WARNING: damaging personal exposure ahead!
Don’t worry, it’s not THAT kind of exposure. 😉
More and more I’m finding that I’m not alone in one particular human flaw I seem to be continually struggling with.
And it’s a weird one. Kinky, almost. And no, not really.
Here’s what I’m talking about:
The most difficult thing one could do, at any moment, is the one thing you KNOW would bestow you the most personal benefit, reveal the most hidden potential, raise your level of achievement to a whole new level.
I’ll get to the personal part in a minute, but think about this first:
When was the last time you thought of something you ‘should’ do but chose to postpone for a more convenient time?
Things like:
- Start that diet that you KNOW will make you feel better
- Write that promotion you KNOW would probably make you a lot of money
- Take that course you KNOW you’d lift your professional skills to a whole new level
- Take up that new sport you’ve had your eye on for the last, um, TWO years…
- And so on, and on, and on.
To make things even stranger, often times these things are in fact things you’ve ALREADY done in the past with great success, but for some reason – perhaps a desire for variety – you choose not to repeat what worked for you.
For me, it’s writing what I KNOW would be the best for me right now, in the long term. I’ll explain.
As a career writer, sometimes what you write is dictated by the people who pay you to do it. Sometimes you get to choose yourself. And often times, that line blurs in a handsome haze somewhere between the eleventh hour and deadline.
Now, my copywriting clients know that they can rely 100% on delivery in time, full quality and full results. That has never been an issue; if anything, I tend to deliver ahead of time.
However…. There is one thing that every writer knows is a tricky thing, and yet likely is THE most important trait you could ever pick up as a writer.
Because no matter what you’re writing, there comes a moment when you’ve done your research, you laid out your plans, it’s all there… And then, a moment of silence.
And THEN!
Without further warning, the text just starts pouring in. In great floods, and you’re cramping your hand just to keep up with the torrents of text.
It really doesn’t matter where you are; in traffic lights, in the middle of a movie, having lunch, on the phone…
When inspiration comes, you have to be willing to drop everything at a moment’s notice in order to heed the muse, follow the impulse until it is entirely spent and you’re free to continue with the rest of your life.
It happens with such consistency, every writer knows how it goes.
Even when you’re working with multiple articles, books, scripts… what have you… The one that’s topmost in your mind will always let itself be known.
You know this, you just have to accept it and respect it.
Do what you gotta do.
It may be the hardest thing you do in your creative endeavor, but learning to heed the muse is well worth the effortless effort.
It’s an invisible hurdle but you KNOW you need to jump it. So do it. 🙂
PS. I wrote this post on the WordPress iPad app. Which is a little limited, but works well enough for editing and such. Can you spot the difference? Do you use the app at all yourself? Sound off below, if you will…
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