A Writer Writes, A Dancer Dances, A Painter Paints

Problem: It’s easy to get sidetracked by “good opportunities” and neglect your most important work.

Solution: Find the core of what you do, and make time for it every single day.

***

On any given day, there are about 100 different things I could be doing to improve and optimize my life, my business, and my goals. And almost every day I have to put up some kind of fight to ignore 99 of them.

I’m a writer, so that’s what I do; I write. Yes, I enjoy other things and I try to vary my activities from day to day to keep things interesting, but the main goal is to make sure I always have new and interesting material to write about. Every day, I try to sit down and create something with words that I think other people will get value out of. I don’t always do it; I’m not perfect. But every single day, I try.

• A painter could spend her day looking for the best gallery to hang in or the cheapest canvas or the finest brush. And I suggest that she does, but only after she sits down to create something.

• A dancer could spend his day looking for the best floor shoes or the swankiest bars where all the producers and directors hang out. He could devise the ultimate workout routine that keeps his body as fit and limber as possible. And I suggest he does, but only after he gets up and dances.

• I could spend my day on Twitter and Facebook trying connect with people or tweak my web design. I could spend time learning how to market my work to make more money. And I do all these things, but not until I sit down and write. If I read a tutorial about how to write a great headline, it’s not until after I’ve spent an hour sitting down to actually do it.

Among all the different facets that come with any profession, it’s easy to become distracted and focus your energy away from the core and onto the peripherals. It’s very tempting because there are so many options to optimize your workflow, or sell more stuff, or make more connections and no lack of resources to teach you how to do these things.

And you should do them! You should learn all of those things and implement every one you can if that’s what you want. But first, you must create. That is your work, and your work must be done. Every single day.

Think of your work like you would a tree. The core of what you do is your root system and everything that goes along with it are the branches. You can add more branches, but not until you deepen the roots. Let the roots rot, and they can’t support the weight of the tree. It topples.

All the galleries in the world can’t make a painter famous if she has no work to hang in them. The best shoes on the planet will do nothing for the dancer that knows not what to do in them. A thousand raving fans can’t possibly help the writer who creates nothing to rave about.

At the core of every pursuit is one single task that drives everything forward. It’s the one thing that made you start down this crazy, scary road in the first place. Ignore that for too long and risk becoming just another wannabe.

I’m a writer, so that’s what I do; I write.

Query: What are you? And what do you do?

~~~~~

To go even deeper, read this article by Scott Young that’s essentially about getting better at getting better.

Comment moderation and responses may be slow today because I’m out climbing Mt. Hood. I’ll be back in the afternoon. See you then!