Discipline Begets Discipline
When does the writing shift from fun to work? Pretty much as soon as I start writing. Sometimes, if I’m not sleep-deprived, the writing is good and comes with little resistance. But more often than not there is a struggle. I do most (>95%) of my writing in Google Docs, it’s very good and I’d like to write about why in another post at some point. But one of the problems with it is that it runs in a web browser. It’s good and bad. For research, I’m a simple crtl + t to a search engine. For procrastination, I’m a simple crtl + t to all those glorious sites of distraction. It’s the classic Spiderman line, ‘With great power, comes great responsibility.’ Enter: DISCIPLINE.
I wanted to write about discipline because I think it’s the most fundamental aspect to creating. Programming, drawing, writing—hell, weight lifting!—whatever the pursuit, discipline is the catalyst for growth and development.
The first part of my development towards discipline was getting up and getting my arse in the seat. It’s hard. But the more I did it, the easier it got. Couple this with the incentive of an early morning coffee and bam! the words come pouring.
But how long can I keep it up for? Twenty, thirty minutes? An hour? Quite soon my mind fights for the tension to slacken. Oh, a moment on Reddit? Oh, I wonder how much a graphics tablet is on Amazon? I’m getting really good at fighting that. And every morning, when I’ve done my one and a half, two hours of work and I’ve not given an inch to the monster, I come away happy.
Discipline compounds like interest; the quantity and quality of your work grows with it. It is the ability to be consistent, and consistency is where the magic happens.
I suppose this ramble is trying to say one thing: get disciplined. If you can do it, you can reach out and take as much marble as you like, and only then can you chisel out your statue.
GET SOME.