Do or Die

Pressfield:

I didn’t talk to anybody during my year of turning pro. I didn’t hang out. I just worked. I had a book in mind and I had decided I would finish it or kill myself. I could not run away again, or let people down again, or let myself down again. This was it, do or die.

While maybe a tad extreme, it has an extremely powerful point.

At what point do we nut up or shut up? Shit or get off the pot? If we can’t take the heat, we get out of the kitchen. All these metaphors mean the same thing, as you see just above in deliciously bold characters: do or die.

When in a scenario where I have to think about the fact that if I don’t do something, a metric ton of consequences will follow, I think about one thing: why the hell am I pondering not doing and instead considering dying? I’m not literally dying in these situations, but I might as well be killing my goals and dreams.

I’ve pondered a lot about the idea that choosing to not do something equates to taking two steps back and every positive move is just one step forward. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds.

Sometimes, even doing doesn’t pan out. Spending all that time on that thing yielded zero other things. What was the point? Sticking to it and giving 100% is the point. That’s how you become a pro.

These are things I think about. Why am I in the job I’m in? Because it’s the next step. Why does it suck? Because I decided it sucks.

I’ve been pondering my career more and more as I approach May. If you haven’t been following along a lot or ever, really, I’m moving out of state in May for the foreseeable future. At least seven to ten years of my life will be in another state, doing other things. It’s up to me to make those things as kickass and valuable as possible. I either do, or I die.