Why Freddie Can't achieve his goals: The Blockage of Competing Desires

Why Freddie Can't achieve his goals: The Blockage of Competing Desires

The Blockage of competing Desires: Causes Moonshot Thinking. Relatable to most young men in their 20s.

It's 10 am.

Freddie - the self-improvement junkie- wakes up.

Freddie, a 25- year old young man currently living with his parents, awakens with a strong determination to prove himself. Although currently unemployed, he harbors lofty ambitions and therefore sets five goals at the beginning of the year of 2024 to achieve by the end of the year.

These goals include:

1. Start a new online entrepreneurship and earn £100,000

2. Quit smoking

3. Losing Weight

4. Build a muscular frame

5. Read one book every week (on success and business)

It is new years day, 2024.

Thus, the day begins...

Freddie wakes up after 8 hours of sleep. He still feels tired and wonders if something is wrong with him. Despite this, he rises, fixes himself a cup of coffee, and faces the day with motivation. Today marks the beginning of his journey to quit smoking.

Freddie looks at the goals he wrote down the night before.

"Today is the day, from this day forward, I will start taking action!"

His agenda includes working out at the gym, returning home to prepare a nutritious meal, and dedicating time to launch his new venture. He also plans to finish reading his new self-improvement book "Discipline." The book details the importance of waking up early morning at 5.30am to get a ahead start. Thus, he plans to go to bed 3 hours earlier. Plus, his goal is to refrain from smoking.

While waiting for his coffee to kick in... he checks his phone...

Without him realizing it, time quickly passes by.

After an hour and an half, he realizes he has been procrastinating. However, it is only noon, so he decides there is plenty of time left. He grabs his phone and switches to his iPad for more comfort. The social media has sucked him in. Two hours pass, and Freddie feels like time has been stolen from him. He is familiar with this feeling, exacerbated by the cravings from abstaining from cigarette withdrawals. It takes an additional two hours before he musters the resolve to head to the gym, where he fuels himself with another cup of coffee to find motivation. The clock now reads 4 PM.

Freddie finally gets to the gym and starts working out but feels tired and unmotivated. The frequent trips to the bathroom due to an abundance of liquids in his system add to his discomfort. It's also Cold. The chilly January weather prompts him to ponder whether it's contributing to his sense of demotivation. Plus, the nicotine cravings intensifies his struggle. Seated on the leg extension machine, observing everybody else and checking his texts he has already read. In search of a mood boost, he returns to the locker room and retrieves his headphones. However, none of the songs give him that hit. He shuffle through different songs in a quest but can't seem to find the right one that motivates him.

What was that funny video again? He scrolls through Instagram for a while. A middle-aged man is standing in front of him with a disdainful look. "Are you finished with that machine?" He looks up and quickly gets off the machine, feeling sheepish, he shifts to another machine. He thinks Forget it; this is impossible today.

And now he feels like he's dying for a cigarette.

Overwhelmed by the intense cravings to smoke and guilt. Freddie exits the gym, opts for a burger and an energy drink... and succumbs to buying cigarettes.

Throughout the journey home, he reflects on the lack of motivation, questioning why it didn't persist as strongly as the night before when he convinced himself that the next day would be the turning point.

He saids to himself.

"Tomorrow, I will start that workout. Tomorrow I will eat healthy. Tomorrow I will lose the weight."

Nevertheless, there's still the evening and the new business to work on. He guzzles down the energy drink in preparation for the work ahead. Although there's a part of him that wants to start that tomorrow also, considering the current day as somewhat spoiled.

After finishing his hearty burger and fries, he had intended to begin his work. However, he decided to wait for a while to let his food to settle, and thus indulged some time on his phone. Regrettably, this short break turned into a two-hour-long session of scrolling through his social media feed. In an effort to regain his energy, he consumed the energy drink, but only to find the combination of food and cigarettes had the opposite effect, leaving him feeling sluggish and unmotivated.

Its now 9pm and with 2 hours to go before his scheduled bedtime... so he can wake up early the next day and "tackle his goals".

A sense of defeat begins to creep in. The cigarette relapses, makes him feel like a loser. The anticipated workout went down the drain and no meaningful work has been accomplished.

Today is out of the question.

The day has betrayed him.

His mind, his body, has deceived him. Maybe theres something wrong with his DNA. His just not born disciplined. Perhaps, he ponders, he simply just doesn't have what "X celebrity" possesses.

Today is not the day.

As he reflects, every day has been this kinda day. It seems like every day has taken on a similar tone for quite some time. His been feeling this way for a while. Freddie has been grappling with a lingering sense of mild depression. Life, he wonders, has become increasingly complicated.

Seeking motivation, Freddie starts reading the first chapter of "Discipline" by "Mrgrinditoutt Smith." The act of reading makes him feel productive, but his attention span is limited to 20 minutes, so he switches to watching motivational videos on YouTube by the same author of "Discipline." The video features uplifting music and speeches, leaves him inspired and energized, declaring;

"Tomorrow will be my day!"

The reality is...

Tomorrow will mirror today.

Because Freddie is trapped in a cycle.

Lingering on the emotion of hope, till each day passes by till the next, and thus never

arriving...leaving him with bitter regret.

Pt 2...coming soon.