15 Things You Say You'll Do But Don't

Sometimes it seems like we enjoy letting ourselves down. When we look at all the things we say we'll do but don't do, it seems crazy. Many of those things are totally incompatible with your skills, lifestyle, and history of sticking to goals. And funny enough, we all have similar ideas of the things we want to do, and far too many of us fall at the jump. You give up before you even started.

So this is your reality check. Here are 15 things you say you'll do, but don't. The first step is something you all recognize: starting on Monday or beginning on January 1st and saying you're not going to quit in February or tomorrow. Well, you probably said it a few times this week already. You said you'd start on Monday or maybe January 1st. And you promised yourself, you promised that you're not going to quit in February. You won't give up the very next day.

Why do you never start? Right now, though, you're having the realization. Right now you have the motivation. So why are you saying you'll do it at a certain date? Not right now. Are you lying to yourself about that? It's as if tomorrow or today isn't even a part of the week. Make millions of dollars and take care of all of your friends. You'll be famous, too. You're going to live in a big mansion together, have great parties, and travel the world.

You probably think you'll be famous. Wait, this sounds too familiar, right? Are you and your friends going to be like the real-life Entourage crew? Because, look. Life is not a TV show. Living like them isn't going to make you rich or famous. And expecting your friends to follow you on your journey is, well, slightly delusional.

Get a six-pack, be constantly active, and stick to a healthy, nutritious diet. Raise your hand in the comments if you've ever said this. Yeah. How's that coming along? We often set really strict goals for ourselves, and when we cave in the next day or next week, heck, even a few hours after committing, we say we'll try again tomorrow. And the same thing happens over again.

You probably also psych yourself up for the start of your health journey by eating all of the meals and snacks you think you're not going to be allowed to have, and you end up ballooning just before you start. It's so much better to start as soon as possible or to ease yourself into it. One last bender never goes according to plan.

Tell people how you really feel. How does that Eminem song go? His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. Look, I'm not Eminem, okay? But I'm sure many of you can relate to these lines. We all can. This is exactly how you feel before trying to do number four: telling people how you really feel. Your heart races, your mind goes blank, and then you chickened out.

Any time you feel threatened, even if it's in your best long-term interests to be honest, telling people how you feel is far too scary. Sometimes it's easier to back off and keep ignoring things. You shouldn't do that, but it is easier to move to a different country and start over. You've seen a few people from your old school or college do it. You watch their Instagram stories and see their pictures living it up in a different country.

You're thinking, "Well, you were smarter than them and more hardworking, and yet they're living the life you want." You told yourself you were going to move to a different country, but you haven't. Why? What are you waiting for? Well, we've just launched our Reinvent Mastery Course, the latest flagship course at alux.org, and it deals with this exact question: How do you get to be the person who packs everything up and starts their life over for the better? How do you completely reinvent yourself?

Well, this is it. This is your chance to not be another statistic. It's your chance to finally get out there and cheer up this mask you've been wearing because you know it doesn't feel right. Go to alux.com/reinvent, use the code “NEWME” at checkout, and get $100 off. Just do it. Okay? Start working toward the life you really want.

Learn to play an instrument. Playing an instrument is sexy. It's a different kind of intelligence, and it's captivating and entertaining. So many people do it that it seems easy. You might even buy the guitar and start learning. And then you realize how difficult it actually is. You realize you have to commit to daily practice. You can't just strum some strings; you have to follow a course or a video. The going gets tough, and a lot of people just quit.

Finish your writing a book. Everyone thinks they can write a book, especially about their interesting life, until they actually sit down and have to pull thousands of words and stories from memories and imagination. If you couldn't write your essays at school, the chances of you writing a book without ever really writing much before are pretty slim, my friend. Not impossible, but also not very likely.

Learn to speak a new language. Some people have an aptitude for languages, and watching them learn and speak might make you think that you can Duolingo yourself to fluent Spanish or French or whatever language is on your list. The truth is, though, it takes years to be fluent. It takes immersive learning, daily practice, and extra lessons. If you've made it this far and only have one language under your belt, you're probably not hitting any of these markers.

To buy a boat. Once you find your boat. When people win the lottery and go from having nothing to having millions, there are two things they buy: a luxury car and a boat. They are always at the top of the "when I get rich" lists. And you know what? Reach for the stars. Go for the boat or whatever a boat is in your life. Just make sure it's not going to gather dust in the backyard because you need a proper trailer and truck to take it to a proper lake, that's a few hours away.

Yeah, you get the idea. It's all fine and good to have the toys you always dreamed of. But think practically. Will you use them to tell your boss to f*** off and start your own business? How many mornings have you woken up and said, "Today's the day. I'm going to tell my boss to f*** off and hey, I'm going to start my own business?" You tell yourself, your partner, your family, and then you just... Well, you don't do it.

You can't do it. You rely on your job. You're scared to take a risk, and you don't know what your next step is going to be after that sentence. So you let yourself down. You continue complaining. You keep telling people that you're going to do it. You're gonna. But it's time to stop. Either do it or quit lying to yourself. You've got more to lose by kidding yourself than you do by actually taking that step.

The things you think you would do if you had a lot of money, that the rich aren't doing, this one can be pretty sobering. You think that when you're rich and you have a lot of money, you're willing to do all of the things that rich people don't do? You say, "I'll donate half your money to charity" or "buy your friends and family homes to help them out?" You'll spend more time with your partner.

If these were easy things to do, then way more people would be doing them. Making money takes time, and parting with that money is, well, it's just not easy for everyone. You don't know what you're going to do and what things will be like once you've got more money. Plenty of people say they'll give most of it away and take care of others, but, well, you know, reality often tells a different story when the time comes.

Saying you'll make plans to catch up with your friends and setting up imaginary trips. We've all been there, right? You have a great catch up with your friends, and you all say you should do this more often. But six months later, you haven't seen half of them since. Sometimes you even go as far as to plan amazing trips together. You start with the itinerary, looking for flight prices, and then the group chat goes quiet. Why do we do this?

If your friends make you feel good, if they inspire you and make you laugh, then they're far more valuable to you and your time than watching another movie or scrolling for the next few hours on your phone. You'll figure things out when the time comes. Your intuition is great, it's strong, and it's worth listening to, but it's not going to give you some magical answer to all your life's questions, which is why telling yourself you'll figure it out when the time comes is, well, pretty faulty.

There's never a perfect time for things to happen. You can have all the information available and still make the wrong decision. You can't figure things out with major life decisions because it's not just a mathematical equation; it's a combination of chance, people, and situational circumstances. If you keep relying on winging it, well, you're going to miss far too many shots.

Be the change you want to see in the world. And then they never change. Mahatma Gandhi partly contributed to this. He once said, "You have to be the change you wish to see in the world." When you first hear the statement, it's pretty profound. It makes you want to make a change right away. It makes you think about the changes in the world that should be different and what you can do to be a part of that change.

But it's easy to miss the most important part. It's not about changing the world; it's about changing yourself first. The things you think you know, your biases, where you get your information from, the change. It starts with you. So stop telling yourself that you want to be the change and just start changing.

That you're going to get your life back on track. You keep telling yourself you're going to get your life back on track, but nothing happens. The track eludes you. There it goes, moving on without you. Getting your life back on track, look, it's not easy. It takes an insane amount of strength and trust in yourself. And if you keep telling yourself that you're going to do it and you keep not doing it, you're letting yourself down.

You're losing trust in yourself, and it becomes harder and harder to do it. Now, I like some of these are some harsh truths. Nobody wants to hear them. But every once in a while, everybody needs to hear them. Stop saying you're going to do something and then letting yourself down. If you say you're going to do it, make that a promise to yourself to push through.

And in the meantime, tell us in the comments, what is something that you keep saying you're going to do and you don't? Say it for the last time because the moment you answer, you're going to start working toward it. Until next time, my friend. Take care.