Eat dirt

Failure, Sturgeon's law and controlling your effort
Jan 13, 2024
Copy Share Link
image

Eat dirt:

Eat dirt.

Eat shit.

Eat failure.

Be upset.

Be angry.

Be frustrated.

Then do something about it.

We all need to eat shit.

Everyone.

We need to fail.

We need to be knocked down.

We need to have the world give us signs we’re screwing up.

We can’t assume life will be in a straight line.

It won’t.

But if we want success, we need to fail.

A lot.

Over and over again.

We need to have a lot of our ideas suck.

A lot to be wrong.

A lot to have no audience.

Through it, we’ll slowly get better.

We’ll slowly improve.

We’ll slowly move farther than we ever could imagine.

I’ve written almost 900 blog posts in 3 years.

Most of the world hasn’t seen them.

The ones I’ve shared haven’t done great.

Some of them suck.

But I have so many ideas.

So many pieces.

So many chances taken.

Most of them will be unmemorable.

But some may change someone’s life.

I know because it’s changed mine.

Pieces I read I can’t remember I did.

To current me, there’s no way I wrote this.

No way.

But I did.

I did it by trying.

By attempting.

By writing.

Whenever you’re stressed about failing, remember this law.

Sturgeon’s law.

It says ‘90% of everything is crap.’

Most of the work out there in the world sucks.

It’s terrible.

Mine included.

But there’s also 10% within there that shapes the world.

Maybe you’re in the 10%.

Maybe you’re not.

It doesn’t mean you can’t try.

It doesn’t mean you can’t fail.

It doesn’t mean you can’t show up. 

If I keep producing writing every day for the rest of my life, 10% of my work will be hundreds of pieces.

Hundreds of ideas.

Most will be unmemorable.

But some might change the world.

I don’t know.

The reason I come back to this is it’s about effort.

It’s about what you can control.

Through that journey, you’ll fail a lot.

You’ll screw up a lot.

You will eat dirt a lot.

But eventually, you learn to love the dirt.

Love the struggle.

Love the every day.

Do that and you’ll create something great.

Eat more dirt.

'Keep Going You're Doing Great'

Related Posts

Personal Writings

You need to fall

Getting punched in the mouth, getting only one life and using failure as an opportunity

May 26, 2025
Personal Writings

Let history be the judge

Showing up, work compounding and letting history be the judge of you

March 30, 2022
Personal Writings

Most of life is noise

The noise of life, turning off notifications and taking back control of your attention

May 10, 2021
Personal Writings

I feel off

Reflecting on an off day

January 20, 2025
Personal Writings

Look at my perfect life

Social media, trying something new and finding yourself

August 20, 2023
Personal Writings

Life Is Not Fair

Different types of luck, the rat race and knowing your circle of competence

March 4, 2021