How Boredom Opens the Door Towards Self Discovery

By Trixie Ricablanca Angeles

Can you Entertain a new idea?

Can you Entertain another person?

Can you entertain yourself?

As Sidney Herbert Wood said, An educated man is one who can entertain a new idea, entertain another person, and entertain himself.

So, if your answer to one of those question is NO, then maybe you are not using your education the right way.

You are either currently bored right now or have faced boredom once in your life.

You are constantly looking and formulating a plan, to beat boredom - Create drama, take a selfie, ask someone out or do anything - just to kill time.

According to Mr. Webster, boredom is the state of being bored - when one is "feeling weary because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one's current activity".

It's a result of disengagement towards your craft and would usually yield to unproductive results. Something worthless - that you can never be proud of.

A bored person lacks creativity and motivation.

When you are bored, you are craving for something worthwhile to think about and eventually do. Anything that will exercise your brain cells and so as your physical body.

Any person whose boredom is apparent doesn't think and are usually the subject of manipulative people. On top of which, an idle mind is a devil's playground.

How many times have we listened to another person's advice even though we know that he/she never had the results that we want?

We are all guilty of it. We even somethings make advises too, even if we have not gotten into that "success" phase that we want.

As what John Maxwell said in one of his seminars, we listen to travel agents who lure us into a place that they had never been to.

Boredom though, in its naked sense is not at all that bad. You might think I hate boredom so badly. Well, actually not too much. For boredom is an opportunity in disguise.

It guises into something irrelevant but is actually an indicator of something much bigger.

Boredom can open multiple doors that can show you the path towards self-discovery, that will eventually lead to success.

"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are, you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much."

If you have no goals, No plans, eventually you will have no future.

Start to look for an answer inside you.

Write your goals, your destination, and your dream.

As what Zig Ziglar said, "How could a man hit a target, he could not see. How can you hit a target you do not have?"

Start to design your life the way you wanted it.

Create a target that you want to achieve in your life. Ditch other people's advises too. Be in control of what you do and start working towards your own self-improvement.

Remember that people who dent the universe were not different from you and me. They have two hands and two feet, some even lack one or two, and we all have 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

Boredom can help you become a much better version of yourself not by succumbing to its eternal effects, but by defying it - killing it.

Boredom is a symptom of a much bigger problem. It's an infection that can turn into a disease.

A disease is a body not at ease and the cause of boredom is weak thoughts. Thoughts that you can't control. Thus keep on recurring as you feel unworthy and lost - bored.

In order to beat boredom, you have to change what you think.

Because thoughts control feelings and feeling control your actions, which will eventually turn into habits.

Habits then are the single most indicator of success. Good habits always yield great results and otherwise will prepare you to fail.

We think the way we do because of our own beliefs - from our parents, how we have been raised as children and our past experiences.

We were all pre-programmed when we were younger into that paradigm that we thought we couldn't change. Hence our thought process.

Little did we know that we have a choice to change how we think.

How should we do it?

By Disciplining ourselves to think and do what is right - Perform Good Habits.

Disciple can also mean delayed gratification. But then again because of our perception about discipline, it is difficult for us to adhere to these good habits because it was presented to us like a punishment - something that has a negative impact in our lives.

We ditch the idea of disciplining ourselves and rely on a much easier path - becoming vulnerable to what other people tell us because it's easier to take in ideas from other people, instead of thinking of your own and doing it yourself.

It requires courage and effort to show your ideas to the world.

Never did we know that taking all in and not thinking, can kill you one day at a time because you are destined to think and exercise your God-given talent of curiosity and creativity.

So here's what you should do to finally kill that boredom that is slowly killing you too.

1. Reflect

As what Tony Robbin's said, "When you succeed, you tend to celebrate. When you fail, you ponder."

If you get bored, remember it's always an indicator of impending failure. Thus you have to reflect. Look at the past and evaluate what you could do better to change your results.

2. Read a Good Book

It'll open you to endless possibilities. For all the secrets in this world, lies in books. You'll defy boredom by installing more useful thoughts in your brains. Rather than doing something that won't contribute to your personal goals.

3. Write your goals and Create your Journal

Writing your goals down will give you direction. A path you want to walk through or a mountain you want to climb. Create that destination that you want to arrive at.

4. Discipline Yourself and Start Creating Good Habits

This journey is never-ending. You will always be faced with an infamous boredom and you may defeat it today but it can visit you some other time in the future. And when that time comes discipline yourself not by entertaining boredom but instead defy it, every single time.

Boredom is the lack of creativity - to build and create something new. Your body is craving for success and it's an opportunity that you have to distinguish.

You need to acknowledge its presence and when you do, go back to the first step of reflection, read books and start creating your new goal and destination.

Let boredom be an indicator that you have arrived at your previous goal/s and you are thirsty for something more.

Something better and bigger. It's time to step up your game and create more. Your body is longing for success and you have a feed that thirst.

When boredom strikes, kill it by reflecting, reading, writing and moving forward. A cycle that you should never be tired to spin around - again and again.

Life after school? Welcome to the Real World and Make a Difference!