People are impressed by what they can't do.

Hence I'm impressed by discipline.  Someone who can do the same action every day.  Such as swim, run, get up at 4am to row, put up a blog post everyday, work methodically towards something (i.e., write 10,000 words a day), get up every morning at the same time, or follow a routine.

I don't see myself as being very good at all that.  Which is why my New Year's resolution for the year was to post a blog post everyday.

What are you impressed by?  What goal can you set for yourself around that?

Getting myself in the mood to write can be difficult.

Sometimes, when I'm out and about, my brain comes up with one or two ideas at once, and I can't wait to write them down; but I don't have a pen.  When I get home though, I can't remember what I was thinking.

Other times when I come up with an idea, the more I think about it, the more I realise my idea wasn't that great to begin with anyway.

And in the rarest occasion, I've cleared my schedule to write, and nothing wants to come out.

I think my mind is scared I'll make a mistake and others won't like what I write.  I guess that's why Picasso said "it took me 4 years to paint like Raphael but a lifetime to paint like a child".

A young child isn't inhibited by a fear of failure, criticism and judgements.  Adults on the other hand, can vividly remember conversations of people laughing at their ideas, telling them things aren't possible, telling them they're not capable, and telling them to take the safer route.

Which is why young children can just release what's within; and that's what I'm going to try to do when I write.

When you do something, do it whole and completely so that it's done to the best of your ability, then ship.  Your attention to detail shows that you care.

Perfection is unattainable.  You're never going to get something that's perfect, done.  Not with your budget.  Not with your timeframe.  Not so that you can test it to see if that's what people really want.  Perfection is an oasis.

So don't aim for that.  Come up with a good enough that satisfies most of your perfect criteria.  That fits your budget.  That fits your timeframe.  That gets you one step closer to your ultimate goal.  Then ship!

No doesn't mean…

I hate you.

You suck.

Your project is stupid.

You're not good enough.

You're wasting your time on your project.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Your family should be ashamed of you.

You're arrogant.

You're a publicity whore.

You're fake.

Your work sucks.

I don't know how you got so far in life with that.

No just means no.