So according to my internal system, I owe y’all a newsletter this week.
I take this very seriously.
Because if you haven’t unsubscribed, and you still open this email, and your eyes land consistently on my words, I take that as a privilege and responsibility.
It’s a privilege because, well, we all get too many damn newsletters. And you still deign to read mine.
It’s a responsibility because I interpret your attention to mean that I have something to offer you. And I sure as hell better deliver if I don’t want you to unsubscribe.
But this week I felt I had nothing to say… until I realized that’s the point; I need to do it anyway.
There’s an expression I just love: ‘The days are long, but the years are short’.
In other words, the days can feel long, and sometimes tedious, as we work to sustain or build something via the many repeated actions required, day in and day out.
And while the years fly by, they do so emptily if we do not fill our days with purposeful, repeated activities which aggregate over time to form the attainment of our goals and aspirations.
We take up exercise to lose weight, or we resolve to write a book or a play, or start a company. But you don’t exercise once and lose weight. You don’t write a few lines and call it a play or a book. Accomplishment requires sustained, repetitive action even in the absence of inspiration. (That last part is of fundamental importance.)
Now it’s not that we never change course; things change for sure.
But we have to be honest with ourselves about that. Because the construction of anything worthwhile usually takes more time, energy and commitment than we bargained for.
So the question to ask yourself is:
Are you done or are you bored?
If you’re bored, chances are you’re not done.
Consistency takes pleasant and unpleasant turns. Showing up for a task you’ve set can feel arbitrary and obsolete. At such moments we must remember that it is not; its cumulative.
So celebrate the little successes along the way! A new client, a first draft, a prototype, losing one pound!
Every time you write when you have nothing to say, or exercise when you don’t want to, or show up at a networking event instead of holing up all cozy with a glass of wine, you win. You’re a champion. That’s what champions do.
Just remember: The things we want to blow off, usually pay off.
So do it anyway.
