We have a vision of The Thing we’re about to do. You know The Thing I mean. It can be in progress now, due tomorrow or just off in the future a bit. It’s the writing, the painting, that podcast episode, the project at work, the family you’re thinking about starting, or the exam at the end of the term. The vision we have of The Thing has a small ‘v’ because it might be a small vision with a simple plan. But The Thing itself is real enough that it deserves capital letters because it capitalizes on your time and attention.

Crunch time begins when you realize you aren’t going to achieve your vision.

I have an awareness that it all could end tomorrow or this afternoon — God knows. I am 68 years old. So I am not really afraid of losing steam: there are just things I want to do still and I am aware that my time is limited. I even could argue that I like work now more than I did when I was young! I think that might be accurate. I couldn’t say it for certain, but generally I quite like working and all the challenges it presents and all of the experiences it gives us.

~ John Malkovich, from John Malkovich

Crunch time is when shit gets real.

Crunch time is when you start to summarily delete parts of your cherished vision. Crunch time is when you’re ready and willing to amputate from The Thing, parts you’ve already, mostly finished. Crunch time for Noah started when—while he was still collecting animals—it began to drizzle. Crunch time is when you’re lost in the woods and the sun touches the horizon. Difficult decisions are readily made. Real action towards the goal gets rolling.

I was shipwrecked before I even boarded… the journey showed me this—how much of what we have is unnecessary, and how easily we can decide to rid ourselves of these things whenever it’s necessary, never suffering the loss.

~ Seneca

That quote from Seneca’s writing refers to Zeno’s true (probably) life story: Zeno was a rich merchant who lost literally everything, except his life, in a ship-wreck. Washed ashore, miraculously alive, he stayed among the local people, found some books in a bookstore and blended some ideas to create Stoicism. He is said—as above by Seneca—to have soberly thanked fate for showing him what is, and is not, important.

Zeno began that sea voyage intentionally, and had his clock cleaned by fate. Zeno, in the storm, on a sinking ship, as he goes into the water? Crunch time. Sink or swim.

Sometimes you really can trade lead for gold. You may have noticed, for example, how much of a time-saver it is to stay a little late to finish a task today that you could finish tomorrow instead. Somehow that last little bit, which would only take a half-hour now, will eat up most of tomorrow morning if you leave it till then. It’s the same work, but somehow its size and complexion change drastically depending on when it gets done.

~ David Cain, from When Matters as Much as What

Take these issues of 7 for Sunday for example. I very much do not want to get to crunch time with their writing. Crunch time begins somewhere in the middle of the night between Saturday and Sunday. They each take a couple hours—sometimes much longer—to put together. As Cain points out, there are much better “whens” for writing than my Saturday late-night, when I should be sleeping.

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”

~ Mary Anne Radmacher

I don’t recommend planning to wait for crunch time. Sometimes, I’m stubborn and try to force writing when I know it won’t go well. Sometimes I end up pinched between Radmacher’s wisdom and crunch time.

But almost always, I manage to remember there is wisdom in having reverence for some process—of writing, of preparing a meal, of working on a project. Start sooner, Craig.

No, this was a different kind of ritual. My default understanding of the word had misled me. What Confucius taught was life-as-ritual, the transformation of everyday actions into sacred activity. ‘When we say “the rites, the rites”, are we speaking merely of jade and silk?’ he asks rhetorically. The answer is no. Confucian ritual goes beyond formalised activities that require the proper use of jade and silk. Ritual is – or can be – part of all human activity. It governs greetings and conservations. It’s how you harmonise your life with the rhythms of the world. And if you take ritual seriously, submit to it and practise it, then transforming your life for the better will go from difficult to effortless.

~ Alan Jay Levinovitz, from How to set yourself free with ritual

800 words in this week, I can now see that what I wanted to talk about is how to harness the power we find within at crunch time.

How can we do that? With some planning. With some reverence. With some awareness about what we can actually accomplish. There’s wisdom in picking your battles, choosing the when, and clarifying your vision and plan.

[F]ear is not a sign of personal weakness, but rather a natural state of discomfort that occurs whenever you’re out of your comfort zone. It’s there not to sabotage you, but to help you come alive, be more focused, and put you into the present moment and a heightened state of excitement and awareness. If you push the fear away, the only version of fear available to you will be its crazy, irrational, or contorted version. If you’re willing to feel it, and merge with it, its energy and wisdom will appear.

~ Kristen Ulmer

The journey that is your life is already well underway; It certainly ends soon enough. If you’re lucky it doesn’t end today, and maybe not even tomorrow. However, take a moment to imagine a realistic number of years you might have remaining. (Really, pick a number.)

That doesn’t feel like very many years, does it?

In fact, doesn’t it feel like it’s already crunch time?

People often think, when they’re tired or don’t feel like doing a task (or a habit), that there are really only two choices: 1. Force yourself to do the task anyway; or 2. Let yourself off the hook. And while there isn’t anything wrong with either of these choices, I’m here to remind you that they are choices. And they’re not the only choices.

~ Leo Babauta, from Forcing Yourself to Do a Task vs. Letting Yourself Off the Hook

What if you considered what you have learned—personally, first hand—about crunch time, and applied that to your life, in the next moments?

Until next time, thanks for reading.

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