After listening to an episode of Seth Godin’s podcast, Akimbo, this morning, I’ve been nudged into doing a daily blog. I’m going to start with the remainder of January, but might push it longer. The Akimbo episode, Paul has a practice, explores the practices different members of the Beatles had while creating music. The bottom line was similar to the nod Godin circles back to in a lot of his work—commit to working on skills, find a practice that works for you and actually ship your work.
At the top of my commitments list I have a little note that reads, “100% is easy, 99% is hard.” I find it comforting. If I commit 100%, there is no other option but to show up. And that’s the secret sauce. When I committed to 40 days of running it’s not like I woke up or went about my day with this burning desire to run, but I ran every day because I didn’t entertain another option. 100% removes contemplation and puts the ball back in my proverbial court: how will I reprioritize my extra hours to meet this challenge that aligns with one of my broader objectives: to develop and hone my skill as a writer, to lean into a creative process, to build a space where I feel free sharing thoughts with the potential to add value.
I’m kind of nervous about this one. Unlike the physical challenge of running that I know I can do on my worst days, writing serves up a different sort of challenge. Like, what if I don’t have anything to write about, or what if it doesn’t feel good enough, or what if it doesn’t add value. Whatever. That’s the exact reason I’m committing to it.
I am hopeful this turns into an appreciation of the variety of thoughts and experiences I have throughout my days and weeks. I hope to explore topics of training, mindset, nutrition, friendship, communication, faith and a world of other tall tales that seem to come into my life.
Until tomorrow.
//GLK
Godin: “Skill can be developed in any field where creative skill is appropriate.”
