I was listening to the podcast Comics Lab (https://comiclab.simplecast.com and Patreon) where they were answering a question from a question-asker. The asker asked about motivation and overcoming writer’s block. The short answer from one of the hosts (Brad) was he was so excited to get to the drawing table, to be able to create. Everything else in his day was a line from waking up to sitting down once the kids were off to school, the day job was completed, the kids were put to bed, then he could get to his passion (paraphrasing there, but that’s the gist of it).
There was something missing, I liked the idea of the answer… yet… a piece could have been added. It is a muscle, a habit, something that needs to be started and built.
You want to write. You really do. BUT, something keeps getting in your way. You are tired. You are busy. Your wife needs. Your partner needs. Your kid or kids need. Tomorrow you have to *fill in the blank*. And on it goes. If someone looked at your life and heard you say you wanted to write, or draw, or do “x”; it would be easy to conclude that you do not. You have obviously not been making it a priority. You would find the 15 minutes, or wake early, or go to bed later or use your lunch hour. All good suggestions by the way.
Yet, the TV goes on. The snack gets eaten. The bed calls. So you click, crunch, or curl up. Maybe tomorrow you’ll sit down and watch that “How to” Youtube video. Maybe, you’ll put some words on the paper. It’s just not going to be enough words. So, might as well just… click, crunch, or curl up.
A good suggestion for the question-asker would be to build the habit. Give permission, we are all looking for permission. Two words. A paragraph. Holding the pencil and paper. Give it a minute. Give it five minutes. Turn on the computer and only allow a blank word document to stare back at you. No email. No internet. Nothing but the blank page. Do this for a minute. Do it for five minutes. Then go to bed. No TV. No snack. The pencil and paper; or the computer opened to write only. Then, go to bed.
Do this again. Again. Again. Eventually, you’ll break one habit and replace it with another. Brad started when he was young and hungry. He started with a goal and a mission. A drive and purpose. There was something in him, pushing him forward.
You can have that do. You just have to be find enough will power to change a habit. Minute by minute. Second by second. If you can sit with a pencil and paper, a paint brush, a book and make it a minute, then you will have started to create a new habit. Once the habit is started, the rest will follow.
I say this on day four of blogging. Something I started a couple of years ago. Something I wanted to get back to for a couple of years, but really for the last year. I kept showing up. Kept reading books. Kept getting emails. Kept watching less and less TV. Kept. Kept. Kept.
Then finally, I found myself out of distractions. I found myself looking around wondering what to do next. I found myself exchanging not one habit for another, but one thing for time. Once I found a way to not put pressure on doing something, but not filling that time with TV and snacks, I started reading more. Then, I was reading a lot. And found myself really happy with that. Yet… something was missing. So, the time exchanged for TV and “screens” for books, became a now let’s read a little less fill the time with… blogging. Writing.
This took about a year of actually wanting to get to a result. It was little by little. Minute by minute. Hour by hour. Slowly moving forward. No pressure, but an eye on the prize. No pressure, but the goal resting there, lying in wait. No pressure, but today… if… maybe, let’s not watch something today. Let us see what it’s like to clean with an audiobook or podcast playing, instead of a movie or show playing.
Little changes. Little adjustments. This worked for a few different things over the past year. I’m not done yet. There is still a lot of work. There is still more coming. Something else wanted. More. More. More. I can feel the greed building. It’s a good greed. It’s a building greed to create more, writing more, record more. Though, there is no pressure. There is no rushing this. There is no if I did “x” then I can do “y”. Next is x.1, then x.2. Keep building.
What I’ll end this with is, I want to write. I want to create. I want to record a podcast. I’ve been wanting to for years. Everything in my life said, “no, you don’t”. That voice kept repeating, until I figured out ways to silence it. It feels good to be writing this. It will feel good to post this.
Posted. Not Perfect.
Written by: A vegan father navigating a non-vegan world.
There have been many great influences this past year. What I am directly referencing in this post is: Atomic Habits by James Clear (https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits)
A Better Father 