give even one of them a chance to be executed then what’s the point?

Saw this post once: there are three types of people

Those who make things happen

Those who watch things happen

Those who wonder what happened

Those people who made things happen were probably not the only ones who thought about it. Have you ever seen someone do something and then you’re like “wow, I thought about the same thing?” yes you did, but did you do it? It just looks like you are trying to take someone else’s idea.

Some people just enjoy the feeling that comes with having new ideas but chicken out when it comes to executing them, people like this do not achieve anything in the long run because they are always waiting to get ‘turned on’ by new ideas. 

It’s like the moment you get all you need to start that project in mind, you sit down and think the process through. 

“wow, so I’ll do this and that, then I’ll make millions”. 

2 weeks later, the idea is still in that chair, untouched. 

If you find yourself in this situation often then yes, you mentally masturbate.

It’s an addiction you can break out of. Look, ideas will come, I mean even spongebob has new ideas, why shouldn’t you?

When the ideas come, write them down then pick the simplest, then….. YOU ACTUALLY DO IT!

You see, it’s not rocket science. Don’t just go to friends with the idea, go to them with proof that you’ve started and that you actually plan to see it through. Else, they’ll stop taking you seriously everytime you talk to them about another great idea. 

And if you get tired along the way, they can even motivate you. 

One mistake you shouldn’t make is wait for another great idea to drop, chances are… it already has.