Go Directly For the Thing

Against euphemistic paths and desires

Einstein said he could think of no better fate for his theory than to end up as a special use case in another, better theory.

In a previous blog post, under a different account, I wrote that following completing Art of Accomplishment’s Great Decisions Course I had developed a principle I called ‘No Fucking Chasing.’ This meant no overriding my body’s authority in order to go after an outcome that I was scared of not having. The motivation should be wanting, not a suppression of fear.

I had not formulated it as clearly at the time. As a result I had it as a separate principle from ‘Welcome Fear.’ But the two are the same. To welcome fear, meaning to learn to notice, feel and enjoy the sensation in your body, means to stop chasing. That’s what “chasing” is. Retreating from fear, often subconsciously.

They are now one principle, ‘Welcome Fear,’ with “no fucking chasing” relegated to the first of three sentences in the Decisions Course workbook explaining the principle. This leaves room for one more principle, which is ‘Go Directly For the Thing.’ In my Google Doc “no fucking chasing” also gets to be one of the three sentences describing what the principle is not. This is the special case that Einstein was referring to. What does this principle mean? It means ask the universe straight questions. Bring the question you want to ask, not a euphemistic workaround to shyness.

A guy on Twitter called Hyde (@BreathLess) wrote that the uncommitted man takes a thousand microsteps towards his goal, falling prey to a mental Zeno’s paradox. What this is basically saying, I think, is that it’s not true that “the journey is the destination.” When you make the journey the destination, you start taking microsteps. You choose steps more loosely linked to a desire fading further from memory. You sink further into the land of copium, signposted only by an unadmitted lassitude.

Scott Adams had a point when he wrote about systems instead of goals. But systems require goals in order to maintain their vitality. What is the point of a system without a goal? It doesn’t mean that you hold your goals as some unchallengeable authority. But you don’t hold anything as that.

Be it a romantic relationship, fame or lots of money, the best way to challenge its authority is to actually get it.