Yesterday I didn’t want to draw today’s graphic grenade. It was late and I felt exhausted, ready to go to bed and dream sweet-a-licious dreams. But I said to myself – Mars, don’t be a fucking sissy. You are a pro now, and people expect to see your work. Now get off your lazy ass, take out that graphic tablet and start unleashing some visual magic !
And you know what ? After an initial cry period (ooooh, I can’t do this, I’m too tired and I just want to sleep) I got my shit together and draw for a straight 5 (!) hours.
I slept like a baby that swallowed a kilo of Valium afterwards, because I was acting pro. And I’m using this mindset to write this post.
Because frankly, I don’t feel like writing this post. I simply don’t. But I do it anyways.
Here’s what I think:
A lazy person does barely any work.
A good person does the work when he feels like it.
A digital crusader does the work EVEN when he doesn’t feel it.
It’s all about attitude. And it’s that specific attitude that separates the champion from the amateur. That’s what Michael Jordan separates from an average Basket Ball player. That’s what Seth Godin separates from any marketer. They do it when it’s uncomfortable. Hell, they do it ESPECIALLY if it’s uncomfortable and scream a barbarian war cry to show THEY MEAN IT. (There’s no official proof for that. Blame my imagination for that remark.)
It all comes down to one short line that you should breath like mint-flavored oxygen. And it’s only 4 letters:
Just fucking do it.
So, when you feel like watching Friends for the 77th time, you do the work.
When you think you are not creative (a lie), you do the work. You expect to deliver.
When you think you have nothing to say, you do the work.
When everyone else says do something else, and it’s super-sweet sunny outside and you’d rather swim, you do the work.
Hell, even if God comes down from space, invites you for a coffee and pays for the whole experience, you say “Sorry, pal, I have to do the work.”
Capiche ?
Because when you “do the work” in a moment where you want to do it THE LEAST, you develop (emotional) muscle. And the more work you do in those uncomfortable states, the faster it becomes a habit. Until one day it’s so laser-like ingrained in your membrane that there’s no separation between a “low” and “high” moment – you can PRODUCE “art” anytime, despite your physical state.
BOOYA.
How to use this principle for your own work:
It’s as simple as counting as 321. You set yourself a daily schedule of the (creative) work you want to accomplish this week. And then you simply do it, no matter how you feel about it.
And when you reach the moment you are fed up, when you’re looking for excuses ( “Maybe a break my creativity?” << slap in your face) you scream “BRING IT” and then do more work. In fact, cherish those moments. They test your creativity, they make you stronger.
Yesss, now you are a real crusader. Welcome on board.
Conclusion:
So, don’t skip “the work” when you don’t feel like doing it. That’s amateur, and that ain’t you. You are a fucking PRO now.
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