#252 The Identity is the Outcome

Does a day end, or does a new one start?

Does the end of a book chapter signal termination, or does it serve as a gateway to an unexplored continuation?

Maybe we don’t need to arbitrarily mark endings and beginnings in lives that consist of an uninterrupted flow.

Maybe we’re just a tiny plot in a story spanning billions of years.

Maybe we don’t grasp the bigger story anyway.

Maybe it’s all the same.

I could decide that writing less than 1000 words a day would be a failure – and I would be correct.

I could decide that writing more than 50 words a day would be a failure – and I would be correct.

I could decide that not writing today would be failure – and I would be correct.

After all, for many things in life, you get to decide yourself what’s failure and what’s success.

In fact, my friend, just like me you may have already decided for yourself what’s failure and what’s success.

And just like me, you may need a reminder of that decision once in a while, so you can verify if it still serves you.

This is that reminder.

Which serves me well, because my decision was that writing you this short daily letter is exactly right.

See you tomorrow.

When you decide if you should be chasing this goal, job, relationship, or place to live – in other words, commitment – you choose between action or inaction based on if it’s a viable, worthwhile, realistic goal.

When you decide on the course of action – in other words, how to do something – you’re already committed to action.

Sometimes, the commitment might be too big, too hard, or too disruptive – and that’s perfectly valid.

But here’s what I’ve noticed, my friend: whenever I try to decide on the how before I’ve decided on the commitment, I have even more doubts, and any course of action seems complicated.

I’m curious how you feel about it. We’ll talk more about it in the coming days and weeks.

The path toward self-awareness isn’t always pleasant. 

Take yesterday, when I realized that in many cases, I’m more interested in the comfort of “wanting” something I don’t have than in “taking action to get something.”

That unappealing realization triggered a cascade of even more unappealing questions.

Would I rather mess around with small blog posts instead of becoming a skilled writer crafting coherent arguments?

Would I rather learn about a million different strategies to grow a newsletter instead of actually spreading the word and getting more people to read my newsletter?

Would I rather learn how to learn a language than actually learn a new language?

Is the frustration of unrealized potential also a huge source of comfort in my life?

I’m not sure if I should be happy with that realization. 

Maybe realizations aren’t even supposed to make me happy.

But even if they were, it doesn’t matter. 

Because look: here I am, writing another insight about it.

Another Tiny Trust Builder, proving that every day, I am one step closer to renouncing my citizenship of the United States of “If I wanted, I could.”

Another reminder to myself and you, my friend, one I’ll repeat until the bitter end: actions overrule thoughts.