The worst days are the most important

Image by Наталья Коллегова from Pixabay

I’ve been publishing content daily for more than two years by now and this is the most important lesson that I’ve learned. Never pre-produce your content! The best blogs and videos are created on the fly when you’re in the zone. You cannot pre-plan flow. However, writing a blog or recording daily videos has a flip side. What do you do when you are all out of inspiration? Sometimes life sends you a curveball and it is all but impossible to create. Today is one of those days, and I now wish that I had some pre-produced content ready to publish. But I don’t, so here I am anyway. And I guess that might be an even more important lesson.

Real growth occurs when you are at your lowest. At your worst. Every cell in your body screams “f**k it, I’m going to bed.” We all have such days. But the key factor here is that if I can produce a piece of content – like this blog post even when I don’t want to – I AM growing. That cannot be denied and that is the essence of what “Keep showing up” means. The sessions when you are on fire while writing are truly enjoyable, but I don’t think they are as important as the worst sessions. However I look at it, next weeks blog post will feel a lot easier than this one. It’s the same principle as riding a motorcycle. Sunshine on a bike is always better than in a car, because the biker has also driven through a rainstorm before. High peaks and low valleys. You don’t get that contrast when driving a car, comfy and not freezing your butt off.

It’s the habit that matters. Do something over and over again, consistently and once in a while a gem will be mined. Some blog posts and videos get a lot of traction, but I can never predict which one beforehand. So, it seems to me that the best bet is to just mash out quantity over quality. Throw a lot of things on the wall and see what sticks. Sometimes I am not even aware that I have entered the flow state. When you are consistent with an activity, it is impossible to NOT enter the flow state once in a while. Most of the content I produce, 95-99 % perhaps, is pretty low quality, and I don’t care about that anymore. Similarly, most of my drum practice sessions are horrible. It cannot be any other way! When practicing, you are utilizing skills that you do NOT have currently. You are outside of your comfort zone. It won’t sound good until you’ve increased your comfort zone enough to play the song. But on the other hand, playing a song without error can also be a clear sign that you are stagnating. I consider my blogs writing practice in the same way. And I enjoy the process. To practice writing is to practice thinking. Thoughts are abstract but as soon as you start to write them down, you must articulate them in an order that makes sense and be precise. The value of this practice cannot be overstated. And if you practice when you are having one of the worst days, just imagine how much less friction there will be on a good day.

That'll be it for today. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas holiday!