I think we’re all energized when we set ourselves to something and see it through to fruition. Every time I take on a new project and reach the end of it successfully, it’s like I’ve gotten a breath of fresh air in my lungs. That feeling helps me not only get through the current day, but it leads me into and through the days ahead.
As an example, I just last night finished the rough draft of my first novel. I’ve been promising to write a book for about 30 years, and every year I’ve sat with regret for not getting started. The lack of accomplishment felt like a lead weight. This year, as summer approached, I began telling people that I was finally going to write that novel. Just doing that kind of put me on the hook to actually follow through because I knew that there were folks who would be asking me how the book was going.
The big difference was that, for the first time, I actually started writing. Each chapter was another milestone, and the further I got into the book, the more I saw that I could actually accomplish a longtime goal. So, on September 27 at about 9 p.m., I put the finishing touches on the final chapter, and the lead weight was finally cut loose. I felt a freedom in getting just that much done, but now I’m even more exciting for the editing and, hopefully, the publishing of the book. And I’m already planning which book I’m going to write next.
Being productive is a part of human nature, something that, when we ignore it, weighs us down just as much as concrete boots. We should all have goals that we want to achieve, and we should all experience the freedom, liberty and joy that comes with achieving them.
