One thing I’ve learned while wandering a very small section of this planet is this:
Desmond Tutu was right.
To eat the elephant, you truly have to take one bite at a time.
As I wrote yesterday in my post, The Cycle:
What if for the next 38 days you built a habit or shipped something to carry you into the New Year?
And, I cheated a bit.
My goals were all things that were already on my list. They had considerable momentum.
So, I challenged myself.
Can you work from a dead stop? What can you make happen that’s completely stalled?
I found the answer:
I will read Robert Greene’s Mastery.
Even as I put it in bold type, it sounds like I’m proclaiming a magic trick.
This isn’t The Prestige (great movie, by the way).
It’s real life, and it’s only a book. But it had been collecting dust on my nightstand (or so I thought), and it’s something I’ve wanted to read for a while. I purchased it May 16, 2019.
But here’s what I realized while making this happen.
1. I had to find the damn thing
I thought it was on the nightstand. Then, I figured it was in the office.
I searched, and I searched. Time was getting away from me.
It was 12:52 p.m. I gave myself a deadline.
You have until 1:00 p.m. to find the book.
I paused and thought logically instead of frantically.
I found it in 3 minutes. It was in the hutch, turned around and in a pile of stuff under a photo album. I missed it completely my first trip through.
2. I had to make a plan
Finding it was arguably the hardest part.
I flipped to the back of the book. The last page number: 318.
I flipped to the front. The introduction actually started on page 1.
Hooray, simple math.
318 page / 37 days = 8.6 pages per day.
Done and dusted.
3. I had to commit to my plan
I sat down and read my 8.6 pages. In fact, I read 9.25 pages (banking some extra for future days).
Then, I said:
Okay, what are you going to do with your reading?
Luckily, I have a new vehicle for carrying me forward.
Hint: you’re reading it.
So at the bottom of every post, from now until the end of the year, I will be sharing a quote from the previous day’s reading along with the number of highlights.
It will appear like this. And honestly, this might be the hardest part. The first 9.25 pages were gold.
A Quote from Mastery by Robert Greene
“Most of the time we live in an interior world of dreams, desires and obsessive thoughts. But in this period of exceptional creativity, we are impelled by the need to get something done that has a practical effect.”
Mastery, Robert Green (p. 2)
I love that you found a fresh starting point to move you through the dip! : ) The first 9.25 pages were gold to you, but I have no doubt that your insights and journey are going to be platinum in 38 days! Looking forward to watching your discoveries unfold, and....Don't forget to enjoy the journey!