Doing The Thing
Most creators don’t quit because the work is too hard.
They quit because they’re too busy orbiting it.
When things are going right, things I read online serve as a launchpad for new ideas. I like tapping into other people’s brains. I want to think about something they’re thinking about – mainly, to think about something other than whatever I’m thinking about at that moment.
It’s cheaper than therapy.
Reading what other people are writing about, what they’re contemplating or interested in, shifts my worldview.
Often, the nudges are subtle, a tenth of a degree this way or that. On rare occasions, the violence throttles me into a new mental plane of reality.
And many times, these people provide that shift just by sharing cool shit they’ve found.
Often, that’s all I need – a quick spark to get the kindling going. The will is there. I’m in the chair, ready to work, always thanks to discipline (rarely inspiration). I consider a new idea, and the Muse begins to whisper her wisdom in my ear – wisdom that usually has abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with whatever it was I just read.
Chances are you’re reading this at a time when we are just starting our relationship. I do believe in transparency. Therefore, this is a “Maximum Effort” post that, in reality, is just a quick note from me sharing something cool I’ve found.
The essay things that aren’t doing the thing by Strangest Loop came to me when I needed to hear it. (Shoutout to Chris Williamson for reading it on a Modern Wisdom podcast that made its way into a Bose earbud amid a sweaty August garage workout session in Travis County).
I was swirling – just circling the drain on too many ideas, too many “optimizations,” and a healthy dose of standard issue procrastination.
What I needed to be doing was writing.
When creating something new that you plan to share with the world, getting pulled into tons of side missions is easy. Some of those quests are necessary to launch your ideas into existence. But none of them are truly doing the thing – doing the necessary work to bring whatever you’re creating to life.
So this is a thing about doing the thing.
And I hope it gives you a little of what it brought to me.
THINGS THAT AREN’T DOING THE THING.
Preparing to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Scheduling time to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Making a to-do list for the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Telling people you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Messaging friends who may or may not be doing the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Writing a banger tweet about how you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Hating on yourself for not doing the thing isn’t doing the thing. Hating on other people who have done the thing isn’t doing the thing. Hating on the obstacles in the way of doing the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Fantasizing about all of the adoration you’ll receive once you do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Reading about how to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. Reading about how other people did the thing isn’t doing the thing. Reading this essay isn’t doing the thing.
The only thing that is doing the thing is doing the thing.