One more thing
Work hard. Work long. Down your task list, motoring through your TODOs. Be productive.
But what do you do when you stall? When you’re interrupted? It’s simple: do one more thing. Then another. And another. And on and on.
What about when you get to your lunch break? Do one more thing. End of the day? Do one more thing. And don’t stop until you’re happy with what you’ve done. This is how things get done, one thing at a time, one after the other, until they’re all done.
The open secret of real success is to throw your whole personality at a problem.
Substrate
You already know how to do it. You just don’t know that you know it yet. Beneath the uncertainty, inelegance, and insecurity is success. It’s hidden and you you refuse to see it, but it’s there.
So where is it?
It’s in the thing you already know how to do well. It’s in the things that you’re already passionate about. The patterns are there, you need to apply them to the next thing.
It isn’t easy: you have to get over your fear of not knowing something and just do it. Learn. Absorb. And do, not stopping until it’s another thing you know well.
The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.
Anonymous asked: Where are you?
I have been meditating on life, hacking self, and other things.
But back I am, and a new post has wondrously appeared.
Be lazy
You think you’re smart. You create things. You write. You produce. You generate.
Well don’t.
You need to filter what you create. Throw most of it away. Toss out the ideas before they become the drivel you normally produce. Curate the shit out of your shit.
Better yet: be lazy. Don’t start something until it’s interesting. Don’t tell anyone about it until it’s great. Don’t build what you don’t need to, and even then resist doing it. Only do what matters. The rest is a waste of your time.
Do what you can do better than anyone else, what rocks your world, and abandon everything else. A curated you is a better you.
You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.
Blinded
You can’t see your weakness. It’s right there in front of you, but you look past it. You dance around it. You ignore it. You pretend that it doesn’t exist. Wishing that it didn’t exist. It does, and it always will.
Everything you do is flawed in some way. Accept it. Learn to see it, to enjoy it. Every imperfection is a chance to learn, a chance to do better. And every fault can be solved, often with finesse and style.
When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.
—Anthony J. D’Angelo
Do it well or go home
So you want to do it well? The things you build, the things you create, you want to craft each one with care? Well, you’re not doing it.
And how can you do anything well when you’re splitting yourself so many ways? How can you learn with the TV on in the background? How can you focus when you check your email and Twitter feed every half hour? Your choice to devote so little of your mind to the things you do is indiscriminate laziness, and it’s why you struggle to find mediocrity.
Focus. Do one thing at a time. Consider your path. Do each thing well, without rushing. Rest. Rinse. Repeat.
Building something? Then don’t spend time learning while you do it. Learning something? Then don’t look for entertainment in the background. Close some applications and shut the door. Turn off the fucking television. Focus, and do it well, or don’t bother doing it at all.
