Comments on: On Achieving Goals (or “Just Fucking Write”)

By: Karol

Karol — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:25:58 +0000

Hey Pau!

Awesome that you’re looking at it in a different light. I’m not going to say to drop out, but if it’s not doing it for you there is no reason to continue.

Nicky: thanks man! You rule.

Cheers,
Karol

By: Nicky Hajal

Nicky Hajal — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:52:41 +0000

Hey man,

I dropped out of college 2 years ago. Amazing it’s been that long – it has been the best decision I ever made. But, I made it carefully and encourage you to do the same. If you’d like to talk about it, I’d be happy to discuss it with ya – @tumbledesign on twitter or nhajal at gmail.

To take “What can I do to change all this?” further, I might also ask:

“What, specifically, do I want to change?”
“What is the very next step I need to take to make one small change?”
“Do I believe I can take that step?”

Once you believe it, you just gracefully take action and make it happen.

Keep thinkin and do email if you’d like to discuss more!

-Nicky

By: paurullan

paurullan — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:58:04 +0000

How funny things are: it has been almost a year since this post and now I realize its meaning.

Things have gone from bad to worst at college and I am seriously considering dropping out; but now I can re-face the situation asking myself «what can I do to change all this?» instead of my usual «why can’t I do this?» or «what did I do so wrong?».

Ridiculously extraordinary mental freedom does not come in a day but thanks Karol for helping my doing baby steps.

By: Karol

Karol — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:32:19 +0000

You’re welcome and thank you J!

That feels really good to know. :)

By: J.Scott

J.Scott — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:19:35 +0000

With all my heart, I believe that this is the greatest blog post I have ever come across. It is becoming my “coffee” at the start of the day. I read it at least once a day for the past 3 days and every time it does the job of getting me writing. I have written 6 articles every day for the last 3 days, the max was 3 before I read this.
I guess I’m trying to say thank you for the kick in the ass each day.
love your blog by the way.

By: Karol

Karol — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:36:17 +0000

Hey Chris! I probably should’ve given you credit for turning me onto that book. :) I didn’t know about it until that interview in The Means.

Thanks for posting more detailed info about it. I recommend it to everybody, whether they’re “artists” or not because we’re all artists in some way really.

Karol

P.S. Everybody check out http://www.allcapspodcast.com (I may be a guest on there soon…Tanner?!)

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:27:10 +0000

I had a chance to interview Steven Pressfield for the now defunct literary journal “The Means” (www.the-means.com), and I highly recommend “The War Of Art” to anyone struggling with any sort of artistic block. Even for literary giants like him, it gets tough when you’re really in the trenches; in those times where whatever ideas you have that motivated you at first now seem so far-fetched or illusory. His suggestion is to redouble your efforts and work through those times, hard as they may be. It’s metaphorically like a car at the bottom of a hill, you can either get stuck at the bottom or dedicate yourself to pushing even harder on the gas, retooling your engines, whatever it takes to overcome it. The easy way out is to give up and stay stranded, and that very Resistance (note the capital “R”. It’s a being, not a concept!) that feels so gravitational wants you to build a house at the trough and invite others to inhabit that space with you, to everyone’s detriment. Or you can overpower Resistance and reap the rewards of getting to the top of that proverbial hill, hitting your stride, see those who gave in to Resistance in your wake – maybe not immediately but somewhere down the line.

Whether it manifests itself in your writing, painting, your passion for photography, or whatever outlet you know you derive pleasure from, if for the time being the spark seemingly eludes you, the physical act of forcing yourself to sit down and continue to pursue your art will eventually yield results. It’s the veritable case of mind over matter.

-Chris

By: Karol

Karol — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:57:13 +0000

hehe, thanks for sharing Adam. :) I’ve never heard JFD but JFD Consulting is my new favorite company name. :)

By: Karol

Karol — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:54:35 +0000

Hi Trish,

Thanks, that’s awesome! :)

Karol

By: Trish

Trish — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:09:16 +0000

My favorite new quote, from The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging:

‘Perfect’ is the enemy of ‘done’.

Words to live by!