Giving up

It’s nice to have aspiration, to a have things to learn today and a list of things to do tomorrow.

I want to learn to skateboard better, become more proficient in guitar playing, and learn a new language.

I set aside some time in my day to do these things and become better by practicing.

Sometimes I succeed. I sit down, grab my guitar, start doing some exercises, and look up some tabs to learn how to play songs I like.

Other times it’s a total disaster. Let’s take skateboarding as an example:
I have practiced once in 4 months. I can’t find the courage/time/mindset to go out with my skateboard and grind it out for 30 minutes or an hour.

Why? I have no idea; maybe it’s because it feels like too much effort, or perhaps I don’t want to learn how to skateboard.

Another example is deploying some A.I. pipeline. I have so many ideas but have yet to install the right environment on my machine. Why can’t I sit down and do it?

The answer is that so many other things require my attention, not necessarily critical things that are more important. Still, they’re more within reach and feel more comfortable.

The people who are able to always do what’s uncomfortable are the ones who are the true winners. But at what cost? Burnout?

It’s okay to give up. Focus on things that are as simple as finishing watching a tv-show, playing a video game with my friends, or going for a bike ride instead of learning how to play the flute, or skateboard, or juggle with fire.

It’s painful and feels cowardish to take the easy way out. It is what it is.