Written during a dark time in September, 2012
It was a dark and stormy night. The clock struck twelve, pulling the man from his narcoleptic trance in front of his keyboard. He was one tired dude.
Already worn out from a long day, he glanced around his desk, knowing it was time to get the last-
…he spotted an important bill that was due in less than an hour.
He didn’t want the bill to be late, so the money would need to be delivered that night. Since he hadn’t been a role model for adequate physical exertion that week, he decided that he would ride his bike. It was only a few miles, and he wasn’t that tired, yet. (Hustle ≠ Masochism.)
It began to rain. By the time he reached the half-way mark, the storm was strong enough to make seeing the road difficult. He kept wondering if he should turn back, but couldn’t do it. There was something more important going on than delivering a bill or staying home, warm and dry.
This bike ride was every hard thing he hadn’t done that week, it was every person he desperately wanted to talk with, it was every article he hadn’t written for fear of rejection. He looked at the pouring rain and began to laugh like a fool; the ride was tough, but it couldn’t eat him. None of those things could. Even a simple victory would do on this dark and stormy night.
Push.
Pedal hard. Put one foot in front of another, because each one takes you further than you were before. You’re going to make mistakes either way; don’t let them stop you from doing something. Send the email, ask someone something hard, write the article.
Frankly, it doesn’t matter why you want to do something; the clock doesn’t care about our abounding selfless motives, and every minute costs the same. I heard a really smart fellow say:
“You want to do more photography? Pick up the camera and take a picture of your desk. Just make something. Why aren’t you doing that right now?”
Start by spending some focused time there. Do it every day, starting today. Try disregarding all “entertainment” for a few weeks, unless it somehow bring you closer to your family. Sounds radical, but are you wanting a shoddy half-effort to be the result of your dreams? Just keep slacking off and doing the hard stuff later, because that will get you there in a hurry.
How many ways can I phrase this? When you’re really tired, do one more hard thing. When you have extra energy, take two extra steps. Eat a big ol’ frog before you do the easy stuff. Work hard and don’t settle for pushing out anything less than 100% of your effort. Leave it all on the floor. Hustle.
Don’t blame it on the rain, it doesn’t know any better. The rain can’t eat you or make you stop moving forward.
Push.