When you were a kid you thought that someday things would get easier. That one day you would know how to do everything. You’re still waiting for that to happen.
Every day I sit down to write these essays and every day I look at a whiteboard full of ideas. And most days, draw a blank on all of them. Often I find a reason to not write anything. I tell myself that I will be better able to write another day — that I will find the right mix of caffeine, music, lighting, schedule and clarity that will allow greatness to spring forth without having to wring it out of myself. And every day is not that day. Every day is the same as it was every other day.
Every day I feel fear. Fear that I will fail. Fear that I will succeed. Fear that you will all hate these. Fear that no one will read them. I procrastinate, create delays, forget things I need, spend time getting inspired, doubt myself, think about what else I should be doing, question whether this is the best use of my time, have writer’s block, and indulge in scores of other tactics for keeping myself from getting anywhere. I don’t know what the prime mover on this is — what mix of complexes I have that keeps me doing the same old thing and not making progress. But I have identified one of them, which I will call the Myth Of Easy Things.
You know this myth. You love this myth. Filmmakers know this, which is why they keep giving us the story of the epic quest, where the hero just happens to have some magic power and friends devoted to helping him. You want the Easy Button. We all do. But the easiest thing to do is nothing. Doing things is hard. They didn’t tell us that in school. They told us about heroic characters who were never afraid, who never had personal problems, who never doubted or had doubters. They either were simply great without really trying, or had some flash of inspiration, after which they produced greatness without effort.
Do not believe this myth and allow it to hold you back from tackling hard things. Which is almost everything more demanding than loading the bong. Writing these is hard for me. It is hard today. It will be hard tomorrow. It will be hard every day. That’s how life is. Movies and television tell us that everything is neatly solved and that no problem is ever really that hard. The reality is that it’s always hard.
Don’t wait for it to get easier. Because it won’t. You have to gird your loins and do battle — with the world, with your work, with yourself. Every time. The good news is, it is possible. Nearly every successful person has done this. Everyone who has done anything faces the same wall. So maybe you can do it too. But don’t wait. It doesn’t get easier.