My mentor told me about a metaphor which made me realize that I'm not doing the much-needed work to get to the point where I want to be in life. I kind of knew that I need to do so much more to achieve my goals. But him saying it to me was a huge step for me to actually do the work.

What did he say to me?

The metaphor itself is pretty simple. He taught me that there are three kinds of people.
Imagine a big garden with all kinds of flowers and plants, a big wooden fence that surrounds the garden and a house that is built in the middle of the area which is pitch black inside.

• There are people looking over the fence to enjoy the beautiful garden. They like what they see but they are not going inside to work there. They keep walking around and never enter the garden.

• The few people that will enter the garden, work there every day. They water the plants so everything can bloom. They nurse sick flowers to heal them. They plant new vegetables. They are becoming masters of their art form.

• Only a really small percentage are curious about the house. What is inside? Why is it so dark? Why would I ever go in? Because it's so nice to work in this majestic garden!
  These people mostly cut themselves off of society and sit on a mountain and meditate the whole day I guess. I would call them real masters.

This made me realize that I'm still not doing the garden work. I'm still roaming around the fenced area. I really thought that I’m already in the garden. But I'm not. He also added that a true master practices daily. This changed now for me.

The Conclusion

I’m waking up early in the morning to do my meditation and yoga. I want to this every day for a while now to see the changes inside and outside. This will probably solve a lot of stress and stuff that lies deep inside me. I'm really thankful to him for letting me know about this. But I kind of knew that I have to do more but I wasn't actually focusing and listening to myself.

Some friends are out and having drinks and doing the stupid stuff they always do. This was me too for a really long time. I’m really happy that I said no to this. Instead, I’m writing this blog post and I will go to bed soon so I can wake up early. Waking up without having a hangover. How cool is that? No more wasting time! I deserve this! Let’s go!

Are you doing what has to be done to achieve the physical and mental state you want to be in?