I go outside in the winter. In the cold I spend countless hours amongst the trees and the squirrels. It dawned on me that I was taking a big personal sacrifice, a blow to my comfort, in pursuit of a larger goal. It would be more comfortable for me to get out of the tree where I sit with steadily declining internal warmth and walk around looking for the whitetail that eludes me. To chase down my goal. But that wouldn’t accomplish much. They would spot me, hear me, smell me. Chasing isn’t strategy; it’s desperation. And selfish. Moving around more would surely warm me up but ultimately deny me of success. The same applies across the board.

The difference between chasing and hunting is as follows:

Patience Strategy

That’s it. Chasing is the default human act when they find themselves at the impasse of impatience and poor planning.

If you want something you need to pursue it relentlessly, that doesn’t mean you chase after it wildly.

You must go on the hunt; enter pursuit.

Have a plan and make sacrifices.

Chasing is selfish.

If you want to reach your destination you must commit to taking on self sacrifice and accept the burden of suffering. If you spend your whole life running away from suffering it will eventually catch up. The only way to conquer your fear is to turn around and embrace it. Make it a part of your being and then deal with it as you would any other issues in your life. Ignoring suffering and pretending it isn’t there is an example of living your life without a plan. It would be like never checking your bank statement and just hoping things are ok. Embrace the personal burdens. Handle them like an adult.

Once you are able to effectively take on self sacrifice and burden you must adopt a plan. Why is adopting a plan step #2? Because all plans will fail if you try and avoid the “suck” as a navy seal would put it. If you know that the suck won’t stop you then you can pick any plan in the world. You have qualified yourself.

A plan involves knowing when to wait and when to step on the gas. You have to know your destination and be willing to take detours. Mark Divine calls it failing forward fast. If you know where you're going you can carry no fear of tripping along the way; just fail forward.

A true hunter respects his target, he doesn’t underestimate. When I’m in the woods I know that I am in the deer’s house. It is his domain. I am an outsider; unwelcome. If I’m going to successfully out-nature that deer I have to respect his abilities and counter them with my own. Take stock of your strengths and find a way to make them effective in your field. Put in the work and understand that going along quietly doesn’t always mean you aren’t making any progress. Sometimes you need to fly below the radar, allowing others to make a lot of noise. Because the noise makers won’t be there standing at the finish line next to you.

Don’t have a plan? Don’t know what to do next? I have two easy solutions. Read and think. Then at some point the key third ingredient comes into play. Act.

“Done is better than perfect” so would say Mark Zuckerberg. Just make a choice, follow it with an action and even if it was dead ass wrong you can still fail forward fast.

Never chase.

pursue.

HUNT.

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