Writing to Write

Well, it’s been a month since my last post, which isn’t really that bad, by my standards. I’ve neglected blogs for periods much longer than that. Still, it’s not what I had planned.

I have decided that after all of the times over the years that I have felt the urge to write but procrastinated until the urge went away, this time I want to act on the urge. Not writing is one of the unhelpful, self-limiting habits I want to change before I die.

I’m not into bucket lists, but I’ve always been driven by a desire for self-improvement. Perhaps too much, at times. (Some self-improvement is a good thing: I want to always be learning and understanding myself more deeply. But, there is a time and place for self-improvement and there is a time and place for self-acceptance.)

At this time in my life (age 61), I’m tired of certain habits that don’t work for me. I’m tired of struggling with the same issues, thinking “some day I’ll get over that”, or “some day I’ll deal with that”. Ageing is becoming a process of deciding which things about myself I will finally accept and which I will finally change. For example, I have overcome my aversion to cooking and accepted my aversion to housework.

I am determined to write on a regular basis, and I can tell I have already made progress in shutting up my inner critic (thanks to The Inner Game of _____ books by Timothy Gallwey). That is encouraging, but I still struggle to get myself in front of the page. I procrastinate, I open the laptop and then go to YouTube instead of Word. You know how it goes. How to motivate yourself to write?

By writing. Not by waiting until you feel motivated or inspired first, because the chances of that happening are too low. Start writing, and the inspiration and motivation to write will catch up, which will lead to more writing. People tend to think they have to be inspired before they can be motivated to do something, but that’s not how it actually works.

Author Mark Manson calls this the “Do Something” principle. The inspiration—motivation—action sequence is actually backwards. Start with action, then the inspiration and motivation will come, leading to more action, and the cycle continues.

It doesn’t matter what you write at first, just start writing. Write one word. Write “one word” if you can’t think of anything else. You may be surprised how easily the words will start flowing. Keep at it. Go back and delete the first words you wrote if you have to, that’s fine.

The “Do Something” principle is especially helpful for people who are depressed, since depression makes it very difficult to muster much motivation.

So, here I am writing to get myself to write. That is the sole purpose of this blog post. Perhaps it will resonate with a reader or two.

Be good to each other,

J