No Line = No Chance
You need a line.
Not another cute journal prompt.
Not another “someday I’ll do it” mantra.
A clear line. A non-negotiable one.
A simple rule to follow:
Below the line: NO.
Above the line: HELL YEAH!
Most don’t fail because they’re weak, unlucky, or unskilled.
They fail because they never draw their damn line.
This whole piece is based on Derek Sivers HELL YEAH! (anything that isn’t a HELL YEAH is a no) mantra that helped him be happy while building CD Baby phenomenon.
Pareto gave us the 20/80 principle (20% of his garden gave him 80% of his crops)
No lines?
You drift.
You hesitate.
You “kinda–sorta–maybe” your way through decisions until life decides for you.
And life is a terrible decision-maker.
You’d be shocked how many disasters disappear when you stop entertaining anything below your standards.
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Most complicate their lives with “exceptions,” “maybes,” and “I’ll think about it.”
Those are the three biggest thieves of time, money, energy, and self-respect.
A line removes them instantly.
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Let me spell out what a real threshold does:
• It filters out people who drain your energy.
• It removes 80% of decisions you shouldn’t be making.
• It exposes which options were never good to begin with.
• It gives your brain a shortcut so you stop burning fuel on nonsense.
• It forces you to see what you actually want instead of what you pretend to want.
Thresholds aren’t spiritual. They are not philosophical.
They are mechanisms.
You draw a line with your brains and grit, and suddenly your whole life snaps into shape.
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Want a few examples?
Say you’re choosing projects. Your line might be:
If it doesn’t pay X or excite me at Y level, it’s a no.
Boom.
Decision made simple. No debates. No guilt.
No back-and-forth circus in your head.
Or relationships:
If I feel worse after I see them, that’s below the line.
Boom. No analysis needed.
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Thresholds turn your life from improvisation into architecture.
If you don’t draw the line, the world will draw it for you.
And trust me, the world draws it lower than you ever would.
So do it. Decide. Draw the line.
Split your universe.
Below the line: no.
Above it: HELL YEAH!