Write on: Effort & Success

“I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.” Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I have this quote written on the first journaling page of a bright red book. I don’t typically buy things in red, but I did so here because it would contrast my other things, not allowing me to lose it. And if you’re a passionate writer, you’ll likely have similar feelings that align with this quote.

Sometimes its difficult to do even the things you enjoy. And it’s times like those that you need an extra shot of motivation. For those times, I suggest making your own ‘red book.’ Mine is a product of an Emerson quote, which is written on the blank page before the journaling begins. It goes like this:

“Make your own bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

And that summarizes the entire book.

Growth

As I’ve continued my journey reading, collecting thoughts and quotes from others, my own understanding of previously read things has changed. And when you try to know everything, all you do is uncover an increasingly growing amount of information yet to be learned. And I believe that’s what Socrates was saying:

“One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing.”

Sometimes, when defining a term, you encounter a word within the definition that you have to look up in order to understand the meaning of the original. It can be quite maddening. But that’s how a chase for answers always plays out; you encounter more interconnecting questions on the way to finding the answer you seek.

If that sounds discouraging, don’t let it. It should actually do the opposite, which is to encourage you to not seek to know everything, nor pretend that you do. Be humble. And don’t let what you do know go to your head, because those without the knowledge in your possession are just earlier versions of you.

The cost of succeeding

“Successful men are influenced by the desire for pleasing results. Failures are influenced by the desire for pleasing methods.” Albert E. N. Gray

I know of no easy thing that’s worth possessing. All the things that matter are difficult and life has a tendency to scale difficulty with something’s worth. And there’s balance in that. The effort you pay for something makes it mean more to you, so your value of it increases.

I’ve seen users post topics on forums along the lines of ‘Does anyone know a side hustle that’s easy and requires no money?’ And I think there’s something inherently wrong with this mindset. No matter what you do, if you can’t be bothered to invest your time and resources into your craft, how can you expect others to find value in what you produce?

“Somewhere in the world, someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win.” Tom Fleming

“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This is your competition. What you’re up against. So, your hardest days, when you don’t feel like writing or doing whatever it is you want to do for a living, are the ones that are most important to work through. Because it builds perseverance. And the one thing failure can’t overcome is perseverance.

Conclusion

Keep in mind something Henry Ford said:

“Whether you think you can or can’t either way you are right.”

You’re who decides whether you can or can’t write. If your writing isn’t as good as you’d like it to be, fix it. You’re always going to be your worst critic, but you also need to realize that you’re what’s in the way of you getting better. Your writing is never going to be perfect. So, write at your current skill level and focus on improving overtime.

Your writing today is a building block for your writing tomorrow.

Another quote that should really drive home the importance of persistance comes from Kemmons Wilson:

“You cannot procrastinate—in two days, tomorrow will be yesterday.”

They say, ‘ignorance is bliss’ and I believe it. Because I wouldn’t want to know how many things I’ve claimed, ‘I’ll start tomorrow,’ only to never begin them at all. For one, I know I would have had a completed novel done sooner and likely several others by now. But such is life. ‘Hind sight is 20/20’ and all that.

So, write-on, fellow writers! Find your muse and don’t let go. And if Failure comes sniffing around, kick him in the shin, then kick him again for me. :)

Happy writing,

JT