F*ck it: A Nihilist's Guide To Self-Motivation

Let me tell you an age-old story. A person, let's call her Alice, is talented and brilliant. She contains multitudes; inside her are a thousand gifts just waiting to be shared.

The only trouble is, she's afraid to let them out.

Afraid of what other people will think, afraid to stand up and speak, afraid to stick her neck out and risk something.

So Alice stays quiet, and all those multitudes inside her shrivel up. All those gifts are squandered, given to no one, and all Alice is left with is the bitter taste of what could have been.

Why did this happen to Alice? Was she not brave enough? Did the world push her down?

Not at all! Alice simply never realized that the universe is a cold, uncaring place and all her earthly struggles were without extrinsic meaning!

You see, Alice, like a lot of us, got caught up in her own experience. She forgot to take a step back and look at the big picture. If she had, Alice would have realized that all her fears and doubts were but dust in the cosmic wind, fleeting and meaningless. She forgot to consider the upside of a universe devoid of purpose: Your success or failure is irrelevant to creation at large, which means failure itself is irrelevant. No one's keeping score, so the whole field belongs to you.

This brings us to the critical question: What's keeping you from living to the fullest? Your life is nothing more than a quest for dopamine, a Skinner Box of Earthly Delights. It's all out there for the taking, and your self-doubt is unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

So, before you let the fear of failure stop you, remind yourself of these three things:

1. Your critics will one day be corpses.

When you're setting out on a venture, remember this: Everyone you're trying to impress will one day be worms' meat. People can think whatever they want about you, but their opinions will not stay the cold hand of death. When you fear criticism, you're less likely to even start. Why, then, should you put any stock in what your critics have to say? Everyone who ever told you you can't do it is just another mortal shmuck waiting for their turn under the reaper's scythe. Go for it—the world will get the nay-sayers in the end.

2. Failure is the only option.

Failure is the base state of the universe. Entropy is busily rendering all matter into chaos. Screwing up, then, is not failure; it is embracing your oneness with all things. So why not make a go of it? The worst that can happen already has. If you make a mess of things, you're just one step ahead of the cosmos. You've got nothing to lose by trying.

3. You can do whatever the hell you want.

Like it or not, you were born, which means that you've got license to do whatever you can get away with. Pursue that which you desire, secure in the knowledge that the only reckoning you've got to worry about is your own happiness. The only rules the universe cares about are the laws of physics, so why let others tell you how to live?

Be not afraid, for the universe will be the same empty and uncaring void if you do or not. Your time is precious, so why not make the best of it?

F*ck it.

Start somewhere, even if it's the middle of nowhere.