Giving your all

However exhausted you are from trying, I promise you this: if you don’t give it your all, never find out what you could have become, and spend the rest of your life wondering, the resulting coping mechanisms will take a much greater toll on you than the work ever would. – @justinskycak

I guess this is why I try so hard in everything, especially in goals that matter a lot to me.

Because at the end of it all, I don’t want to look back and wonder “what if”.

Like how I’m still trying to make it in indie hacking, despite being far too long, despite being far to far away from $10k MRR, despite being too burned out, too chronically exhausted, too busy feeding the family. Despite it all.

Now, because I always try so hard (sometimes to the point of collapse, which is not so good but that’s a discussion for a different time), I know I can walk away, and think back to those times and feel at peace with myself. That I had tried my very best to the point where I could give nothing more. That I had done the things I wanted to try and that itself is good enough, even if the results didn’t always pan out as desired.

It’s also about trust. When I try hard, my relationship with my own work and myself is healthy. I don’t self doubt. I trust I can act. I have a healthy self image.

If you don’t try hard, self doubt creeps in. Your reputation with yourself suffers, and it snowballs to the point where you constantly second guess your decisions. You start to cope, and rationalize it away, but your conscience knows. It keeps the score.

Pushing yourself to build the life you want is hard, especially if you’re ambitious. However, what’s even harder is NOT pushing yourself and then constantly searching for ways to rationalize living a life you don’t want. – @justinskycak

That, to me, is not a great way to live.

Life is hard either way.

Choose a hard that you can be proud of.