A Full Year of Writing - Where to go from here
It has been a full year since I started writing. What started as an all-out sprint of content has become a slow and steady pace. I had heard many times of the benefits of writing/journaling, but nothing brought those lessons home-like actually doing it.
Nothing will bring clarity like trying to form words around the thoughts/beliefs that float around in your head all day long. It has helped me see things that I may have avoided or brushed off before. It has undoubtedly made me a better person.
But now I find myself languishing a bit. I set a good routine, got knocked out of it, and am struggling to get back on course. I’ve had a lot of questions the last few weeks. I’ve started to come to terms with where these questions are coming from, and believe I have a pretty good idea.
True behavior change is identity change. You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you’ll stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity.
The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader.
The goal is not to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner.
The goal is not to learn an instrument, the goal is to become a musician.
Know what result you want, work backwards to find what type of person could get those results.
This is a passage from Atomic Habits, by James Clear. It is a book I’ve seen recommended more than a dozen times, but haven’t taken the time to read it. After yet another recommendation, I decided to look for a summary.
That last line, in particular, gave me some clarity. I’ve written multiple times that entrepreneurship feels like a trek through the jungle. I believe it is because I’ve yet to set myself a clear destination. I’ve assigned myself some habits but I haven’t totally internalized them. I’m still treating them as a chore rather than as something that is a part of my identity.
The habits revolve around health and productivity, but I haven’t figured out what I actually want from the habits. The end goal is vague. “I want to be healthier and improve my business.” Ok, but what is the actual destination?
For instance… What is the actual business I’m working toward? A few years ago I set the vague goal of having at least 5 income streams bringing in at least $10k/year income each. I don’t have one yet. I’ve dabbled in a lot of different ways to earn income in the real estate space, but I do not yet have a consistent repeatable business.
Technically my agent business hits above that number, but that is more of a job. It isn’t a business until I start delegating and freeing up my time. This year my flipping business will hit above that mark, but I haven’t actually defined the business. I’ve got 2 projects with one partner and another project with another partner.
What is my actual business going to be? Right now I’m just flailing around and seeing what I can make happen. Maybe that is why I feel so lost in the jungle lately. I need to be more intentional about setting my destination. I can’t just hack my way through the jungle and hope I’ll be happy with the end result.
But then part of me is afraid of setting that vision. If I have an actual destination then I have an actual possibility of failing. Can’t let fear set the tone. Like it says above, I need to set a result and work my way backward.
So what results do I want?
I want to turn these two business (Realtor and Flipper) into businesses that make more than $10k/year and also require no more than 10 hours/week of my time.
This is phase 2 of this project. Phase 1 was this first year of writing. Flailing and trying a whole bunch of stuff to see what sticks. I’ve made huge progress in that time, but now it is time to take it to the next level.
This doesn’t feel super well defined right now. But that’s ok. I know where I want to go and now I can re-work my plans to get me to the destination. I’m going to read through the Atomic Habits summary and use the lessons to re-work my habits. Some that I currently have are working well for me. Others aren’t doing much.
For this week, I’m just enjoying the view of my new path. I’ll be getting dirty on the trail soon enough.
On Wednesday I’ll make a special post where I pull some early lessons from Atomic Habits. Then I’ll continue my usual Monday posts with additional insights until I work my way through the entire summary.
See ya then! ✌️