False starts. In March of 2016, the idea of… | by William Liao | Oct, 2021

In March of 2016, the idea of consistently writing excited me so much that I declared my intent to do so on Medium:

Subject: Starting on Medium

Body (snippet): From now until the end of June (at the very least), I am fully committing to publishing at least 1 piece of content each week. Content having to do with the process of figuring things out — getting clarity. I plan on doing what I believe writing will allow me to do best: to understand where I was, where I am, and hopefully with enough effort… where I’m going.

I wrote eight posts after that before taking a 2-year hiatus. Didn’t make it to the end of June.

Fast forward to 2018: I set out to publish consistently again; managed to publish three posts.

Fast forward to 2019: same intent; wrote one post.

Fast forward to December 2020: same intent, only this time I finally managed to write consistently. Not just once a week, but every day. Seth Godin’s book The Practice was a big help. I’ve learned a lot about myself (the goal) in the process.

Committing and then dropping off — false starts — is a sign that there is a misalignment between your priorities and your actions.

Reconciliation can go one of two ways*:

1. See your actions as a reflection of your true priorities and own them.
2. See your actions as old habits and resolve to align your behavior with your priorities. Behavior change takes time and effort; tenacity will be your greatest asset. Don’t be discouraged by false starts.

Either way, you learn something about yourself.

Happy learning.

*There’s a 3rd “way”: fence-sitting & indecision. Wouldn’t do that.