I almost missed yesterday’s post. As you probably know, I started a 365 days writing challenge at the beginning of the year. The goal is to publish an article every day of 2021, until it ends. In the beginning I even had enough slack to schedule articles for 2-3 days in advance, but that’s not the case anymore. On the contrary, it got so busy that yesterday I had to actually get up from bed, at 11PM, when I remembered I didn’t write my article, took out the laptop, wrote a few hundreds words and then hit “publish” 10 minutes before midnight.
Lately, it feels like the time I can dedicate to this project contracted.
The fact that I moved into a new country might have something to do with it. Planning, scheduling, budgeting, searching for a place to live, closing service contracts and bank accounts in one country while trying to open other service contracts and bank accounts in the new country, all this takes a lot of bandwidth. Sticking to the task at hand becomes a struggle.
And yet, “nearly missing it” is a million times better than “actually missing it”.
And it goes like that in every part of our lives. It’s ok to be derailed for a while. Happens. It’s ok to lose focus for a while, to regroup. Important. It’s ok even to sit back and do nothing important for a few weeks or months, just to allow those “batteries” to recharge.
What’s not ok is to miss it. To lose focus, to let is slip, to allow it to dissolve. And by “it” I mean everything that is important for you. A long term goal, like retiring early. A big project, like launching your own business. Everything that gives meaning to your life. Just stick to it. Even if you have only one hour left to finish that tiny part for the day, get up and finish it.
Maybe you won’t see the results immediately, maybe you won’t see the results in a month, or two, maybe not even in a couple of years.
But it all adds up. All these “nearly missing it” are stacking upon each other, creating a firmer land, a stronger foundation, a larger viewpoint.
It’s a long game.