Darlings, I think maybe I have the flu. My head is fuzzy, every limb is tired, and my head weighs ten tonnes. Writing is like building a ziggurat, with every word laboriously heaved into place. (Grammar and punctuation are still okay though. I have Standards.)
I really, really don’t want to be writing. I want to be half-asleep on the couch watching David Boreanaz be chinly and engaging.
But after thirty years of delaying and non-committing, I finally understand a bit of wisdom I’d heard but never absorbed:
The fewer excuses you accept from yourself, the more success you will have.
For me, excuses are such a slippery slope that I have to reject any short of actual decapitation.
I write every day. I can’t futz around with measures like “regularly” or “twice weekly”. I need the clear measurable ticky-box standard of Every Day.
Today, I have a really good excuse not to write. I could skip a day. But if I did, next time it would be a pretty good excuse, and then a moderately good reason, and then it’s six weeks since I posted anything and the website has tumbleweeds rolling down its main street.
The funny thing is, I feel a bit better now I’ve started. I almost always do!
- Once I get my shoes on and start to walk.
- When I start sorting out the important papers.
- When I finally have the talk I’ve needed to have.
Your five-minute mission, should you choose to accept it…
Think about the last few excuses you used. Were they still reasonable afterwards? If not, make a note to yourself: those excuses aren’t allowed any more.
Do you have any acceptable excuses or do you need a zero-tolerance policy? Tell me in the comments!
(I will respond. But not right away, because I really do need to lie down.)