Life is not about avoiding problems, for the simple reason that problems, challenges, difficulties are an intrinsic part of life itself.
Life is more about identifying problems and finding the courage to stand right in front of them saying: “I will get past you”. And it is true both for the problems that surround us and for those who are within ourselves.
By the way, the better we are at dealing with the latter, the stronger and more effective we are when we tackle the former.
There are always countless reasons to drop a practice.
A bad day. The shouting with your partner the night before. Laziness. Your boss just drops trivial tasks on your desk. Friends never call. That asshole just cut me off. Nobody is ever interested in what I do. It is always raining and the weather is crap. After all, why should it matter?
And so on.
I have dropped more practices than I care to admit myself. Until I realised, few years ago, that practices are not about perfection, good weather, healthy relationships, and praises from strangers.
Practices are about habit.
Practices are about commitment.
Practices are about doing.
And if you do long enough, you still get all of the above (and some more) and it does not matter.
How often do you feel confident showing your work?
Probably almost never. Showing your work is difficult. It means opening up to the judgement of others, accepting you might have done something others will not pick, transitioning control from you to the rest of the world. And so, you keep your work hidden. You continue adding to it, refining it, editing it, perfecting it. The right time, of course, will never come.
As many other things, showing your work is a muscle. It can get trained. Do it once, do it twice, do it ten times, and eventually it will become natural.
Start today.
P.S.: A great question to ask when you are this kind of stuck (or any kind of stuck) is always: “what is the worst thing that could happen?“. The point being: the absolute worst thing is probably very unlikely to happen, while the worst thing that is likely to happen is often something you can easily live through. As a matter of fact, you probably have already in the past. Keep yourself anchored.
When you pick up the phone while you are driving, you are choosing a short-term gratification (reading the message you just got) over a long-term impact (the attention you need to drive safely).
When you speed up to pass the car in front of you, despite the continuous line, you are choosing a short-term gratification (the impression to be able to get to your destination faster) over a long-term impact (the care and patience you need to drive safely).
When you click on the notification that pops up on your screen while working, you are choosing a short-term gratification (being on top of what is happening) over a long-term impact (delivering your work with consistence).
When you scream in the face of the person in front of you, you are choosing a short-term gratification (a rush of power, or letting go of your stress) over a long-term impact (building a relationship of trust, or training your capacity of not reacting).
When you skip your daily training, you are choosing a short-term gratification (an hour or so of available time) over a long-term impact (being in good shape and health).
You get the drill.
Most of our small, daily choices are a trade off between gratification and impact. Of course, we do not pay much attention to most of them, because that is not the way we are wired.Yet, we tend to forget that the long term is but a succession of short terms, not something magic that will spark out of nothing at some point in time.
Be intentional about what you do.
A twist on the 99% idea is that the vast majority of people (say 99%) – or even better, the totality of people in the 99% of cases – will not act on the information they are given or on the knowledge they are accumulating. They will just keep falling back to hold habits and practices, because that is more convenient. Because that is how our brain is wired.
This gives you an incredible advantage if you manage to build a practice of doing, shipping, delivering.
You've got this 