21 Lessons from 31 Days of Practice

“Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

At the beginning of January, I committed to write every day for Cast-Light. I’ve done a 30-day streak in the past and then dropped back into inconsistent posts two to three times a week when the “feeling” hit. If we base our practices on feelings, progress will be sporadic at best.

After completing a full month of daily writing in January, I intend to go beyond “challenge” mode into committing to a daily practice of writing and “shipping” the work. Over the last 31 days, I’ve learned some lessons that come only from doing, not thinking about doing.

1. Choose a few daily commitments, follow through and make them non-negotiable activities;

2. Find the optimal time to do the work that matters first. For me, morning is my best time to write before the day’s activities take over;

3. Some posts were good, some were forced and some needed more time to percolate, but the goal was to launch each day. Perfect repetition, imperfect posts;

4. In The Practice, Shipping Creative Work, Seth Godin notes that doing the work daily, executing imperfectly is the key to success;

5. To get started each morning, Julia Cameron’s morning pages method of 3 pages of free flow journal writing with no boundaries or rules laid the groundwork for writing, the pre-work that led to the first draft and then evolve to launched posts;

6. Meditation focuses energy and guides direction – after 10 minutes of morning pages, I added a minimum of 10 minutes of meditation and mindfulness time using the Insight Timer app;

7. Allow first drafts to fill the blank page without editing or judgment. Flowing thoughts that turn to words on blank pages are the formula of first drafts. Revisit, weave, find connections and strengthen transitions to publishable content;

8. Acknowledge and overcome the “lizard brain” of fight/flight. “The lizard brain is not merely a concept. It's real, and it's living on the top of your spine, fighting for your survival. But, of course, survival and success are not the same thing. The lizard brain is the reason you're afraid, the reason you don't do all the art you can, the reason you don't ship when you can. The lizard brain is the source of the resistance,” Seth Godin;

9. Fear of starting dissipates by starting. Final “shippable” work always starts with a messy first draft that evolves into final content;

10. Resistance is a guarantee. Starting for at least 5 minutes daily overcomes resistance. 5 minutes become 10, 20 and 30 minutes without notice;

11. Start where you are in the moment. Nothing before, nothing after, lost in the moment, unaware of time;

12. Go between spectator observation and participant immersion, broad and narrow;

13. Remember to play to restore with time away from work and activity – get out in nature, go for a run, let things settle;

14. Keep a notebook with you at all times and write down thoughts as they come, don’t put it off, capture it in the moment;

15. Read daily to expand perspective, deepen connections and broaden insight;

16. Practice gratitude to move forward from a place of abundance, not scarcity;

17. Stuck? Take a break and return after a few minutes away;

18. Take time to reflect to look for lessons;

19. Clarity unfolds with action. As you step out, the path begins to unfold;

20. Use quotes to prompt new ideas and inspire a fresh outlook;

21. Confidence increases and fear decreases with consistent daily practice.

Lessons and insights are found through action, habits, structure and play. More imperfect doing, less perfect thinking about doing.

“It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment.” -Carl Friedrich Gauss

The Critic and the Creative

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou

The critic and the creative co-exist within each of us. We give too much credence to the critic, drowning out the voice and the call of the creative. Bound up and tangled in old narratives of “not good enough” and “unworthiness,” the critic stops us before we dare to start. Ignore the critic – both the internal and external ones. Create, execute, deliver.

We make the creative process unattainable by making it illusive and magical, requiring inspiration before starting. Daily work, repetition and practice are the required ingredients. Inspiration is a byproduct of the work rather than the fuel. Start and the inspiration will follow where first drafts make their way to final work ready to be released and set free.

“If we condition ourselves to work without flow, it’s more likely to arrive. It all comes back to trusting our self to create the change we seek. We don’t agree to do that after flow arrives. We do the work, whether we feel like it or not, and then, without warning, flow can arise. Flow is a symptom of the work we’re doing, not the cause of it,” states Seth Godin in his new book, The Practice: Shipping Creative Work. He continues, “The time we spend worrying is actually time we’re spending trying to control something that is out of our control. Time invested in something that is within our control is called work. That’s where our most productive focus lies. The practice requires a commitment to a series of steps, not a miracle. We don’t ship the work because we’re creative. We’re creative because we ship the work.”

Each day, we need to do the work by putting in time with a commitment to habits and rituals. “It’s vital to establish some rituals – automatic but decisive patterns of behavior – at the beginning of the creative process, when you are most at peril of turning back, chickening out, giving up, or going the wrong way.” – Twyla Tharp, The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life.

“Creators create. Action is identity. You become what you do. You don’t need permission from anybody to call yourself a writer, entrepreneur, or musician. You just need to write, build a business, or make music. You’ve got to do the verb to be the noun,” states Chase Jarvis, author of Creative Calling. He continues, “Fear is a gift, a precious instinct. Your primitive “reptile brain” is there to protect you and keep you alive. You can’t reason with it; it learns through action. But if you take action despite the fear and survive, it learns a tiny lesson. Over time, action by action, the volume of the negative voice goes down.”

Outline a plan this week. Put an hour on the calendar to start, to create the framework, the habits and rituals to start creating. Allow the process and work to unfold and guide you to the next step. Dwell in possibility and start again and again.

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe