Just do it, like whenever
Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.
Albert Einstein
The uncommitted life isn't worth living.
Marshall Fishwick
"I just don’t have time to show up for this essay. I’ve got a million things to do and I’m just a really busy person, you know? And it’s just too much to ask for me to be on time and write this first paragraph. Sure, I know that this essay is supposed to begin with the first sentence and everything needs to be all grammatical and Englishy and everything, but well, it’s going to be hard for me to make it to my desk on time. And by the way, I’m probably going to have to leave early, before the final paragraph. I’ve got a lot of things on my plate at the moment, you know, so I think I’ll just drop in. I hope that’s OK."
Actually, it’s not OK. It’s not even close to being OK. If I’m really going to write this essay and do a good job of it, I’m going to have to actually be present for entire process, from start to finish. I’m going to have to commit my time, my body and my attention to the experience. If I’m going to get into the flow of writing, I’m going to have to dive all the way in and stay immersed until it’s complete. If I show up late or leave early, I’m going to wind up with a fragmented, incoherent mess that’s not worth reading. And to top it off, I’m not going to feel good about the experience or the outcome. I might as well go bowling.
The same holds true for any other enterprise that I might want to undertake – athletics, physical education, music, dance, art, relationships, professional development or scholarship. If it’s worth doing at all, it’s worth showing up on time and staying for the duration. Learning requires commitment. All the ancient masters knew this to be true; there was no drop-in training at the Shaolin temple, we can be sure of that.
Unfortunately, our culture is moving in precisely the opposite direction. Today we actively promote a style of living that is designed for convenience, not substance. This is particularly obvious in the world of the body, where fitness classes are routinely offered on a drop-in basis (which is actually no basis at all). We tell our customers precisely what they want to hear: Just come in to our facility whenever you want and stay as long as you like; we don’t care. Just buy a punch card. If you want to come in late, that’s cool. If you want to leave early, that’s no problem. Just shop around, see what you like and be sure to visit our pro shop on the way out.
the drop-in culture
In this drop-in culture, there’s no real substance or meaning to anything. Nothing’s important and nothing’s worth prioritizing. It’s all browsing, all dabbling, all shopping. Everyone’s on the run, too busy to live and too busy to learn. We flit around like attention-disordered insects, looking and touching, but never risking, never getting involved.
Marketers drive this culture by catering to the customer’s every desire. They know that consumers are infantile creatures who insist on immediate gratification in all things; we want it all right at our fingertips. The market jumps at the chance to cater to our every whim, no matter how trivial. At the same time, it leans away from any enterprise that requires substantial levels of time, money or commitment. The marketer’s motto for maximizing sales: “Make it as easy as possible.”
Which is precisely the problem. When it comes to making substantive changes to minds, bodies or lives, easy doesn’t work. Easy doesn’t deliver. Easy doesn’t transform. All easy does is grease the path from impulse to a superficial faux gratification. Easy doesn't save time – easy is a waste of time.
This is why the modern health club culture fails so spectacularly. By maximizing ease, it simultaneously minimizes commitment. By minimizing commitment, it simultaneously strips away meaning. And by stripping away meaning, it trivializes the entire process, a process that could be profoundly transformative, for both individuals and communities.
“Just do it – whenever you feel like it.”
There are a host of reasons why dropping in is a bad way to organize a life. In the first place, dropping in demeans the process. If we simply come and go as we please, we experience no risk, no engagement and thus, no meaning.
Drop-in kills our sense of commitment. When everything is convenient, there’s no reason to put our bodies or our lives on the line. And if we aren’t putting our bodies and our lives on the line, we're not going to get results. The body is not impressed by trivial, drop-in efforts; neither is the brain. Physical and psychological transformation requires stress and engagement. You have to be there for it to work.
Nothing says “I don’t really care” like “I’ll just drop in.” Just think of it in terms of your relationships: “Hey baby, I really love you and everything, but you know I’m really busy these days with lots of things in my life and I just can’t really make it in for this relationship. How about if I just drop in? Oh and by the way, I might have to leave early ‘cause I have an appointment.”
The drop-in attitude is profoundly disrespectful, both to people and the process. Showing up late or leaving early sends a message to both teacher and students alike: “I have more important things to do.” To which the obvious response should be, “If you have more important things to do, you ought to go and do those things.”
Not only that, dabblers are unlikely to enter a state of flow. Because they fail to commit to the process in the first place, their minds and bodies aren’t primed for engagement and integration. If you leave one foot outside the door, you’re never going to experience complete immersion. And without immersion, there isn’t going to be much in the way of learning or transformative experience.
In fact, we can say with confidence that nothing of significance was ever accomplished by dropping in or dabbling. The dabbler keeps one hand on the doorknob at all times, ready to exit the moment things get difficult, boring or uncomfortable. And so, when challenge strikes, he’s out the door. Those who drop in are quick to drop out.
Just imagine some great figures of history and see what a drop-in attitude would do for them. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “I’ll give a speech when it’s convenient, but I might have to leave early.” John Muir: “I’ll get around to saving wilderness when it fits into my schedule.” Sir Edmund Hillary: “I’d really prefer to take a helicopter to the top of the Khumbu icefall. It’d be a lot more convenient for me if I didn’t have to schlep all those loads up to the glacier.” It doesn’t matter who we’re talking about - Tiger, Michael, Kobe, Lance, Laird, Sharma: these people show up on time and stay for the duration. This is what they live for.
busy bodies
Today the hot trend in marketing is to cater directly to “busy people.” Advertisers offer content, products and services specifically designed to meet the needs of the temporally disadvantaged. Material is presented as stripped-down, dumbed-down, bullet-pointed tips that are devoid of substance and significance. Drop-in magazines are easy to read, but offer no real nutrients.
But who are these so-called “busy people?” From what I can gather, these are people without focus or direction, drop-in artists who can’t or won’t commit to any one calling, enterprise or discipline. Busy people like the idea of actually doing something, but can’t be bothered to actually engage in it. Their sense of busyness comes from skimming the surface of life, dropping in here and there on a whim, but never staying for more than a few moments at a time. It’s no wonder that they feel scattered and frenzied.
Well, I have no time for these so-called busy people, these chronic dabblers. Busyness is simply a failure to engage, a failure to prioritize, a failure to choose. Instead of pampering the busy people, we ought to be doing the precise opposite; calling on them to make a choice, take a stand and make a commitment. Only then will their busyness be transformed into authentic life experience.
a culture of commitment
If we’re really, truly serious about transforming our bodies and public health, we’re going to have to sober up. We’re going to have to stop dropping in for an occasional dabble. Instead, we’re going to have to develop a culture of commitment and an authentic sense of engagement, risk and immersion.
In practical terms, this means:
- committing a substantial portion of our lives to the process
- being on time and staying for the duration
- doing our homework
- showing respect to the process and the people
- setting priorities, organizing and making time
- immersing ourselves in the process
If you’re distracted on occasion, that’s natural and understandable. But if you’re not fundamentally committed to the process, please go home. We are doing real and important work here. If you want to transform your body and the world, get your body into it. Otherwise, you can just go bowling; they’ll take a drop-in anytime.
finale
There. That’s it, the end of this essay. You’ll be glad to know that I stuck it out and stayed engaged all the way to the end. There were times when I got confused and distracted and I couldn’t find the right words. I had to rearrange my outline a few times, but I kept my fingers on the keyboard anyway. The process wasn’t always easy and it wasn’t always fun and I felt like quitting more than once. But now that it’s a wrap, I feel satisfied. I was in the flow for awhile and I feel like I learned something. And yes, I even feel a little bit transformed; next time, the process will be easier.
