Make Stuff Every Day

Yes!

YES!

A big yes to this blank screen.

I love it.

Just try to stop me, Resistance.

Okay, what am I writing about today?

What is alive for me?

Being creative.

Creating.

Consistently creating.

Consistently creating and putting it out there for others to find, but not worrying at all about whether or not anyone is finding it or caring about it.

First step is to show up, create something, make it public, and do that every day without skipping a single day for 180 days.

Why 180 days?

They say you need sixty-something days to build a new habit.

Not true.

I tried that and failed.

Nine years ago I vlogged for 67 days in a row and as soon as I was done, I was DONE.

I was cooked.

I picked 67 days specifically because I was intending to create a habit of being a YouTuber, fully intending to continue making videos after completing the challenge.

But I didn't.

When it's something truly creative, can push through Resistance for sixty-something days to hit a goal, but if it's something big and important and daunting that still might not be enough momentum to keep us moving forward.

At least, it wasn't for me.

But what if we triple that?

What if we put our hearts and souls into a practice where we applied ourselves every day toward some craft for 180 days?

How much more ingrained would that daily practice be?

How much momentum would that build?

How would our identity shift?

How much stronger than our Resistance will we have become?

We can probably build a simple habit in sixty-something days if it's a small, like meditating for ten minutes every morning or making our bed as soon as we get up.

But sitting down, opening ourselves up to ideas, and creating something, whether it's writing, music, painting, business, YouTube videos, or whatever, is something else entirely.

That's beyond a habit.

That's a major lifestyle shift.

That's "turning pro," as Steven Pressfield would say.

That's going from being "someone who is trying to write" to being "a writer."

Period.

At least, that's what it is for me, since writing is my chosen craft.

I would love to do more than just write.

I mean, I didn't spend thousands of dollars on videography gear (cameras, lenses, microphones, etc) to not do video and just write.

It's just, there's more friction with having to do all the stuff involved in creating a video: writing scripts, setting up lighting, filming shots, editing it all together, creating a title, a thumbnail, writing the description, etc.

Each step in the process is another step where Resistance will try to stick out one of its mangled, ugly legs and trip me.

So I'm starting simple.

For now I'm just writing, but I'm writing every day and I'm trying to get better at it and share it publicly so that it's out there for the world to see that I am not missing a single day of this practice.

And I'm doing it for at least 180 days.

So maybe it's not "just writing."

I'm truly dedicating myself to the art and craft of writing.

I'm working with ideas every day.

I'm getting better at being open to new ideas, composing those thoughts, and expressing myself with as much transparency as I can muster.

It's kind of a big deal, even if the daily act is a small seemingly unimportant one.

Over time, my skill and momentum will compound and that process will transform who I am and what I am capable of.

I'll probably start making stuff to put on YouTube within the coming months, but even when I do, writing will continue to be my #1 daily priority.

It is my daily devotional practice.

It is my offering to the Muse.

We should all be making something every day.

It doesn't have to be a 1,000 word blog post that takes an hour and a half to write (like this one did).

It can be any form of self-expression.

It can be something that only takes you 10 minutes to create.

The magic is in doing it daily.

It may seem insignificant, but so too does a wittle-bitty snowball at the top of a snow covered mountain.

That is, until it starts rolling and eventually becomes a massive boulder with a ton of momentum behind it.

Start small, make something, share it someway-somehow-somewhere for others to see your offering, and repeat that process every single day.

Everyone can do this.

Everyone can make 5 or 10 minutes for something this important, and this could change their life.

And those who are really serious about creating will devote at least an hour.

Start today.

Tomorrow is already too late.

Tomorrow will never come.

You only have today.

Even if you're reading this right before bed, you can create something and post it online in less than 10 minutes.

If that seems impossible, then do it in 5 minutes.

It doesn't have to be perfect.

It will never be perfect.

Perfection is like the horizon.

No matter how fast you travel or how far you'll go, you can never reach the horizon.

But you can aim for it and you can progress toward it, and that progress, in this case, looks like making something–however bad it might be–and posting it someplace where others–the Muse included–can see it.

I am stoked to be on this journey with you.

Thank you for showing up.

Thank you for reading this.

I hope the Muse shows up for you today.

But remember, we have no control over the Muse.

So, more importantly, I hope you show up for the Muse today.

We can control whether or not we show up and create something.

The more the Muse sees our daily dedication, the more we inspire Her.

Through our daily creative act, She will overflow with inspiration.

And who will She think to pour that overflowing inspiration into?

You guessed it.

So don't wait.

Start today.

Today is our day!

Muse's blessings,
Acme

P.S. The Muse is especially impressed by those who make an honest effort toward creating something every single day without missing any days.