The last 48 hours have been a whirlwind!
If we haven’t connected over Facebook or Twitter or Medium, here’s what has transpired over the past 48 hours…
- I submitted my latest post “3 Pages Every Morning” onto Medium, into the Life Learning collection.
- It seemed to strike a chord, and on Sunday it became the #2 top story on Medium.
- On Monday, the trend continued and it remained #2 in the world. But then someone poured fuel onto the fire…
- Arianna Huffington (co-founder of Huffington Post) shared my article on all of her social channels.
- Soon after, the New York Observer reached out and asked if I’d be interested in having my article republished with them. I said yes.
If you’re a new subscriber because of that explosion — welcome, thank you and hello! An extra thank you for joining me back on my home turf, GiveLiveExplore.
Thank you all, so so very much. Between Arianna Huffington sharing my article, and the thousands of people who aren’t Arianna, it’s been a ride.
Normally I hustle for that kind of attention, but she found that one all on her own! And it’s still circulating. Medium’s discoverability engines are still sending it ’round and more people keep sharing it.
But the thing that really rocked me is how many of you swarmed to support and congratulate me. I’m such a lucky guy to have friends and followers (many of whom I’ve never met) like you. I had a feeling this one might resonate for a few, but nothing like this.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This one’s for the record books.
If you’ll entertain it, I’d like to take you with me 10 days back in time.
I was sitting alone in my room, at my desk, laptop open, pounding away at the keys. It was a sunny Saturday morning in London. Morning became afternoon and afternoon became evening. It was 8pm and I’d spent my entire day inside writing. Writing some stupid blog post about Morning Pages and daily habits.
At some point I made the fatal mistake of zooming out of my body to look at myself toiling away. I looked silly and lonely, working away at something indescribable at the time. Loud voices chimed in:
“What are you doing?”
“You’re wasting your time.”
“What’s the point of it all?”
“You should be outside in the sun. Out having fun. With other people. Doing things that normal people do on a sunny Saturday.”
The truth is I had no idea what I was doing and to what end I was doing it. Writing and sharing things through writing matters deeply to me. I feel this. But when I think about it with my head, I question it and I’m not always sure why it does.
There was a little spark in me. It was the same impulsive little spark that encouraged me to start writing the damn thing in the first place that morning. It’s the same spark that urged me to do a handful of other things in the past few years that led me to this post today.
Something in me cared about the writing, even if it didn’t stand up to reason. Then, a quieter voice:
“Don’t worry about all that nonsense. Just keep writing.”
I’m never sure how I manage to quiet those other voices. Even in writing this post, the voice is back:
“Don’t be so self-indulgent. No one really cares.”
These voices! They’re so convincing and mostly spot on.
But I think I’ve been gifted with the ability to tell a story. And I guess I feel a calling to try to be a living example — to live a good story. What you’re all witnessing is the story of me trying to own and appreciate and grow into that.
So again, Thank You. Thank you for joining me along for this ride.
I’ll also say this: if you’re toiling away at something that starts with a spark inside and you hear those loud voices — don’t listen to them.
There might be something on the other end of your toil. There also may not be. In the end, I don’t think what’s at the end matters much. But you’ll never know what’s there unless you press through and past those voices.
To quote Mr. Steven Pressfield:
“Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”
And today, right now, what would Steven say?
“Good for you. Now start the next one. Get back to work. Stay stupid. Trust the soup. Start before you’re ready.”
Happy Wednesday. It’s back to work.
