The Day-to-Day Slog of Success

What I read: How to Live Your Best Life as A Writer-Creator by August Birch in The Book Mechanic on Medium. Published February 15, 2021.

In my mind I thrive on randomness. Well, that is what I have told myself for years. Over a lifetime of attempting to adhere to a daily schedule, for anything whatsoever, I have consistently encountered internal reticence if not outright self-inflicted disdain.

Whether I am trying to churn out words for my writing projects, get in better shape through exercise, or stick to a reading and study plan, firm planning seems to be anathema to my preferred existence. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

I am however a believer in facts, research and data. When applied to my own life I try to follow the facts where they lead. My track record with doing so in other aspects of my life has been rather good for such things as forming opinions about our government’s policies or adopting a climate change mindset that syncs with reality. Yet, I have sometimes lacked the initiative to apply that same sense of integrity of verified information to other aspects of my life, and one of those aspects is my relationship to what the article I read addresses, often referred to as a “daily practice.”

While the article ends trying to sell you a class (which I have no reason to believe is not excellent having read the writer’s work many times), it is the frontmatter of the article I hope you will take to heart. August Birch suggests that creatives of any type should stick to a daily practice and not focus on the outcome of their work so much. I contend most pursuits of passion or dedication are creative on some level and his directive applies to most of what we do in life at which we are trying to excel.

Birch states that he can’t control the end result of his work (in his case, writing). He can’t control if someone will like his work. He can’t control if he gains fans or followers. He can’t ultimately control sales. The only thing he can definitely control is putting in the time, consistently, every day, for life. That is essentially what a daily practice is, being focused and consistent in the work we put in every day for whatever it is we are trying to do to better ourselves and our work.

Birch says,

The one thing I can control is the daily practice. I can get up, punch the clock and turn the crank until my shift is done. I can try to be a little better today than I was yesterday

One of the most popular bloggers currently is Seth Godin who focuses much of his work on the topic of marketing, but I recently wrote a review of his book The Practice: Shipping Creative Work. Again, while the book ostensibly applies to the work of creatives, I believe it benefits any type of work we do whether that is your day job or passion project.

Here is part of my review.

So much self-help material focuses on goals and objectives. They seek to help us solidify the target in the future while often not helping us much with determining how to get there. Godin takes an alternate approach.

Think of the writer who writes every day, the artist who paints or sculpts every day, the tech startup CEO who sets aside uninterrupted time for nothing but idea generation, the retail clerk who engages in self-reflection every day to further improve their service, or the knitting craftsperson who watches an instructional video every day to improve what they do.

There is no pursuit, professional or otherwise, that does not benefit from having a personal practice that pushes one through the ups and downs of engaging deeply and meaningfully in an interest.

I see a personal practice as establishing some sort of routine, a habit even, by which you dedicate a certain amount of time or chunk of your life to pursuing one (or more) things that are important to you. It might be your day job career, or it might be another way you offer your unique gifts to the world.

I published that review in November 2020 and guess what? I ignored the advice and fell back into my old habits of randomness. Admittedly, I am sometimes quite productive through randomness, but I decided to try some experiments because that’s just how I roll.

I chose my writing as the first test subject. I planned for and stuck to a simple 5-day daily commitment of heads down, uninterrupted writing for an hour each day. The results were significant. The first two days of the experiment I ended up writing an entire article, editing it, and delivering it to the client four weeks ahead of schedule.

Then I chose as my next test subject my day job (I work in technology). I set aside two sharply focused hours every day for a full week to plow through work emails, deliverables, and projects. I did not consider meetings part of this focused work. Again, the results spoke for themselves. It felt like I got three weeks of work done in one week.

I chose one more test subject – walking. Rather than randomly going for a walk, knowing daily walks are incredibly good for both the body and mind, I committed to a brisk 30-minute walk every day. While assessing how one physically feels or how one’s mind functions after such an experiment could end up subjective without some scientific apparatus intervention, I could absolutely tell the difference. I felt better. My thinking was sharper and more creative.

These results felt definitive to me.

So, I had to have a come to Flying Spaghetti Monster (my form of non-theistic deity – an internet search will explain it) moment with myself. If I indeed respect the scientific method of inquiry, how could I ignore my own experiments with setting aside chunks of time to focus on my pursuits. I could not. The hypocrisy would be too great.

Therefore, I offer to you the strong suggestion that you give such a daily practice a try. Keep it simple. Keep it consistent. 15 minutes a day done regularly is more effective than a scattershot hour here and there.

I recommend Godin’s book, but if you would like to read a more concise case for engaging in a regular daily practice, check out Leo Babauta’s The Incredible Progress of Daily Practice or do a search on “daily practice” and you will find many articles on the topic.

Start slowly. Maybe dedicate 15 minutes a day to something you want to do – writing a book, getting in better shape, or organizing your dresser drawers. I think you will be happy with the results.

Let me end by stating what I often say in situations like this when I dole out advice of any sort. Your practice, assuming you choose to adopt one, does not need to look or function like anyone else’s. For example, writers sometimes say to dedicate a certain chunk of writing time in a specific location such as an office. That’s great, for them. For others, the practice and process they adopt might be quite different.

As an example, the New York Times recently published a profile by Elizabeth A. Harris of the extremely successful mystery writer Harlan Coben, Harlan Coben, Suburban Dad With 75 Million Books in Print. Coben defies the “write in one place for a certain amount of time” directive. He is undoubtedly prolific, producing 33 captivating novels that have captured readers’ attention. But his process is unique, writing as much as he can whenever he can in coffee shops, libraries, and even in the back seat during Uber rides. He has created a practice and process that works for him. Perhaps you should do the same.

When I read the profile of Coben I immediately recognized a bit of me in his story. I too often prefer to write in various locations. I once wrote an entire magazine article on my cell phone while standing on a commuter train. My creative juices seem to flow with that kind of environment variety.

I recognized that while Coben’s process probably appears “random,” it is not entirely random. It is still a daily practice. His practice just doesn’t have the structure of a static location at specific times of day, but it’s a daily practice nonetheless.

So, after my experiments with a more disciplined daily practice, I will continue to craft a practice that works for me and will allow it to unfold as works best for my needs. Again, I hope you do the same. Honoring our uniqueness is always an advisable strategy.

The main benefit of a daily practice is the fostering of focus. We direct our attention all over the place during an average day and having some practice by which we calm all the externals down except for that activity on which we want to focus is the golden ring of useful productivity. Exactly how you get to that dedicated focus is up to you.