Don’t be a donkey

Don’t be a donkey(ˈdäNG-,ˈdôNGkē).

By Derek Sivers

Are you trying to pursue(pərˈso͞o) many different directions at once?

Are you frustrated(ˈfrəsˌtrātid) that the world wants you to pick one thing, because you want to do them all?

The problem is in thinking short-term — as if you don’t do them all this week, they won’t happen.

The solution is to think long-term. Do just one for a few years, then another for a few years, then another.

You may have heard this story:

Buridan’s(bəˈridən) donkey is standing halfway between a pile(pīl) of hay(hā) and a bucket(ˈbəkit) of water. It keeps looking left and right, trying to decide between hay and water. Unable to decide, it eventually falls over and dies of hunger and thirst(THərst).

A donkey can’t think of the future. If he could, he’d clearly realize he could first drink the water, then go eat the hay.

Don’t be a donkey. You can do everything you want to do. You just need foresight(ˈfôrˌsīt) and patience(ˈpāSHəns).

If you’re 25 now, and have seven different directions you want to pursue, then you can do each one for 10 years, and have done all of them by the time you’re 95. (It’s safe to assume that by the year 2088 it won’t be unusual to live to 95.)

It seems ridiculous(riˈdikyələs) to plan to age 95 when you’re 25, right? But it’s a fact that it’s probably coming, so you might as well take advantage of it.

Then you can fully focus on one direction at a time, without feeling conflicted(ˈkänˌflikt) or distracted(dəˈstraktəd), because you know you’ll get to the others.

We’ve all done this on a small-scale(skāl). When something is urgent(ˈərjənt) and needs to be done that day, you really focus. You get distracting thoughts for a minute, like “Wow, it would be nice to go watch a movie now.” But you put it out of your mind because you know if you just focus on this one thing now, you can get it done, and do the other stuff afterwards.

So, expand(ikˈspand) that into months or years. Focus on one at a time, knowing you can do the other stuff afterwards.

Most people over-estimate(ˈestəˌmāt) what they can do in one year, and under-estimate what they can do in ten years.

Think long-term. Use the future.

Don’t be short-sighted(ˈsītid). Don’t be a donkey.

https://sivers.org/donkey