Don’t Be A Donkey
An inside look into my brother’s new favorite phrase whenever I can’t make up my mind.
After nine hours of sitting in a cramped room without much sunlight, my body was letting out a deep and continuous groan. I was restless without reason. How could I be so tired from sitting down and starring at a computer screen? In fact, my body hadn’t moved much for the last few days. My commute to work is a tuck and roll off the bed and my trip to lunch is a short flight of stairs. Thankfully, I’ve deleted the steps counter from my phone. Not all data needs to be seen.
In my exhaustion and in my frustration of my exhaustion, I did the only thing I felt capable of doing in the moment, I started groaning externally to my brother.
“I feel restless. I shouldn’t feel restless. What am I doing?” Looking up at him expectedly to provide me with the answers to life.
“Don’t be a donkey”
I flopped down on my bed, letting the words seep in.
Don’t be a donkey.
He got these words from a Tim Ferriss interview, Tim got it from his friend Derek Sivers, and Derek got it from the well-known Burdian’s Ass fable.
In the fable, there is a donkey who is hungry and thirsty. He’s in between a bucket of water and a bucket of hay, looking back and forth between the options. Unable to make a choice of what to do, the donkey dies of starvation and dehydration.
Derek Sivers references his younger self in relation to the donkey. His past self had a hard time making choices because he didn’t want to be pigeonholed.
It’s uncomfortable committing to one thing and nothing else. It leaves us vulnerable to failure with no excuses. If we don’t commit to anything, we can always use our lack of commitment as an excuse. We would rather do five average things than try and do one thing exceptionally.
Don’t be a donkey. In the wise words of Shane Patton, Navy SEAL,
Anything in life worth doing, is worth overdoing. Moderation is for cowards.
Commit. Make a choice. Go overboard.
Single tasking is the new hot thing.
With that, I flopped back out of bed, put on my running shoes and went out the door. This donkey lives to see another day.
