Starting?, yes. Finishing?, not so much.
On being creative, multi-talented, and always looking for the right thing.
After starting, editing, and discarding a few post ideas, I decided to settle on this. It fits squarely into the idea of living a life that matters because, after all, to live a life that matters to you, you need to be thoroughly honest, learn about yourself more and more, and tweak, change, or discard that which doesn’t reflect who you truly are any more. Or maybe that’s just another way of saying, “Will the real me please stand up?”
Well, we’re out of the starting blocks (to take a metaphor from my athletics days).
So far in this newsletter, I’ve posted an Introduction to A Life That Matters (the newsletter, not the underlying philosophy) and asked When You Look Back, What Do You See? Thank you to those who read, pondered and commented.
First, Me
I’m fighting something.
Something I need to come to grips with.
(I told you I wanted to be very open and thoroughly honest here).
And it may be that you, or someone you know, is having the same experience.
“Will the real me please stand up?”
Last week, the title was When you look back, what do you see? And when I look back, especially on the last 10 years or so, I see - regarding my work efforts - all sorts of ideas, projects, initiatives and messages.
In fact, my journals/notebooks are full of them. I have photos of whiteboards I’ve created mapping out all sorts of ideas that will change the world. Stacks of post-it notes have been made, moved aside and then photographed or discarded.
I won't bore you with the details here; suffice it to say there are a lot of ideas!
For a while there, I was getting pretty down about them all. Mainly because I desperately wanted them to work. As in, I wanted people to find them useful, to get scores of followers (because my fundamental motivation is to influence people’s thinking and actions), and even to create an income that would replace what I earned from corporate training and coaching.
Trouble is, none of that was happening. Sure, I sold a few online video courses. Yes, a few handfuls of people subscribed. No, I did not earn a steady new income stream.
And it got me down.
Actually, truth be told, I struggled with depression because of it.
As it turns out, that 10-year period came on the heels of a very challenging 5-year period before that. One that included leaving my long-held religion, separating from my ex-wife after 29 years, empty nest, dislocation, and financial strain, to name a few. So, it’s probably no wonder I struggled.
So there I was, sitting alone (although my wife is extremely supportive), with a series of what I perceived to be failed experiments littering the floor around me.
What to do?
In truth, I don’t know.
Here are some things I’ve realised (I’m quite good at this part):
If I’m honest, this is me.
This thing I have where I seem to constantly come up with new ideas is not a problem. It’s a reflection of my nature and tendencies. I am a curious, pondering, inventive person. So part of how that manifests is I come up with lots of ideas.
Funny, actually. For a long time, when I heard someone say they were ‘a creative,’ my first thought was, ‘Well, I’m not really.’
But actually, I am. And it’s OK.
Not all rocks are gems
Reading about people throughout history who have invented, created, and started things of value, it seems that having a multiplicity of ideas is quite normal. In other words, think up 100, advance 10, maybe succeed with 1.
So, really, I may be only half-way there!
It seems your input is much bigger than your output, whereas I thought that everything I came up with was a winner. Not so.
Birth is hard work
Birthing new things is just hard work. (I’ve been present at three births, and let me just say, I’m glad I’m a man!). But you know what I mean, right? Conceiving ideas, putting some structure into them, trying to see whether they’ll have a life….it’s hard.
If you’re in the world of online publishing, posting or distribution (which anyone with posting, connecting, writing, podcasts or videos is) there are an algorithmically nauseating number of experts to help you “get your first $10,000 month,” “easily build your list like I did” and “launch your podcast and grow your audience in 6 months!”
Which only pushes you further into depression if you can’t seem to emulate their results.
At the end of the day, these claims are unlikely to work for the majority.
Take one step, then another, then another, then another….
We need to manage the downside
A wise man once said to me that I should enjoy the gifts I’ve been given. But I also need to manage the downside of those gifts. (I prefer to see them as abilities)
Gift = creativity.
Downside of the same = a tendency to be good at starting creative things, but not be so good at finishing them.
Over to You
Most people I know have some dreams or ideas of what they want to do in their life:
It may be that big solo trip they’ve wanted to do overseas.
Could be a new venture that’s been brewing.
Volunteering in another, poorer country, perhaps.
Possibly a book they want to write.
A skill they’ve wanted to learn but never got started on.
A hands-on project at home in their garage - a handbuilt canoe or old car.
Researching a book of family history they wanted to compile.
The problem usually is life gets in the way.
But as you get older, you realise time is finite. Life is finite.
So, my friend, if something is calling you, my take on it is this:
You should find a way to start. Either do, or do not as Yoda says in Star Wars.
You will probably need to decide what to stop in order to make room. Adding it into your existing life is unlikely to work. There’s too much going on.
You may find it difficult to get up and running, or maybe not. Don’t expect it to come easy. Have courage. Be determined.
It won’t necessarily end up in its first version. Draft, try, iterate, try, iterate, try again.
And may this be a motivation for you:
Life is short.
Not everything matters.
Live accordingly.
Comment Starters (to use for comments below)
Do you have something within you that you want to bring about? What is it?
Who is someone ‘not-famous’ who inspires you? Why?
How many coffees should one have in a day?