Over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed that it’s been ‘harder’ to write. Not the act of writing itself, but sitting down to write. There have been more distractions, more things that I’ve let get in the way. There are periods when I can focus consistently, making progress on a novel. Other times, anything and everything pulls me away. It’s not always easy, but I’m working to get back the discipline I once had.
The Choices We Make
Over the past twelve months or so, I’ve been reading a lot of personal development books because I’m always interested in getting better. I don’t want to leave this earth without having done everything in my power to reach my truest potential. I’m not, however, looking for the latest hacks or quick fixes. I haven’t been happy where I am in life for a while, and I want to take meaningful action to change that.
What I’ve realized is that—and on a subconscious level maybe I already knew—is that the choices we make today directly impact who we are tomorrow. But the thing is, I wasn’t taking responsibility for the choices I made. If I made little progress on my writing, I blamed it on how tired I was. When I didn’t get out for a run, I blamed it on the stiffness in my knee. After the pandemic was ‘over,’ I used Covid as an excuse not to go back to the gym in my condo building (even though experience had proved that strength training made me a better runner). Yes, it’s not always easy to do what is right.
It’s Not Always Easy
I know change is hard. In mid-April, when I stepped back from social media, it seemed like I had more time and, for a couple of weeks, I got more writing done. Because I was tired, I would open the Prime Video or Tubi apps. Even though I had deleted all the social media apps from my phone, I was still reaching for it. How many times can you check the weather or your bank account balance? Quite a few, it turns out. It’s not always easy to stay on track.
I’m going to be honest. Each day that I go into my day job creates a sense of urgency to change me and my life, because I believe I am capable of more. I ‘lost’ the last two weeks of May to inaction, and I own that. As June kicked off, I made a commitment (again) to accept no excuses. Because nothing will work unless I do, nothing will change unless I do. It’s up to me, and Darren Hardy reminds us of that in his book, The Compound Effect: “You alone are responsible for what you do or don’t do, or how you respond to what’s done to you.”1
One Day at a Time
I have two main goals for the month of June: write for one hour a day distraction-free and run/workout every day. There’s at least one day, when a friend from Nova Scotia visits, when getting to those things might not be easy. But to change, and to eventually see the results of your actions, you must do the hard things no matter what.
As we go through our change journey, we must give ourselves the grace to fail, because we can try again. Life…it’s not always easy, but the best thing we can do is take it one day at a time.
Let me, then, leave you today with this last thought…
You are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And, best of all, you do not need anyone’s permission to be—unapologetically—who you are.
- Hardy, D. (2010, 2020). The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success, p. 26. [↩]
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