To Be Completely Honest With You…
I really didn’t feel like writing anything for this week’s blog post.
Not necessarily in a lazy way, although I probably am being a tad bit. It’s just one of those weeks where I’m feeling a little tired, the temperature had dropped, and the thought of sitting down and writing words into a coherent and, hopefully, valuable abstract aren’t really the most appetizing use of time right now.
It’s not like anything is off of its normal course either. My foot is processing rapidly from surgery and I am back walking. I am back to my morning routine. I am back to going into the office to work. The days are longer from springing the clocks ahead. It’s just one of those weeks.
Even with all of that, here I am.
The Post-College Motivational Dip
I’ve talked about before how the structure during college completely falls off after graduating, with “life” being one lump after four years of school, after a previous four years of school, after school before that. These four years were broken into semesters, which broke into weeks, with scheduled breaks and downtime.
It’s easier to study for a final sometimes, because you know that is the final assignment to worry about. The day you reach your final assignment for “life”, you hope that’s not for a very long time.
But the idea of a “very long time” is not very comforting or familiar. We start to lack mojo because it seems like there’s no end in sight. And this begins the feeling of being unmotivated in your 20s.
It just starts to feel like Groundhog Day at some point, maybe with slightly different weather. In order to make any change in the matrix you find yourself in, it’s completely on you. Events don’t just end because they’re scheduled to end. And they certainly don’t begin because they’re supposed to.
And with all of that, some weeks you’re fired up to tackle whatever that thing may be. And some weeks, you just don’t feel like showing up.
What I Am Doing When I Don’t Feel Like Showing Up
Nothing today needs to be grand, but it needs to be there. What I am doing with this piece right now:
- I am lowering the bar
- I am removing guilt from feeling how I feel
- I am showing up
- I am keeping a weekly promise to myself (and the readers)
So instead of skipping this week, I’m just writing this. Not a big idea. Not a perfect post. Just something. Because I know this isn’t the first I’ve been in a funky brain space and I know it won’t be the last time.
Consistency is King
Consistency is a crucial foundation pillar and a proud point of identity of mine. I never wanted to be someone who quits, for better or for worse. Sometimes it has led me to waste time, waste energy, and waste money. But at the end of the day, being consistent wasn’t about the use of said resources.
You see, the game of consistency is, well, exactly that. A game.
And the only player in this game is yourself. Sure, you have to compete with others in order to stand out in the real world. I totally get that. But being occupied on where others are is exactly how you fall behind. I am not saying you can’t use external competition to fuel a short-term burst, but those who choose to enter the stratosphere, so to say, are in direct competition with themselves on a daily basis.
The only way to get good at anything is to consistently do it. It’s stupid simple, but worth repeating. The only way to get good at anything is to consistently do it.
In that vain, I cannot be sitting here writing this blog post because of somebody else. I am only doing it because I want to hold true to the promise I made to myself, and keep the streak of consistency alive.
If I didn’t write anything, it would have broken a 21-week streak of one blog post per week. Don’t want to do that.
Conclusion: Foul Off the Breaking Ball
It’s not my strongest work. It’s not my most valuable piece. But it’s authentic and I think pretty relatable, at least in my conversations with others I’ve had.
It’s always easy to stay excited at the beginning of a new chapter. A new move. A new job. A new project. But longevity and consistency go hand in hand, and those who stay consistent for a long time are the ones that remain influential a long time. Not that I am in that influential category at all.
Baseball is a beautifully powerful sport for the brain. And for anyone who’s played, they know that the direct boxscore result of their at-bat isn’t simply that. You can fall behind in the count, and fight a tough battle that ends in a strikeout on 3-2. Or you can walk on four pitches when the pitcher can’t find the zone. The walk in the scorebook is more valuable, but that full count at-bat was probably more productive.
This week might be me just fighting off a tough pitch, taking a breaking ball the other way into the stands. I am just trying to keep my eye on the ball and do my best to see as many pitches as possible.
You never know when that fastball down the middle is next up.
Keep swinging. And keep writing your story.
—Will
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