Where do we get that “work ethic” that work has to be hard (and not fun) and play has to be fun (and not hard)?
What if we just scrapped that?
Yesterday I wrote an epilogue to my novella, The Unknowing Majestic Mystic: Thailand. I wrote an epilogue only because I didn’t want the story to be over. I think it was over, it seemed to be over, it was probably a good idea that it ended, it might have gone on longer, but I just didn’t want it to be over.
Because I was having just too much fun with it.
But that’s OK because now I have to get back to the “hard” and “serious” work of my non-fiction book, “Every Single Day.” Now I have to get back to work. That must have just been “play” what I was doing, and we all know all play and no work makes Johnny a dull boy. No, wait, it’s all work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy. I don’t even know Johnny. I’m not Johnny. Are you Johnny? Who is Johnny and why should I care what makes him dull?
You see, what’s happened is that my nonfiction book has catapulted me into a place of confidence where I don’t have to write nonfiction, I can write fiction. I have “done the work” and am in a place where I’m now “allowed to play.”
But the “work” has become my “play.”
What used to be difficult is no longer difficult. The formerly thought of “dream career” is real, I’m doing it, I’m living it. But how did that happen? I have to give credit to Every Single Day and I can’t just toss it under the bus.
I need to remember this as I’m now 54 days out from the publication of Every Single Day and, here comes the cold hard fact: just because I have used ESD to get me to a place above (and far beyond) where I ever dreamed I might have been at this stage, I need to remember what things were like on Day One. No, really, read the first paragraph from that guy back on November 1, 2012 who wrote that. I don’t even recognize that person.
So what happened?
I’ve allowed play into my life.
I’m allowed to write fiction. I’m allowed to choose to write nonfiction. It’s OK to follow my energy, my heart, my whatever-you-want-to-call-it and do what makes me happy, whole, and who I truly am.
But I have put in the time. I’ve created a life where this is possible. I put in the work Every Single Day. It’s that simple. No, it really is.
I see you judging. I see you doubting. Banish the doubt. It’s as simple as Every Single Day.
I don’t care if you don’t think you have 100 days in you or 1,000 days sounds like a marathon you don’t want to start. I honestly only care about your today. Today is Day One, today is just One Day.
For me, putting on my headphones and diving into the life of Charlie Holiday is my cotton candy, my candy store, my forbidden fruit that I’m allowed to eat — as much as I want, as much as I can get.
It doesn’t cost me energy, it gives me energy. It doesn’t take time, it creates time.
What does that for you? When does time cease to exist? When are you in flow? Do you need to do a little more work to get there? Tell me, when you get there, when you see yourself as your future self and you look back, will you say, “That was so worth it.”?
How does your current self start to transform into that future self? Let me tell you, it doesn’t start with 100 days from now or even 1,000 days from now. It starts today and I’ll let you guess how often it happens. You got it: Every Single Day.
See, I can find the passion of my Every Single Day project if I just step back into the shoes I was wearing some years back when I was scared, apprehensive, and just plain incredulous that I could ever be who I am today.
Oh, wanna know a little secret? I still feel like I’m just getting started and although I have reached the summit of the mountain, there are many mountains that I now see that I can’t wait to conquer. Why is it so easy? Because this is fun, this is play.
Ready to play?