Mental Masturbation

Ahhhh.

Sounds funny and weird right? Well, it kinda is. I just came across the concept and it intrigued me only for me to realize I've been doing it lately. Okay, okay before you presume anything let me clarify what it is exactly. As per Wiktionary, Mental Masturbation means "Engaging in intellectually stimulating conversation with little or no practical purpose." Don't we all do that? As laughable as the term is, deeply unique is the concept and reality behind it. Mental Masturbation is like you get this mental stimulation from different ideas at the moment like an orgasm but there it's practically void. Like a light bulb that glows but shuts off in the next minute, that's it.

It is a true game killer. Let's say you wish to open a business, you get ideas and you talk to your best friend only so you could feel stimulated momentarily but there is no specific outcome after that conversation as in you don't actually make the effort to make that business exist in reality. You just keep saying but do not do anything about it. We do it because we feel if we keep doing it, it'll at least keep us mentally engaged in those ideas but we forget that physically it won't come into existence if even 1% of the effort is not being taken. Err..so how do you stop (mentally) masturbating? No pun intended.

Just f*cking do it.

We spend half the day thinking about doing something but we don't actually take an action. It's true. Probably everyone will agree to it, I am sure. Perfectionism is rooted inside our brains because since childhood we've been told one needs to be perfect, but the truth is - you don't. We mentally f*ck ourselves because it gives a false sense of satisfaction, and makes our conscious feel better without doing anything. Perfectionism is an illusion. Practice never makes one perfect, it makes one better. It doesn't matter how good it is, what matters is you did what you wanted to. Leonardo Da Vinci took four years to paint the Mona Lisa. Imagine, if Da Vinci had contemplated whether he should start painting or not. There would be no Mona Lisa today.

Vera Wang designed her first dress at the age of 40. She is 73 at the moment with a net worth of $650 million. Imagine if she hadn't designed the dress.

Lionel Messi, at the age of 10, was detected with a growth hormone deficiency - which affected his style of playing football. Today, he is the number one football player in the world. Imagine if Leo had contemplated his deficiency.

All the leaders and changemakers around the world didn't wait for perfectionism. They made the effort to reach there. You will never be perfect, but you can always be better. I won't say don't think. Do think, as much as you wish. But don't forget the 'do' part. You can never get where you want to get by doing the same thing. You can never get what you want by doing the same thing (I don't mean consistency). You need to be consistent with your efforts. The harsh truth is the only person in your way is YOU. You've got this! By Vanshika Patil.