Today I fell down some stairs and now I have a perfectly straight, 10-inch bruise across my butt.
I giggled when I finally looked at it, but I can tell you, taking a tumble did not put me in the mood for writing.
However, the writing must go on, because the writing matters a whole lot more than being literally butt-hurt.
On days like this — when something goes properly wrong — I go back to The One Thing. It’s a book by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, and its message boils down very neatly:
What’s the one thing I can do right that will make everything else easier or unnecessary?
This is basically about getting very clear and very focused about your priorities.
My priority is to help other people identify and express what truly matters to them through writing.
Rebel On The Page — the book I’m currently working on — is how I’ll be able to reach the greatest number of people with that help. If I can move that forward every day, everything else is gravy, so that’s what I did.
Of course, sometimes the one thing doesn’t take very long, and then you realise you could also do the next one thing that moves your priorities forward.
This daily newsletter is another vehicle for me to achieve that purpose, so sending this email was the next one thing.
After this, I’m going to post a very brief version of yesterday’s email on Twitter, which is another one thing I can do to help people get writing.
And then I’m going to be done, and that’s going to be enough.
This is the great thing about writing — it’s not about whether you do it all day long or how much content you produce in a sitting.
It’s about putting down what’s most important that day. It’s about connecting with yourself and what really matters to you, and making a record of that, because that’s what lives and great stories are made of.
What’s the one most important thing you could write about today?