Step Up
Even when you don't feel like it, do that thing that's important to you
I'm not going to lie. This post was not an easy one to write.
This past week was one of those weeks. Nothing specific happened, but if I could have chosen, I would probably have spent most of it bed-adjacent.
It's the middle of winter, after all. Without the sun, everything seems that little bit more challenging.
The point is, I almost didn’t write this.
I really didn't feel like it but then, at the last minute, I managed just enough motivation to put a few of words down.
And the only reason I did that is because I promised myself 4 months ago I’d write and publish every single week. (This is week 15, in case you’re wondering).
Why is this so important to me?
Because publishing every week means I have to write something — even if it’s just 100 words — every day.
See, I've always wanted to be a writer.
The problem is I never built the discipline and habit of writing. I'd write when I felt like it, which wasn't very often.
As you can guess, this didn’t amount to much, and certainly didn’t make me feel like a writer.
But now I’m starting to feel it because I am writing.
It may not be greatest bunch of words put together, it might not even be that particularly interesting, but here are my words in front of you.
I’m proving to myself that I can do this. That I can write even when I don't feel like it.
So my bigger point is this:
Its critical to show up, even when you don't want to.
What’s your important thing?
Consider this:
The most important things to you are often the things you'll least likely get round to doing.
And I get it.
It's so easy to put off those important things because you want to do them perfectly.
It’s so easy to tell yourself you’ll do them as soon as you get the laundry done and answer all your emails.
And so, you figure, if you can't do it perfectly, there's no use even trying.
But the truth is, days, weeks and years go by and you haven't done anything about it.
You're still stuck on the starting line.
Act on it now.
So, if you really care about something, if it’s really important to you, do it now.
Do it regardless of how you feel (within reason, obviously).
Over time, you’ll gain confidence in your new identity, in who you want to become. Slowly you’ll build up your self-reliance and your sense of what’s possible.
In short, you’ll be investing in your most valuable asset.
You.
Any action, no matter how small, is a vote towards where you want to go and who you want to become.
Even if it’s just writing 100 words a day.
Even if it’s just walking around the block.
Even if it’s just meaningless to anyone but you.
Don't underestimate the importance of proving to yourself that you're willing to step up to the plate.
You probably won’t hit a home-run, but at least you’ll be swinging. You’ll have lived a day in which you did something important to you.
And just like me, writing this, you’ll be glad that you did.
Hi there 👋
If you read this far, you might be interested to know more about how I’m going about building this newsletter, Seeking Wisdom.
This is the first time I’m doing this so I’m a bit unsure what exactly to share. So why not start with that wonderful narrative visual, the growth graph?
As you can see, it tracks my weekly growth in terms of Notes followers (in red), email subscribers (that’s you in yellow!), the number of post views (in green) and readers (in blue). As for the orange bars, they show the revenue I’ve earned since I turned on my tipping page.
As you can see, growth takes time!
Let me know if you have any particular questions, if this is interesting to you or if you’d like for me to share some other info.
Till next time, enjoy your weekend! ☀️🚶➡️🌲
Ben
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