Abandoned to Immortal

How to Stop Waiting for Perfect and Start Carving Your Masterpiece

It all started from a forgotten piece of marble left in a quiet alleyway in Italy and a genius vision.

Sequestered with vines covering the surface, everyone simply passed it by, including Michelangelo several times.

This is my 25th newsletter, and it feels the most authentic. The first 24 were me chipping away at pieces of who I thought I was - too authoritative, not enough living proof, still finding my balance. Perhaps that is exactly the point. No, this is not perfect. This is nowhere close to my final form, but it feels like the real deal. My brain is pulling together bits and pieces from my memory and combining them into a product far greater than the sum of its parts.

I started this on a whim, inspired by writers who moved me, evoked emotion, and removed me from my endless doomscrolling. I wanted to be like them. I desired a mind that was subconsiously building complex networks and jigsaw puzzles, only holding onto the fractals of information that were deemed important enough.

These thoughts came from my brain randomly putting together information that I have accrued across the passage of time that will help you question the life you live, and even pursue the life you deserve.

We are told to wait where we are. Conventional wisdom tells us to undertake a proper education from pre-k through university, where our creativity and desires to be active are purposefully diminished so we become order takers and nothing more. We must have every angle accounted for, every minute maximized, and every feeling understood. The stars need to align to overturn reality as we know it, right?

Wrong.

Michelangelo did not start with perfect marble - he started with a block that was condemned to the cobblestone because it was seen as "unworkable" and "damaged". What if the cracks, mistakes, misfires, miscalculations, and imperfections aren't bugs that must be eliminated, but defining features?

Yesterday I rotted, ate the ice cream, watched YouTube, Netflix, TV, and more. I was supposed to sit on the couch post-op. That’s what I did with my day… Yeah, it felt good in the moment getting all of these instantaneous hits of dopamine whenever I clicked on a new video, but as my energy was sucked out and my attention stalled, I found myself at the first low in a long while. One where irrational thoughts ran rampant, and I just hated how I felt physically and mentally, like the joy of life was being sucked from my soul, and everything was dark and empty. Part of today became like that, and I had to stop mindlessly clicking. I was bored out of my mind because it was adding random clutter to my brain, not building on skills that I possessed and cared to improve.

After a couple of hours, I stumbled upon very specific videos on two YouTube channels that taught me how to be a more effective No. 9 in football and striking combos in boxing. Those had me hooked, and I found myself immersed in my mind executing the combos and imagining carrying out the drills I learned once I was back fit. I was upskilling, and that felt worthwhile.

I want to reiterate that 25 newsletters is not an objectively grand number. Had you told me I would have been in this place with ideas like this a couple of months ago, I would have been dumbfounded. I began this journey on an impulse, and today, more than ever, after a minor surgery, I am recognizing that I am no longer here for the vanity, but for my sanity, and I find solace in writing.

Abandoned Marble

You see, my early posts were forced. Me riffing or just asking AI to brainstorm for me, and then I could tweak it to my liking. AI doesn't know how I think, so it gave me generic answers that I considered to be "good enough." But it was nowhere close to my thinking, and I knew it. Those works were the abandoned marble. They showed me the power of showing up and hitting "Publish" even when it scared me. I learned that it takes time and a process to write and curate your voice. I wouldn't be surprised to find my voice altered again in a few months as I read and obtain more information, intertwining styles again.

Think about your life at this very moment. Do you believe that you have begun to chip away at your own statue residing deep within yourself?

Have you envisioned yourself inside the marble and identified what must be removed in order to uncover the masterpiece that is your being?

The best time to plant a tree or start investing was 30 years ago. The second best is now. Get to it.

Time and Consistency

Michelangelo worked for roughly three years from 1501-1504. My newsletters? ~ 2 months. No, it is not the feat that Michelangelo or many on this platform have achieved, but I am proud to still be writing. Most quit very soon after starting, and I was heavily considering it. But I kept at it. The delayed satisfaction of posting a piece, regardless of the reception, is a powerful fuel. As I continue to be consistent, my process will refine itself, and the time I spend on each piece will decrease as my desire to create increases.

Which aspect of your life have you not put enough time and true effort into? It may be a skill, a relationship, a sport, or a hobby. I didn't get it when people far more famous and credible than I said that the bar to entry is through the floor, but now I do. Give it three months. 90 days of practice. The amount of growth you make depends on the time you spend on your craft. 30 minutes a day? 2,700 minutes or 48.3 hours. 90 minutes? 8100 minutes or 135 hours. Now imagine that you did practice that skill for the entire year at either of those durations. Your progress, if focused, would be immense. Iterate, iterate, iterate. You can only find out what works by eliminating what doesn't.

Working in Silence

He worked in secrecy. That alone is a lesson within itself. Since beginning this venture, I have held it close to my heart, only sharing vague details with the ones closest to me. I like having this for myself. It is my creative outlet that helps others (I'd like to think). Remember that no one from above will make fun of you; they may even help you up. Only those who are at the bottom of the bucket will do whatever they can to pull you back down to their level so they can feel adequate. So grind behind closed doors. Let them wonder. Then blow their minds away when they see where you are in three years, whilst they've been spending their paychecks on rent, weed, and cheap booze for parties that leave them emptier than the drinks cooler after your extended family's barbecue. Then let them be jealous when you go off to hang out with your smarter friends who make more money, are more driven, and make you a better person.

Think about your environment. Is it conducive to your success? How can it be optimized for that purpose?

Carving

The carving is the painful part, well, painstaking at least. AI was not me, and could not think like me. That said, I failed to maximize my autonomy with my first pieces. Now, I'll use it to help me with light brainstorming, making connections I would have missed, proposing arguments I did not think of, and providing me with other ways to approach problems. Getting rid of AI as my primary thinker was painful because my mind loved how easy it was just to tweak. Now it had to work, but that is where the fruits of labor are sewn.

The marble is the starting point, and your version of David is the destination. What does 10.0 you do? What kind of life does your actualized self lead? What do you do with your time? What is important to you?

Just like the carving, be sure to note the details painstakingly. Michelangelo didn't shrug his shoulders and call it a day when his statue was good. He kept working until it elicited tears and sobs at its unveiling.

Why wouldn't you do the same with your life?

Baring Oneself

Life is full of fear and the unknown; some of the most fear-inducing, somehow, are other people's criticisms. It's a learned behavior, yes, which is good news!

Why? Because we can unlearn it. We can learn to roll with the punches and not be sent off course because of them.

I learned through this newsletter that there is so much vulnerability that goes into writing, from the topic you choose to the way that you present it with each keystroke.

I will keep publishing. Maybe it will go somewhere, maybe it will fall flat on its face. I will carry on regardless because I am creating, and this form sustains my human spirit.

The walls that we hold up, often in vain, to protect ourselves from a hurt we manufacture in our minds, are caging us. Judgement will exist; however which way we conduct our lives.

Think about it this way: if you live an inconsequential life, no one will ever care or remember you. There is no need for judgment, as there is nothing memorable.

Takeaways

1. There is greatness inside of you. You need to see it.

2. Consistency over perfection. Don’t stop before you have chiseled away every last piece.

3. Guard your ideas and vision from doubters like treasure.

4. Carve everything that is not you. Discard it.

5. Stand naked before your giants.

Our lives are precious. They were meant for great invention and impact, not scrolling and mindless consumption.

That abandoned marble block sat for 35 years before Michelangelo saw David inside it. Your potential has been waiting even longer. The question isn't whether you're ready - the question is whether you're brave enough to start carving.

There are writers I read every day that pump out content like a hose, and I hope to be there one day.

The high that I am experiencing while writing this is unlike any other feeling. It was compelling enough for me to put down the garbage content frying my dopamine receptors, which is a feat in itself. I can find these pockets of flow state that have been absent for far too long. I can think in multiple dimensions and across several realms of thinking to create multifaceted solutions.

All of that came from creating and wanting to transform my thinking into writing, a skill that can alter the course of lives.

So what are you waiting for?

It doesn't matter how busy you are. If you truly want it, you'll prioritize it and make change happen.

Your self-actualization is waiting…

Iro

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