I have not been writing nightly, as planned or hoped for.
The 1st week went very well. Then, life rolled in more insistently. We get busy.We get preoccupied.
The ideas, however, kept flowing. No shortage of those.
I even got drafts of my posts done hours earlier in the day, then upon rising. But they weren’t posted. Another Day 10 blog is complete, but perfection prevented me from posting it as soon as it was ready… the day wore on and it was no longer as ‘valid or complete’!
The pace picked up in my head. I felt I couldn’t take my readers along fast enough to match the evolution. Just the commitment to write launched all kinds of motivation in me. The actual writing of the Fab 45 daily writing challenge stimulated the speed and volume of the connections. Once a day wasn’t enough, yet there was hardly time for that! And, client deadlines took priority of time and energy.
The pieces sit in draft form. Lots of them. Waiting for a little bit more writerly love. Apparently, it’s not unusual – this cessation, even after a super start.
“Why I haven’t written” is the subject line of an email pointing to a larger post written by Michael Peggs.
I, like many hundreds, have been following his piecing together of his program on branding and communication. I like his style very much and how he presents what needs to be done, step by step. He’s far more advanced than I am in my program development kamagra uk. He left standard employment life in 2014 and he launched You University and follow-up think tanks.
His blogs and website actually SELL something. They are monetized and have a uniform message. So, it was with great interests that I read what Peggs shared about putting on the brakes, a bit.
I related – because, dear reader, we all go through a similar process. There’s the creative struggle and the need to swim in the sea of promotion, planning and social networking through blogs or perhaps information marketing.
Here, in his own words, I’m sharing this week’s blog post and open letter by Michael Peggs:
Dedication requires separation, and in your separation you’ll find revelation.
My pastor shared this one Sunday, the week before I quit my job. It’s been seven months since I left the confines of corporate America to scale the walls of freedom. In all honesty, it’s been a harder climb than I anticipated. I expected to walk right into my new season but the chill from the coldest winter on record is just now rubbing off.
After you walk away the weekend fades, Monday comes and all you see is space. There’s so much time that time stands still. You’re frozen in the ambiguity of what comes next. It’s taken me seven months of soul-searching to figure it out.
For the first month, I was riding the wave of a viral video and so much attention that Kim K would be jealous. It was validating and that high lasted through Thanksgiving to the New Year.
January was just about Resume Remix, and it worked – $10,000 in sales in 5 days! I celebrated by taking a vacation, the first time I’ve gone on holiday in 2 years. Sitting on the beach and reading Seth Godin’s The Purple Cow, I had a great idea to gamify my podcast. When I got back to the States, not only did I complete 50 interviews in 3 weeks (crazy) but I also built a backend to this here blog that could accommodate a points program. February reset the foundation for things to come.
On March 2nd, You University launched and we quickly reached the iTunes Top New & Noteworthy podcasts in the Management & Marketing and Career sections. But I’m starting to feel like career isn’t my calling. The conversation needs to pivot and The Think Tank is my first “experiment” in engaging entrepreneurs. We went live in April and, so far, it’s working quite well.
Today, I’m talking to you – it feels really good to be back.
I’ve done a lot since October 3rd, 2014 but it’s all over the place. The only thing tying it all together is me and that’s not really a business – it’s busy for the sake of being busy. It’s one guy trying to figure it all out. So, for the sake of a solution, I stepped back. No more blogging. No more podcast interviews. No more clients or consulting fees. Not until I mapped it all out.
Silence.
I haven’t written in a while because I haven’t had anything to say.
There’s a time to talk, listen, reflect and renew. I’ve been focusing on the latter two.
My advice to Michael (not Peggs) a few months back is to wait, and not be tired by waiting. It’s a line from my favorite poem, If. The poem ends with:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
~Rudyard Kipling
I’ve been running for so long that I didn’t know how to slow down. So I stopped everything and I’m learning to walk again. I’m dedicating myself to going the distance but you can only go so fast, for so long before you miss the sign saying exit. I’m proceeding with caution.
Drive slow, homie
Drive slow, homie
If you’re riding around the city with nowhere to go
Live today, cause tomorrow, man, you never known
~Kanye West
For the moment, I’ve pulled off to the side of the road. Idle, but now fully in control.
Thanks for your patience. Stay tuned.
