Creating with intention
This is the best piece of advice I have received: If you’re planning on a miracle, you don’t have a plan.
A large sum of money that suddenly comes into your possession. A phone call from a famous person who wants to interview you. A perfect press announcement in the nation’s most popular newspaper. A prize.
Plan on making your own miracle. You’ll be a lot more successful that way.
What if nobody comes? If your product isn’t well received? If you get one bad review after the next?
What if you thrill five people? And those five people are so impressed by your work that they tell their friends. Then five more people try your services or show up to your event or read your book. And out of those five, two people are so deeply moved that they share with their friends.
That’s how movements begin.
This is very different from the fast-track to fame we so often read about. It is difficult to catapult to the top of the “best list,” to become the richest and most sought after in one swoop. But slowly, with time, your work can amass a following.
The question is whether you have the patience to see it through. Can you delight in pleasing five people instead of 50? 1,000?
Your work is your art. Five people could mean success.
What are the habits that define you? What are the actions that you take every day, no matter what? What are your “non-negotiables,” aspects of your day that you refuse to compromise, day in and day out?
Now…what do you want to change?
In one week, I challenge you to bring more awareness to your daily routine and incorporate a new element that supports your health and wellbeing. (What exactly that “new element” is, I’ll leave up to you.)
Day 1. Record your day. Observe your habits, places you unknowingly spend time. Certain rituals may occupy your days. Don’t judge, simply note your routine in a journal.
Day 2. Add something new. Drink hot water with lemon and honey first thing in the morning. Commit to a twenty-minute online yoga video. Go for a walk when you return home in the evening. Notice how this addition makes you feel.
Day 3. Repeat the same deliberate action you performed yesterday and aim to repeat it for the next four days.
Day 4. Reward yourself for your new commitment and treat yourself to something “out of the ordinary,” something that feels good. Dawdle over your morning coffee. Settle into a cozy café with a newspaper. Stop for a scoop of ice cream after work.
Day 5. Encourage someone else. Now that you are slowly filling your own cup, it is easier to support others. Say a positive word or publicly recognize a colleague’s work ethic. Notice how it feels to give.
Day 6. You may be tempted to “skip” whatever habit you committed to. Don’t. Write down any resistance you might have, note any obstacles that seem to get in the way of your own self-care: negative thinking, hectic scheduling, boredom, apathy. Keep going.
Day 7. Small actions create a ripple effect. Consistency builds over time and slowly, more discipline, more thoughtfulness, and more ease will come into your life. Decide what you want to invite in. Continue your “new element,” or try something else for the next seven days.
It might never be.
You will always find another mistake. Another word to change. A function to edit, a feature to add. The work is knowing you’ve put in your best effort and have done your due diligence.
Ship courageously. Click publish. Release your art into the world.
That’s what this group did — A group of twenty young people, hand picked from many, many applications, were given the assignment to write an ebook together. Except they were only given one hour and twenty minutes to complete it and publish it online.
This wasn’t simply a writing exercise. This was a teaching moment, an experience in vulnerability, connection, community, and risk taking. A practice in connecting ideas and people in a meaningful way. These students learned to alternate between stepping back and seeing the whole picture, then leaning in and dissecting the work before stepping back and reviewing the vision all over again.
They learned that fear is a powerful roadblock, but one that can be picked up and moved. Anytime. Anywhere. They practiced listening. They saw first hand that when you ask the right questions and stop to listen, the world unfolds before you. And they learned to step into the unique role that only you can create for yourself.
You have far more control over your destiny than you could ever possibly imagine.
What if something better comes along? What if this is the wrong choice? What if I am not ready? Decision paralysis.
When you’re struggling to make a decision, imagine yourself choosing a definitive answer. Observe how you feel. Do your insides drop with dread, or does your heart skip with anticipation?
Often times we spend so much time analyzing and researching that we forget to consult the most important measure: Does it feel good? Will my decision bring me happiness? Does this choice feel exciting or laborious?
If you’re looking forward to whatever it is you might choose, you’re on the right track. If you’re not, say no.
Chase your excitement and choose happiness.