4 Years ago, I wrote a blog with this same title.
The title of that post (and this post) is a direct reference to Ryan Holiday’s The Daily Stoic
In The Daily Stoic, “Once is enough, Once is forever” is the entry for November 21st.
Seth Godin is a huge champion of this idea both in his book Linchpin and The Practice.
“If you can do it brilliantly once, just once, then of course you can do it again. I’m not proposing you play a perfect round of golf or conduct a symphony. Instead, success lies in being generous or understanding someone or seeing a route that others don’t see. You’ve done this already, done it brilliantly. You’ve calmed yourself in the face of anxiety, or done something for no compensation, or solved a problem with an insight. Then, most of the time, the world steps in and relentlessly unteaches you how to do it again. If you’ve done it once, you can do it again. Every day.”
Seth Godin, Linchpin, p. 205
There are a lot of reasons we can concoct for why we can’t. There is only one reason we need for why we CAN, and that reason is “ONCE IS ENOUGH. ONCE IS FOREVER.” That one time you fell madly in love. That one time you turned in your 70 page dissertation. That one time you got the job. That one time you raised your hand and asked a question that everyone else needed an answer to but was too insecure to ask. That one time you gave up your seat to someone that needed it more. That one time you did Karaoke, and everyone celebrated your hidden talent. That one time you you did something yourself from ten years ago would never have imagined you could do…
What seems like one time is in fact MANY times. Many times in which you positively made a change in someone else’s life by just BEING you. “Once is enough, Once is forever” because the one time being referred to is a skeleton key to possibility, serendipity, connection, and feeling fulfilled and worthwhile.
Once our brains have glimpsed possibility at least once, it is up to us to nurture this possibility by choosing to make our “once” a “forever” through the intentional acts of caring, creating, and contributing consistently.
There is already evidence that you DID; therefore, you CAN. Now, go do more.
ONCE IS ENOUGH, ONCE IS FOREVER
