We see inspirational messages about how someone started doing something unremarkable but over time it actually became remarkable because the person is still doing the same thing.
In a Universe full of “i got tired of it and stopped”, there’s a chance that the arrival – advent – of the eighth consecutive year of writing five daily, differently-themed blog posts could be the start of something remarkable.
It never was, and still isn’t, the goal.
That’s probably the coolest part of the whole thing.
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This website is about our mental attitude. To leave this site to read today’s post on my physical health website, click here.
So unimportant to call out a single, ordinary day – yesterday was Monday, November 23, 2015.
Dear Son, i often end emails and social media private messages with this challenge, “Be amazed and be amazing.”
At the completion of the first day of a self-imposed 100-day writing challenge which began April Fools Day 2009, i had five blog posts. On April 2 i wrote five more. That’s how it all began. And that’s how it continues – one single, solitary day at a time.
Believe it or not, i was amazed that i actually did what i said i was gonna do. That’s the surest way to be amazed and be amazing.
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This website is about our mental attitude. To leave this site to read today’s post on my physical health website, click here.
Last week in Valparaiso, IN. No one cares about this photo and that’s the coolest part of posting it.
Better late than never. A phrase we have heard since we were children. Why? Because it’s true.
It’s better to make difficult, positive changes to correct poor habits than it is to not change. Sounds backwards but it’s true…
Better late than never is not always about change.
Sometimes it’s about becoming aware of something that wasn’t fully understood – something that once understood, gives us courage and strength in a way we never saw coming.
Writing five daily, differently-themed blogs (on five different websites) has happened every single day since April 1, 2009.
i don’t write for:
SEO
Followers
Fame
Sales
i write because it transforms me.
The transformation is facilitated by the illumination from a daily habit that is public and transparent – also known as accountability.
Without accountability we are sunk. And by accountability, i’m not talking about some bull crap theory-looks-good-on-paper accountability.
Accountability that is so easy to recognize, it’s impossible to hide.
Screen shot from a friend’s Facebook feed last night. Real life in real time.
A Facebook status update from one minute ago
For curious minds only please…
One day while traveling i was very concerned about something.
It’s a first world problem that is as trivial as it gets…
What if my travel schedule made it impossible to write the five daily blogs?
So i wrote an extra day’s worth (5) the morning before departing on a long flight.
Worst case didn’t happen and i was able to write like normal the next morning.
This meant that there was now a surplus of one day.
Over time, usually on a particularly productive/inspiring weekend, after writing the normal five blogs, i’d keep writing.
Eventually this led to having a one week surplus (35 posts, or seven days multiplied by five extra posts for each website).
Somewhere between year two and three writing got even more intense and a 30-day surplus was created. i wasn’t writing to build a surplus, it’s just that i couldn’t stop writing on some days.
It was not uncommon to write 10-12 hours on a Saturday and 10-12 hours on Sunday too. A weekend like that might produce 25 – 50 posts (five to ten days worth).
Between years three and four, the surplus grew to 90 days and finally capped at 100 days ahead, a 500 blog post surplus.
Crazy.
What i’m about to write today (Aug 19) won’t go live until November 27.
It’s quirky.
It’s real.
And until it happened, it was also impossible.
So, you know those things you dream about but self-talk yourself out of?
Here’s to challenging you to stop saying you can’t.
How’s this for impossible…
It’s been 2,332 days in a row writing 5 daily, differently-themed posts. Then add in another 100 day surplus, and that’s 12,160 blog posts.
Created documents in Apple’s Notes app so i could write in Glacier Park.
There’s an inherent risk in trying anything new.
There’s also opportunity for a breakthrough as well.
What’s our risk tolerance, if we were brutally honest?
The upside to being able to write without an internet connection is the fact that you can do it from anywhere using just an iPhone.
The downside is the price you pay when you return to civilization and all the catching up required to go from analog to cyberspace.
It’s taken three days to adjust from doing things differently last week in Montana.
Taxing?
Yes.
To the point of wondering if it was/is worth it.
But traveling without a laptop last week was a huge first. Not to mention no cellular signal except at Glacier’s eastern entrance – nowhere in the 1,000,000 acre park, and no ATT in West Glacier.
Digital withdrawal?
Kinda.
With an upcoming trip to France (leaving in 20 days), the Glacier experiment has boosted my confidence.
