A Race To The Death

Having drive can make life full of life, or a race to the death.

Take one look at Instagram’s endless stream of “entrepreneurial” picture quotes to spot the difference:

“Wake up at X every day”: I like routine more than most, but turning life into a drill doesn’t make life more fun. Life isn’t for wasting, but it’s not a drill, either.

“Workout X hours a day”: All good work needs persistence and consistency, but there’s more to a day than a to-do list. Often times, great work benefits just as much from what we do between the things we do.

“Invest at least $X/month”: For some, it’s nothing. For others, it’s putting them on rice and beans. There’s no one path to fulfilling work and life. Those who claim otherwise haven’t yet experienced enough of either.

“Read X books per month”: I read a lot, but I’ve seen many people transform it from an act of learning and applying, into a mere race to keep up with. Learning without application benefits nobody.

“Enjoy life”: After you’re done competing someone else’s list, the best you can hope for is to live in someone else’s shadow.

Do your important work. Nobody else is going to, they’re all busy chasing prefab dreams for reasons they were told were important.

Enjoy the ride, difference maker. No dead man ever benefitted from having achieved “inbox zero”.