Do The Work, Every Day

Today I wrote 2,000 words no one will ever read.

And that’s okay. I did my part. I put some words on paper.

Today, I am a writer.

***

Loads of people want to write. Not that many actually do.

Others have heard their calling. Few have truly embraced it. Some have elected to ignore it.

We want to make art, to create something with our own two hands. We dream of starting a business. We’d sell it for millions.

But we’ll never sell our company. It will never be worth anything. We make sure of it. We never start.

***

The scariest moment is always just before you start. – Stephen King

***

Writer or whatever, progress starts when YOU start.

The best way to get that ball rolling is to do the work every day.

Every SINGLE day? You ask with skepticism painted on your face. Eyebrow raised. Head cocked to the left.

Yes! I said everyday.

***

Of course this isn’t a new concept.

E.B. White said that; “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.”

Jack London was onboard with that idea, “you can’t wait for inspiration to strike, you have to go after it with a club.”

And, I’d be doing all of us all a great disservice if I didn’t include the words of Ray Bradbury who knew the importance of doing the work everyday.

You must write every single day of your life… You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads… may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.

***

To be clear, all of this write every day talk isn’t specific to writing.

Replace the word write with work.

There you have it, we must do our work everyday.

It’s about habit and persistence. It’s about proving ourselves. Oddly enough, we have nothing to prove to the outside world. Working everyday is how we quiet our Ego and tap into our true self.

***
The work, our work, our life’s work can and must be done.

It’s how we find meaning and purpose.

It starts when YOU start.

It grows and evolves with you as you do the work, every day.