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  • #330 You only need one

    You only need to stick to one new habit to prove to yourself that you can change.

    One habit. One small activity. One Teeny Tiny Trust Builder where you don’t give up, but stay on track.

    Why would you make this hard on yourself?

    Write one sentence a day.

    Learn one word a day.

    Meditate for 1 minute.

    Make it ridiculously small if you want.

    But stick with it.

    Stick with it on day one. And the next day. And the next. And also on the day when the universe seems to conspire against you.

    Stick with it, because that one silly little activity can be the start of a changed life.

  • #9 Admiring early work

    Admiring (flawed) early work is easy when we already know the late work is going to be great.

    Everyone forgives Picasso or Da Vinci for a lousy early sketch. In fact, people pay good money to hang one in their living room.

    Maybe the early work, showing that even the greats are mere mortals on a journey towards excellence, is the most valuable?

    And yet, it’s much harder to be gentle on a beginning artist for shipping mediocre creative work – not in the least for the beginning artist themselves – when their path to excellence hasn’t unfolded yet.

    After all, something that one day will be “my early work” is still “my current best work” today.

    The road to excellence is invisible from the trenches.

    But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

    Which makes me wonder…

    When I know that through persistence and daily practice, one day, I’ll look back on today’s creation, smiling, thinking: “Oh how far I’ve come… How much I’ve learned… And some of this was actually pretty good…”

    Can I admire my creative work less for what it looks, feels, or sounds like, and more for who I’m becoming through making it?

    Can I do the same for the creative projects of others?

    With that mindset… How much easier and forgiving would the daily creative journey be?

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