Amen. I'm also a fan of using inspiration to publicly commit to a longer ongoing process that very well might falter if running on100% inspiro-fuel. (I just did this regarding group connection games, in my latest post.) Lash yourself to the mast like Odysseus!
as a self-described recovering perfectionist, this resonated with me, especially the “listening to what you want” part 💯
I’ve also been learning (and writing) about moving from “should”-based structures to “follow the impulse when it arises” - imo it’s the only way to actually build sustainable, rhythmic consistency
A lot has also to do with the fact that people are their own worst critics. You want to write something that is “good” in the eyes of the people that you want to impress. “This is not good enough” to publish but not good enough for who? Happy are those that just have the courage to write and send their thoughts into the ether in tangible form so other lesser mortals may benefit and also be emboldened.
I don't tend to 'strike while the iron is hot,' but i would hardly describe myself as 'too disciplined.' Quite the opposite, in fact; i lack discipline at the same time that i rarely follow inspiration. So i'm really not sure if i'm the kind of person this advice is for, since it seems to me that i don't really do what i actually want to do OR what i think i'm 'supposed' to do...
Start with both and see which helps you do more stuff! I feel like it's better to start by doing too much then pare down later instead of trying to begin by only doing the "right" things. But this is also very ADHD-coded advice so YMMV
I'm great at inspiration to write and bad at inspiration to edit, hence the couple dozen mostly-finished drafts in my notes app, do you have any tips for that (maybe that's another blog post)?
probably another blogpost, but for now I will point you to this great video by Hank Green! https://youtu.be/1LAhHDEtTD0
(the unfortunate TLDR is that you kinda just have to accept posting things that are only 80% as good as you can get them to be, otherwise you’ll be slogging through editing/revising hell forever)
Back when people wrote regular newspaper columns, I could always tell when one was forced rather than inspired. I’m not great at blogging because I only write when the spirit moves me. It’s not as often as I’d like, but when it comes it’s magical and the piece writes itself. I’m OK with that even if it means only a handful of followers.
I feel like consistency is important in the long term to continue making steady progress, but it's also good to make space for inspiration within that. It's like catching a tailwind. Sure there are some times when you have to struggle into a headwind, but if you can catch a tailwind why wouldn't you? We are not machines, and I find that it's hard to know what headspace I'll be in the next day, and what unforeseen things will crop up. So I like to have a rough plan but happily break it if inspiration points me in a different direction. So long as it's still a useful direction of course :)
I find that my essays only really become coherent after I let them marinate a while.
Although this might be an artifact of my process. Most of my essays begin as oral rants, recorded. Then I type them up and wrangle them into something a bit less rambling.
Mel Robbins writes about something similar with her 5-4-3-2-1 approach. Count backwards and immediately take physical action to avoid procrastination or overthinking. I think she got the idea of watching NASA countdowns..
I really hope this post was written in a flurry of inspiration and not pre-planned!
it was!
Amen. I'm also a fan of using inspiration to publicly commit to a longer ongoing process that very well might falter if running on100% inspiro-fuel. (I just did this regarding group connection games, in my latest post.) Lash yourself to the mast like Odysseus!
yes yes yes
as a self-described recovering perfectionist, this resonated with me, especially the “listening to what you want” part 💯
I’ve also been learning (and writing) about moving from “should”-based structures to “follow the impulse when it arises” - imo it’s the only way to actually build sustainable, rhythmic consistency
always nice to stumble on a fellow aliveness seer
https://uxoflife.substack.com/p/what-if-consistency-isnt-simply-do
A lot has also to do with the fact that people are their own worst critics. You want to write something that is “good” in the eyes of the people that you want to impress. “This is not good enough” to publish but not good enough for who? Happy are those that just have the courage to write and send their thoughts into the ether in tangible form so other lesser mortals may benefit and also be emboldened.
I don't tend to 'strike while the iron is hot,' but i would hardly describe myself as 'too disciplined.' Quite the opposite, in fact; i lack discipline at the same time that i rarely follow inspiration. So i'm really not sure if i'm the kind of person this advice is for, since it seems to me that i don't really do what i actually want to do OR what i think i'm 'supposed' to do...
Start with both and see which helps you do more stuff! I feel like it's better to start by doing too much then pare down later instead of trying to begin by only doing the "right" things. But this is also very ADHD-coded advice so YMMV
I'm great at inspiration to write and bad at inspiration to edit, hence the couple dozen mostly-finished drafts in my notes app, do you have any tips for that (maybe that's another blog post)?
probably another blogpost, but for now I will point you to this great video by Hank Green! https://youtu.be/1LAhHDEtTD0
(the unfortunate TLDR is that you kinda just have to accept posting things that are only 80% as good as you can get them to be, otherwise you’ll be slogging through editing/revising hell forever)
Back when people wrote regular newspaper columns, I could always tell when one was forced rather than inspired. I’m not great at blogging because I only write when the spirit moves me. It’s not as often as I’d like, but when it comes it’s magical and the piece writes itself. I’m OK with that even if it means only a handful of followers.
I feel like consistency is important in the long term to continue making steady progress, but it's also good to make space for inspiration within that. It's like catching a tailwind. Sure there are some times when you have to struggle into a headwind, but if you can catch a tailwind why wouldn't you? We are not machines, and I find that it's hard to know what headspace I'll be in the next day, and what unforeseen things will crop up. So I like to have a rough plan but happily break it if inspiration points me in a different direction. So long as it's still a useful direction of course :)
This is very useful. Thanks Harjas Sandhu!
I find that my essays only really become coherent after I let them marinate a while.
Although this might be an artifact of my process. Most of my essays begin as oral rants, recorded. Then I type them up and wrangle them into something a bit less rambling.
Mel Robbins writes about something similar with her 5-4-3-2-1 approach. Count backwards and immediately take physical action to avoid procrastination or overthinking. I think she got the idea of watching NASA countdowns..