Pressure Cooking

“I don't need time. What I need is a deadline.”

Duke Ellington 

 “One forges one’s style on the terrible anvil of daily deadlines.”

Emile Zola 

The truth is that most of us don’t function very well – if at all – unless or until we’re advertently imposed upon by some one, some thing or a deadline.   

“We’d simply rather not if we don’t have to!” 

As much as it may “stress us out”, the deadline serves multiple practical functions:

·         It sets the clock ticking on a time-defined goal

·         It removes diversions from the playing field

·         It hones our focus;

·         It vastly expands the scope of concentration   

[NOTE: Members of the ADHD club tend to function much better under pressure!]

Hold that thought …

Self discipline is a universally underscored principle in getting things done:  

"There are 999 success principles that I have found in my reading and experience,

but without self-discipline, none of them work."

Kop Kopmeyer 

“Without self-discipline, a person with every blessing of background,

education and opportunity will seldom rise above mediocrity.”

Brian Tracy

However, it occurs to me that self discipline is little more than a means of applying pressure internally – unilaterally – without the need for external nudging.   

While “pushing ourselves” seems a complete absurdity, what with all the hassle we get from every corner of the universe outside ourselves subverting our best efforts to maintain some semblance of sanity and equilibrium, it turns out to be one of the most important “difference makers” in attaining our Destiny and Dreams – sanity and equilibrium be damned!  Yes, one has to be a little “crazy” – call it PASSION.  And the “Perfectly Unbalanced Life” can be a little unnerving … precipitously teetering off-center (Leaning In?) in the direction of our Dreams … but the rewards are remarkably “enlifening”.   

“Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.”

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

“ ... he took to business as if it were war."
Cornelius Vanderbilt: Bare-Knuckled Capitalism

The Economist (London, UK); Apr 16, 2009 

“Life is many things.  But all things in life worthwhile involve a struggle at some level.

… until we start struggling necessarily, we’re going to struggle unnecessarily.”

Halfmaster 

Early in the going, I found it helpful to artificially raise the priority of things that needed to be done – particularly larger and more important things I was not enthusiastic about doing NOW.  So I coined the term “Priorit-hi-zation” to represent this approach and have found it can work wonders!  Yes, it’s a complete fabrication, but so what?  We fabricate excuses for NOT doing things all the time, so it’s the least we can do to help even the playing field!   

“We can’t go through life deluding ourselves.” (Stanley)

“But we must, to get through life!” (Sophie)

[From Magic in the Moonlight by Woody Allen]

When we finally take that definitive leap across the threshold of becoming ME, Inc., and taking on the mantle of self-mastery/life-mastery, we get to start making our own rules … like Priorit-hi-zation is OK.  And like:  

·         It’s OK to be a nerd

·         It’s OK to delay gratification

·         First chances are better than second chances

·         NOW beats LATER

·         ____________ [you fill in the blank] 

That’s also the point where “Flow” begins (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi).   

Final Point to Ponder

When we stop resisting life at every turn, defying/challenging anything and everything that would add value to our lives – but that requires some deliberate effort, the “struggle” disappears.  

“When we do what we’re supposed to do,

life turns out to be the way it’s supposed to be.”

(Notation on and old farmhouse calendar)

“He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.”

James Wells, “The Parables of Jesus”

[Adapted as the slogan of Boy’s Town, Nebraska, by Father Edward Flanagan]