It’s natural that we, as human beings, when we decide that we want something, we want it as soon as possible.
Maybe it’s getting of debt and increasing our income; or maybe it’s acquiring a new skill, such as being able to speak a language, or becoming a better storyteller, or learning to cook Thai food at home. Or, really, maybe we simply want a really delicious Pad Kee Mao right now because we’re hungry and that sounds amazing. The thing is, we have a desire, and we want the cut through the clutter and find the best path to get us there as quickly as possible.
Does that ‘simple and easy’ path exist? Seth Godin doesn’t think so.
And he’s right. Rarely is there ever a magic button for us to to get what we want right now. OK, maybe that delicious Pad Kee Mow is just a phone call away, depending on where you live. But when it comes to learning those new skills–mastering them, to the point where you are satisfied with the results–there is no secret passageway through the clutter and pain and hard work. You actually have to face that work. You have to see it, acknowledge it, and then work your way through it.
Ira Glass says the exact same thing regarding storytelling, and creative endeavors in general. Doing satisfying work that matches your vision, your dreams, your expectations for what you want to create? “It’s going to take a while,” he says. “It’s normal to take a while. And you just have to fight your way through that.”
Hear him explain it:
“The most important possible thing you can do,” says Glass, “is do a lot of work.”
In other words, if you have a goal in mind, and you don’t feel you’re there yet, sitting around and being hard on yourself won’t help the situation. What will help the situation is taking action.
(By the way, if you like Ira’s message in the video above, and want to hear more on the topic, here is the original interview.)
As Seth Godin explains: “surgeons don’t sign up for medical school because they’re told that there is a simple, easy way to do open heart surgery.”
“If it was easy, everyone would do it.”
So remember that whole ‘writing every day’ thing that so many people talk about? It’s real. It’s just a cold, hard fact of writing. But you know that, right?
Now, the good news is that, once you start writing–once you start ‘taking action,’ and doing so on a regular basis–things will begin to open up. And actually, maybe, the concept of ‘writing every day’ is not as terrible as you thought and feared it might be. You’ll realize that, ‘Hey, I can do this.’