Transformation is the ultimate magic trick. Transform yourself, transform your environment.
The Type that Writes
A couple of years ago I decided that I wanted to become the sort of person who writes books. However, the whole idea of writing a book seemed completely daunting. I needed a transformation.
My typing was an obstacle – slightly better than two fingers, but I had to look at the keyboard and I was slow. Learn to touch-type was the first step. I found an online course that allowed self-paced learning with as little as five minutes per day. Great, that was achievable – who can’t find five minutes each day?
Hey presto, a year later I could type using all my fingers and without having to look at the keyboard. As a bonus, I have saved more than five minutes per day because I can now answer emails more quickly. And my typing speed continues to increase as I use it.
Once my touch-typing was sorted, I realised that I would never really get anything written unless I established a writing habit. So, phase two, the next stage in the journey, the next mini-goal. I committed to going to the library at the start of each day and writing for an hour. So far it is going well!
Writing a book once seemed like an impossible dream. But now with touch-typing and a writing habit, it no longer seems impossible.
Disappearing Clutter
The same principle transformed our garage. We don’t keep a car in our garage, rather it is a store room for magic props, along with tool kits, camping stuff and kayaking gear.
Six months ago it was a complete mess. There were corners that hadn’t been touched for ages and boxes that hadn’t been opened since we moved in several years ago. But, I thought, this has to be done. The commitment was ten minutes per day after the morning dog-walk and – ta da! – six months later we now have a beautifully organised and de-cluttered garage. It has been transformed!
Having seen the benefit of this little-and-often philosophy, I have now applied it to other areas of life. Exercise, organising the office, reading books, developing marketing materials, even developing relationships.
Visualise your goal, break it down into bite-size chunks and then establish a habit and routine that allows you to achieve it in a manageable and enjoyable way.
And watch yourself perform the ultimate magic trick!
Nice, good article.
Thanks Carl
Inspirational for the respected aspirations, but what if your goal goes against the grain with family and friends?
Hi Alex, Thanks for your comment and I hope you are well.
That is a good question. I will have a think about it and may well post something on that theme in future.
There is not an obvious one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on your family and friends, their values and how well they know you. It could be that you should absolutely forge your own path and break the mould. But they may have wisdom and perspective that would be good to listen to. Without knowing them it is impossible to say.
My initial thoughts went to issues of values, reflection and calling.
– Have you worked out your own personal values? If you have a partner you may wish to to do this with them as well. For us this was a list of priorities, eg, in what order do you put family, self, work, God, politics, etc, etc. It will be different for everyone, but once you have it you will have something against which to evaluate life decisions as they present themselves.
– Do you have habits in place that enable you to reflect daily, weekly and annually on your life? This could be journalling, meditation, an accountability or mastermind group, retreats, artist dates, some combination of these, or something entirely or own?
– A reflective practice should make it easier to discern your calling. This sounds very religious, but it doesn’t have to be. I have already written a piece on calling so I will work on editing it and getting it up soon.