Sometimes someone says something that requires a response.

A well-thought-out, rational response.

Sometimes you can’t find the right words right away.

So you wait. And wait. Hopefully not too long!

Sometimes that someone is Seth Godin.

That something social pressure.

As he defined yesterday:

…something we invent.

…something we make up to simplify our decisions.

Remember when he said writer’s block is a myth and my first instinct was to disagree?

I don’t have that instinct this time around.

Instead, I’ve been wracking my brain for the past 31 hours or so.

Can you think of a time when you built up this fake pressure so you didn’t have to do the hard thing?

I wonder if the time I managed to fail ENGL& 101, not once, but twice(!) is a classic example.

Before that, I never had to worry about getting in trouble due to bad grades.

But who fails the easiest English class in college? Multiple times!

I was almost 17 and drowning in the pressure to get a job ever since my 16th birthday.

But then again, there was never a “get a job or else” conversation.

I just stopped trying.

Stopped going to class.

Stopped doing even the quick and easy assignments.

Stopped applying for jobs I probably won’t get interviewed for.

Not going to pass the class. Not going to have a good GPA. Not going to get into a good university. Not going to get a good degree. Not going to find a good job. Not going to find a good husband. Not going to have kids. Not going to be successful. Not going to be happy.

I had this song playing on repeat.

But eventually, I did. The third time was a charm!

The former community college (still part of the CC system, just doesn’t have “community” in the name) launched the Marketing & Entrepreneurship BAS program at just the perfect time.

No SAT, no personal statement, no nothing.

They did require at least a 2.5 in ENGL& 101 though, which I had met.

So much pressure to excel, but mostly internal I suppose!

A more recent example? This, posted just 2 days before Seth’s post.

It’s not like your thoughts are the average of 5 people whose thoughts you consume the most

Are you feeling any social pressure at the moment?

You didn’t make it up so you don’t have to put in the hard work, did you?

I can tell you, it’s just so simple to not show up for even the easiest tasks.

But then again,

Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.”

-Jerzy Gregorek

So do the hard thing. Say goodbye to the made-up social pressure.