Life takes a lot of practice but no one tells you how much effort you will need to put in. Especially days that you have to adult regardless of how many blows you have been dealt.
On some days, do you ever start and struggle to finish something, anything? How do you feel about that?
Showing up when you say you would show up can be challenging. Especially when you are still trying to understand what you’re doing or if you’re doing the right thing.
This is a confession. I am putting this out here to become more accountable. It is pretty embarrassing. I could give all the reasons and the why’s to why I haven’t been consistent, but they will be nothing but excuses.
Why do we find it hard to start something and when we do, we find it hard to continue?
When you have all the positive energy in the right place, you feel motivated to start something. Finishing it is where the problem lies.
I ventured into digital marketing and at the same time started writing. The plan was to take you through my learning phase but alas…
I wrote a couple of think pieces about my journey, with the hope that I will publish my learning phase. I posted the first one on digital marketing and left the others in my draft. Going back to it has been a struggle.
Why?
- Could it be that I lacked discipline?
- Is it a broad niche to cover?
- Do I not find this niche interesting?
- Has everything evolved and I am not done catching up?
- Is this writer’s block?
- Is it fear?
Or am I great at procrastinating?
These questions pop into my head every now and then. And I think of the people that show up every day and how they have managed to hack it.
Showing up every day doesn’t mean “every day”, I am aware of this but It’s been a lot of no days lately, none whatsoever.
Meanwhile, there’s a pile-up in my draft waiting to get attention. Some day I will get out of the rut. Until then I will keep looking for ways to navigate my messy journey.
But am I enjoying my process?
On the bright side, I can see my level of growth whenever I go back to those articles and try to continue. I cringe at the way I wrote but then I smile whenever I remember Micheal Kwan’s words:
“If you look back at your earlier work and cringe, that’s a good thing. It means you have grown. And your work is getting better”.
I can see my progress and how far I’ve come and yes, I look forward to my future disappointments.
But I cannot escape days like this, days where I struggle to keep up. Days where my energy bar is low. Days when the brain refuses to cooperate. At this point how do you get out of this rut?
Does it ever happen to you, especially when trying to master a craft? It could be blogging, photography, graphic design, music, or any creative stage you are in.
I still struggle with this on some days. I haven’t been able to hack it, but I am aware and I try to show up every day no matter how little the effort is.
If you’re like me and you need to get by whenever you struggle to show up consistently then this article by Niklas Göke is an amazing read. I stumbled on it while writing this piece.
Tell me how you’ve been able to manage your messy days in the comment section.
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