Steven Pressfield: Depth of commitment

Steven Pressfield: Depth of commitment:

In a way, failure is fuel for depth of commitment. It raises the stakes. When our history is constituted entirely of Failure #1, Failure #2, and Failure #3, what else can we say to ourselves except, “I will burst a blood vessel, I will pass out, will make my heart explode … but I will NOT crap out a fourth time!”

At my rock bottom (or one of them) in 2008, when we'd just moved into a new house, had our second child, my income had fallen off a cliff, and my marriage was hang by a thread, my parents kindly, but cluelessly, suggested I might want to take a job at Microsoft to earn a living. "Just for 3 years", they said. It would take a lot of stress off of you to not have to worry about your income.

That stung. Microsoft is the 180 degree opposite of everything I stand for and care about.

Needless to say, I didn't take the job. Instead, I recommitted at an even deeper level. "I will bust a blood vessel, I will pass out, will make my heart explode … but I will NOT crap out a fourth time!"

I always look forward to Steven's Writing Wednesdays.