We are all trapped in fear
And trauma based limitations
Fighting our way out of the molasses of the indifference of the world.
Our key to escape ourselves
Is to motivate to serve others
Where we deflate and defeat our own egos as much as possible
We get ourselves out of our own way
By removing our egos as much as possible
Just do it
I read some pieces to a friend
Pieces on overcoming procrastination
He said yeah but Nike already figured it out
Just do IT
He said
And of course ultimately that is true
Just do it
And if all anyone needed for encouragement
Was a bit of cheer and a push
Saying three words might be enough
Just do it
Certainly a brilliant marketing campaign
And really the distillation
Of everything in this book
On some level could be whittled down to those three words
Just do it
But we all know just doing it
Requires us to traverse a complex jungle of internal and external complexities
Which frankly most don’t succeed at making it through
Apocalypse Now is a closer approximation of the creative life to fulfilling your vision
Captain Willard going down the river deep in the jungle amidst the insanity of war
To confront colonel Kurtz in a murderous enclave
Where madness has taken over
The creative life is closer to this than a single neat resolution to just do it
Though ultimately just doing it is the end goal
One problem or darkness you will face in that jungle is a world full of people not doing it
And you may look to them to give you encouragement in your journey of trying to just do it
But people are incapable of giving you or anyone something they can’t give themselves
So often in the hideouts of your personal battle
You will look for a friendly word or a boost to your vision
But will find a group of enemy soldiers hiding out and unloading the artillery of their own failures onto you
It takes years and much confusion to recognize this fact
And protect yourself against it
Countless projects are casualty’s of this basic misunderstanding of human nature
Joseph in the Bible made this mistake
Flashing his Technicolor dream coat
And telling his brothers of his connection to the almighty
It got him buried and betrayed
And left for dead
And sold into slavery
For the most part people won’t cheer for your Technicolor dream coat or dream or whatever momentum you manage to accumulate
For the most part people will be jealous of such things
So hold your vision close and work on it in the shadows outside of the reach of other peoples judgments
And when you do display the weakness of need and display your progress to disappointing reactions
Factor in this aspect of human nature
And do not let it thwart your progress
Kurtz is deep in the jungle and already surrendered to a murderous nihilism
He is like the shadow looming over everything you do
A powerful force that can’t be trifled with
Whose already given up on everything
And the shadow to your vision fulfilled
(He is the representation of everything that is meant to stop you and in this jungle he isn’t far away and up the river but within your own spirit. Your fear. Your failures. Your losses and limitations.)
Captain Willard saying never get out of the boat “absolutely god damn right” as he traverses the insanity of the river through the jungle for the final confrontation of all the forces meant to stop him.
Correlates with the blood sport of a vision becoming fulfilled. The boat is the daily actions you must take and never get out of.
The boat is the daily grind
And the tasks that will often feel hopeless much of the time as you work away in darkness towards a vision for a new light and the life you aim to build.
Just do it
Yes but let’s also talk about the jungle
And all the aspects contained there in
Knowledge of the battle you are actually in
Is imperative to winning it
Once you’ve made it all the way through
And once Kurtz is dead
You could tell others to just do it
But at that point you would know that if it were Really that simple
The world would be full of fulfilled individuals
Who never quit on a vision
This isn’t the world we live in
So deeply going into every potential booby trap that you will spring along the way
Expecting them and formulating a plan
For springing them without getting caught
Or avoiding them altogether
Won’t guarantee success but will at least
Help you confront the reality of how complicated
Just doing it actually is
Even though ultimately just doing it
Is what you have to do.
Ultimately my friend is right.
Just do it.
And certainly don’t allow the analyzation of the process to slow or thwart your progress either
But do strategize
Like you would going down a strange river
To confront the one
In charge of killing your dreams.
For once you confront him he will tell you about the horror of it all
That his focus was on the horror
The horror
The horror
The horror
Nietzsche said, ‘He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. ‘ Keep that in mind.”
You must see the abyss
You must formulate a plan to overcome it
But don’t gaze at it any longer than it takes to overcome it.
Overcome it and divert your eyes back into the direction of the light.
Just do it.