Read This If You Want Every Day To Be Good
Some days are good.
Some days I do not perform the way I'd hoped.
Some days I perform well but my environment prevents my success.
Some days my environment has ideal conditions and I squander my opportunity.
What's important is accepting that it is impossible for every day to be good.
What's hard is fighting onward anyway, in spite of that voice that says "this is pointless."
What's hard is seeking improvement when you know perfection is impossible.
2 Minute Action:
You can, in 2 minutes, make up your mind.
You can either choose to seek improvement despite the challenges, or you can opt-out.
Remember that the outcome doesn't matter because it has nothing to do with you if you've already made your mind up.
How To Get Past Writer's Block
I've had a few people ask me recently "how do you come up with ideas?""How do you become creative?"There's no cure.Just like there's no cure for "having an idea" or "starting a company."You're not going to magically come up with something brilliant.But if you just start . . .Just start writing. Just start building. Just start calling.Whatever it is you're trying to do, you'll narrow in eventually.Let it be garbage. Let it be bad.Don't throw it away. Don't delete it.Just keep going.The goal isn't perfection, the goal is momentum.Once you get over the anxiety of starting before you can see the ending, you might find that you're quite unstoppable.People (and sometimes the voices in our own heads) are very happy to tell us all the reasons something won't work.Yet, people tend to get out of the way once you're moving.That's the punchline. There is no cure. You just have to start.It's probably not going to be good, so toss out the idea that it should be perfect.The goal isn't to hit a home run in your first at-bat.
2 Minute Action:
What's something you've been putting off?
- Working out?
- Writing a book?
- Start a company?
Start right now in 2 minutes.
- Do 10 pushups.
- Write a blog post.
- Make a sales call.
I promise you can get started on any path in under 2 minutes.Practice that habit enough and you'll forget "writer's block" even existed.
Did you really sign up for this?
I wrote a whole blog post and then deleted it. Why?It was terrible. It was another post about those small, incremental improvements.I feel like I'm losing momentum, like I'm losing traction, or like what I'm doing isn't making impact.It's so easy to feel this way.It's also embarrassing to admit it. I'm the motivation and productivity guy from Medium! I have all the answers! Duh!But you signed up for the truth!You signed up for the unadulterated, raw, bare-naked, (mostly un-edited,) before-Medium version of my content.As a perfectionist, it's hard to look at this post and say it's not ugly. I mean, it doesn't feel like the others. It doesn't feel like the best post I've ever written.And if it's not always the best post I've ever written, what's the point? Right?The truth is that the critic in the back of my head is important, even if it's unreasonable.It's a strength that points out inefficiencies, deficits, and imperfections that must be fixed. In fact, it's one reason I'm valuable in the marketplace!Let me explain . . .It's a strength that points out inefficiencies, deficits, and imperfections that must be fixed. In fact, it's one reason I'm valuable in the marketplace!But let's be clear about that voice: it's only useful if it's useful.What I mean is; if it increases motivation, great. If it demoralizes or subdues, ignore it.Fear and criticism should be given attention but NO power.Analyzing is useful. Ruminating is not.Is this what you signed up for?
2 Minute Action
Hit reply and let me know. Do you feel like you're getting what you signed up for?What did you expect when you signed up? If it takes more than 2 minutes, it's your fault. :)One easy way for me to tell if this is going well is to watch how many of you join my new, private Facebook Group.You're all invited, and I'd love to see you there. :)