Stop Monkeying Around Before It Costs You
We all want to grow. Get better. Move forward.
But most of us spend our time stalling.
We Under/Over-Plan. Overthink. Under Value action.
We confuse motion with progress.
Marcus Aurelius didn’t sugarcoat it:
“Enough of this miserable, whining life. Stop monkeying around.”
This isn’t advice. It’s a wake-up call.
The Real Problems (Not Just “Busyness”):
At work:
- You spend hours organizing your day but avoid the hard, deep work.
- You procrastinate on learning new tools or systems because you fear looking slow.
- You keep chasing tasks because it gives you a sense of work completion, and ignore the important ones like strategy or delegation.
In life:
- You talk about building discipline, but can’t follow through for a week. You fall back on your old patterns.
- You never miss Netflix, but “never have time” to read, reflect, or think deeply.
- You say you want to grow, but you never step outside your default mode.
Let’s call it what it is:
Distraction Disguised As Diligence.
The Price of Inaction:
- You build a habit of unfinished efforts, which kills confidence.
- You stagnate professionally while others lap you with less talent but more discipline.
- You start to settle, not because you want to, but because you’re too tired to fight the drift.
4 Real-World Ways to Stop Monkeying Around:
- Start your day with 30 minutes of deep work, no matter what.
Before emails, before calls. Pick one hard thing and focus. - Use the “One Tab Rule.”
One task. One window. One goal. Nothing else until it’s done. - Replace 30 mins of media with learning.
Podcast, course, or book every single day.
Compound growth starts here. - End the day with a 5-minute self-audit.
What did you avoid? Why? What’s one better move for tomorrow?
You’re not behind because of a lack of talent.
You’re behind because of a lack of discipline, focus, and urgency.
Growth isn’t complicated. It’s just uncomfortable.
And most people would rather stay busy than face that.
So what’s one uncomfortable thing you’ve been avoiding lately?
Call it out or go do it now.