A lot of time, more than I care to admit, goes into thinking about what to do and what might happen and too much of what I think might happen never happens.
Which means there is a lot of not happening — happening.
Last week, I shared Rachel Aaron’s 2k—10k book in my weekly email to the Creator Write Club.
Rachel is the author of 31 books at the time of writing.
But a few years ago, when she had a baby, Rachel found that all her writing time had disappeared.
She had a few precious hours when she sat down to write, but she spent half of that time figuring out what to write.
By the time she worked out what she wanted to write, all her time was gone.
To deliver her books, Rachel’s daily writing goal had to be ten thousand words; in her 2k to 10k book, she lays out how she made it happen.
TLDR:
- Know what you’re writing before you write it.
- Block out high-quality writing time — and commit to it.
- Be enthusiastic about what you are writing.
How simple is that?
That book is one of the things that has had my head spinning for years.
I can explain it to people, and many have gone off and taken action.
But I’ve never managed to nail it myself; if you opened my head and looked inside, there would be an army of little people talking about what I could, should, if I get around to it, consider writing about.
But the daily video has changed everything, which has taken a year.
The Video Challenge
In 2023, my friend Susan Payton invited the members of her Business Of Stories Course group to participate in a ninety-day video challenge.
My snarky policy is to avoid these public online challenges at all costs.
But this was a good bunch of people, and I was stuck in my marketing and scrambling to find my voice.
And to be even more transparent, I was scrambling to find myself.
I knew I needed change and was looking for something else because I was frustrated with my career and creativity.
I was shot to bits between COVID-19, spending two years on our start-up that died, and the move to Vigo in Galicia.
And it’s much nicer to be shot to bits in Vigo, Galicia, bathed in sunshine and eating good food.
Firing Bullets and cannon balls
I made a sixty-second video and posted it.
It was easy.
I spent more time thinking about what app to use than the video.
At the same time, I started a course called “Bring It!” designed for teachers, facilitators, leaders, coaches, and clowns.
Meeting a new group of people outside my usual network and industry and in the same coach and creator space became a significant next move.
I’d read Jamie Catto’s Insanely Gifted book when it came out a few years ago; I was drawn to his creative combination of documentary movie-making, music, coaching and irreverence.
These two things hit at the same time, and I kept going.
Ever since I got on the internet, I’ve been looking for something to post daily; over the years, I’ve tried a few things, but they have never stuck, or I lost interest.
The author, Jim Collins, talks about firing bullets and then firing cannon balls.
It’s a good path for a content creator to make a tweet or short video that they can then build into a blog post, talk, course, or book.
- The tweet or short video is a bullet.
- The book or course is a cannonball.
- For example, in the coworking world, it is a good idea to create a pop-up coworking group to build the community before you make a coworking space.
- The pop-up coworking space is a bullet.
- The final coworking space is a cannonball.
Had I fired all my balls
After we landed here in Vigo in Galicia, I felt like I’d fired all my cannon balls, and the only direct hit was the moving country one.
Then, one day, I woke up and had over two hundred videos online, and after a long time firing bullets and even shooting myself a few times, I’d got past the haze that I felt had cursed me.
Making as many short videos as I have means I’ve fired a lot of bullets and have a lot of data.
Making videos daily has been good for my soul and has become a habit.
Personally, I find the best habits and daily routines are the ones that make you annoyed with yourself when you have yet to do them.
I get edgy with myself when I don’t:
- Write my Sunday Scenario email
- Do my 750 Words
- Do daily exercise
- Make and post a daily video
- Send my daily Bernie’s Better Things email
When I’m at my best, I do all these things without thinking and relish the accomplishment that comes with them.
Driven to distraction
With all my excited neurodivergent ADHD and dyslexia things, I know I must put more effort into staying on task.
And I know I’m extraordinarily hard on myself — to the point of self-loathing and hatred.
Both of these come with their own “brand of frustration” for me and the people around me.
But when I get in my flow, I am in there 100% and can do amazing things.
When I have too many things to do, I don’t do any of them.
Breaking things down into little tasks and getting started is more challenging for me than catching a greased pig that has drunk too much Red Bull.
But I’ve always got involved in too many things, spread myself thinly, over-promised and got myself into all sorts of corners.
For me, pulling back on the throttle of the plane seconds before it is about to hit the ground is a huge dopamine hit.
But it is an exhausting and uncertain way of living and operating.
It’s good to ask for help
Getting advice got me to a point where that plane can cruise safely and enjoy the view, and now I’m looking for efficiencies to increase wind speed.
When you work for yourself or on your own, it is easy to lose your grip on what is happening and what to do next.
I need anchoring and help from other people to get anchored — to the point where I need apparent things pointed out.
I’ve accepted more help in the last year and got more serious about acting on it.
Looking back, large chunks of that time were like emptying a bathtub with a syringe.
I wanted to change, but I was stuck in a flight or flight mode — locked on unconscious habits that were running on autopilot.
Plus, I was attached to projects and ways of being that I hoped would work out or pay off, even though they were past their due date.
Why clear is kind
Sometimes, getting things pointed out to me is humiliating, frustrating, and awkward.
Both for me and the person who is pointing them out.
“How did I not see that? What is wrong with me?”
But these days, it occurs as a ‘clear is kind’ radical candour thing — and speeds things up — I want the path cleared.
In particular, both Ann and Emily have spent time investigating how I work, what I work on, and what issues I need to address.
Falling in love with the process, not the outcome.
Let’s look at Rachel’s TLDR again:
- Know what you’re writing before you write it.
- Block out high-quality writing time — and commit to it.
- Be enthusiastic about what you are writing.
The first one requires more work in the next few weeks; I spend too much time thinking about what to make a video about.
It is not the only thing I’m doing, but I wander all over for inspiration and have used a couple of hours up by the time I get to record it.
The weeks when I wake up and know the five videos I will do are way more productive.
This leads to point two — even if they don’t, good content creators know batch-processing podcasts, videos, and blogs is the most time-efficient way.
Blocking out time to do all five videos in one hit saves me at least five hours a week — mad, I know.
Five hours in both physical time and mental headspace.
Finally, making the video was easy because I’m enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the topics — I’m nuts about people knowing these things!
My next 12 Week Year
The next round of the 12-week year begins on July 1st 2024, and I’m going in with a narrow focus on three goals.
For this round, I’ll focus on falling in love with the processes rather than being attached to the outcome.
I firmly believe doing things and sharing your journey with people gets you further, faster and with less pain.
Reflecting on Rachel’s essentials
Knowing what to write, blocking out time, and maintaining enthusiasm changed my approach — I’ve gone beyond theory and live in action.
Are you up to transforming your workflow and creativity like I did?
Join a Community Builder Cohort hosted by Emily and me to become part of a small group that thrives on clarity, efficiency, and connection – join my Bernie’s Better Things email below to hear when the next opens for registration.
