Don't Be An Ass
This is an homage to “Don’t be a donkey” by Derek Sivers.
You have probably heard the story of Buridan’s ass (not that kind of ass, a donkey). If not, Buridan’s ass is standing halfway between a pile of hay and a bucket of water. It keeps looking left and right, trying to decide between hay and water. Unable to decide, it eventually dies of hunger and thirst.
Sound familiar?
I’ve been there more times than I’d like to admit.
I wanted to write a book, learn to code, and start a business. All in the past twenty four hours. I was wide-eyed and frozen like a deer in headlights because I wanted to try out many different things at once.
The world wants you to pick one thing so it can fit you into a neat little box. But you want to pursue several different boxes.
Guess what? You can.
I believed I had to pick one box and hope reincarnation was true to explore any others. Until I reflected and realized this belief was false.
I wanted to check the college athlete box, so I did. I wanted to check the (solo) cross-country road trip box, so I did. I wanted to check the spend months in foreign countries box, so I did. I wanted to check the work in professional sports box, so I did. I wanted to check the work for myself box, so I did. I wanted to check the work for a tech startup box, so I did. The key is I didn’t try to do them all at once.
Now I’m thirty. And I’m just getting started. What boxes do you want to check?
The problem is thinking you have to do it all…..right now. If you don’t do it today, then it’ll never happen, right?
Wrong.
The solution is to think long term. Fully commit to one path for a few years. Then commit to another path for a few years. Then rest, reassess, and commit to another. Over and over.
Don’t be an ass. A donkey can’t think long term. If it could, then it would obviously eat some hay first. Drink some water second. And move on.
You aren’t a donkey. You can have your hay and eat it too. All you need is a healthy dose of planning and patience.
Let’s say you’re also thirty and have ten unchecked boxes. You can do each for five years, and have checked them all by eighty. Or you can try doing them all right now and not check any of them.
“But Arman, what if I don’t make it to eighty?” Fair question. Here’s a better one. “What if you do?” Chances are high, as long as you don’t frequent (insert fast food chain of choice) too often. So why not prepare for it?
You can fully commit to one box at a time. Don’t succumb to the “chicken with its head cut off syndrome” that the world thrusts upon you.
Simply extend your time horizon from days to years. Commit to one thing at a time, knowing you can do the others later.
Keep this in mind: You overestimate what can be accomplished in a day and underestimate what can be done in five years.
What boxes would your eighty year old self be thrilled to have checked? Use those as your guiding light.
I can’t tell you what to do because your situation is unique. But I can tell you what not to do.
Don’t be an ass.