Monday's Keister Kick, (One Day at a Time)




Writing an entire book seems so daunting right now because I've never done it.. but Law School looked impossible to me, the Bar Exam was beyond my reach as well.. and actually practicing as an Attorney.. a pipe dream.  All were just things I wanted to do at some point in the future, but they were impossible for me to accomplish.

My Law Building, good Ole' Menard
So I didn't do them, or at least not all at once.  I just focused on the little things I need to do each day. I didn't pass the Bar Exam on one day.. I just went to school. I didn't practice as an Attorney on 'Tuesday'.. I just read my text and did some homework. As corny as it sounds, little by little I achieved each milestone simply by doing the small things I needed to accomplish that day, without even looking at the big thing.  

Sure there were day when I did look at the big thing, it both motivated me and scared me. I was a small town kid, grew up on a farm 10 miles outside of a town with 2200 people in it.  I could never graduate from Law School and pass the Bar Exam.. but I could.. read this text, and go to school for the day, and take notes, and just do the little things that this day required.  

Once I did my daily stuff long enough, I had graduated from College.  No big deal.. it wasn't even hard.  You just had to keep your head down and work. I'd been doing that all my life.  Law School was a different matter, I couldn't do that.. but I could just go to class and listen and take notes and read.. that wasn't beyond me.  

So I did that for about 3.5 years and suddenly I was finished with my last Final Exam of Law School.. not only a graduate, but a member of the Deans List and the International Law School Honors Fraternity.  Again, not a big deal.. if I can do it, anybody can do it. The practice of Law is a little different, you've got to just trust the work you've done and take the plunge, but once you've put in the work.. it's more exciting than it is scary.

But writing a book, on the other hand.. it's impossible.  I can't do that.

Funny how I know the routine, but even now I struggle to implement it.  I've just got to do the small daily tasks, and the rest will fall into place. 

I know it.. I know I know it.  Now YOU know I know it.. so I've just got to do it.  

So.. I WILL do it.  Now.  



Comments

  1. My advice is to figure out the small steps that will help make it possible. Learn what kind of stories you want to tell. Figure out how you want to tell them. And then work your way to writing them. The last step is perhaps the most crucial. It's not so much the will as putting in the time. Once you've put in the time, the book emerges, like Michelangelo staring at a block of marble seeing the shape of the sculpture to come. The shape of the book is in the increments it takes to write it. Learn what makes writing these increments comfortable for you. That's all it takes, knowing what you want and how to get there. You've already got that down.

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  2. Kevin, I LOVE your energy! I can feel your passion! You WILL do it. You know you will. I can feel it. And it does just come down to... doing it. To making those small things happen each day like you talked about... You've already done huge things--are doing huge things, and you've done it just by doing your best each day. I'm excited for you. It's hard--it's going to be hard, but it's soooo worth it. You must keep me posted with your progress!

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