Get Started today
There’s a quote attributed to an ancient Chinese proverb that states, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
The message is clear. We can use history and past experiences to recognize that time is the ultimate contributor to growth. At the same time, it’s important to realize that every moment we spend thinking about the past (or future) without acting is a moment gone.
This is an important idea for me. As I’ve been exploring what I believe is my optimal lifestyle, I’ve realized that writing is one of the things I wish I spent more time doing. And, thanks to unsourced internet quotes, I’m realizing that now is the best time for me to start. The rise of the “10,000 hours” factor popularized by Malcolm Gladwell has probably crossed your path a few times. Well, 10,000 hours has to start with hour number one. You eat an elephant one bite at a time as they say. A journey of 1000 miles starts with a first step, and so on.
When you are a beginner, things are simultaneously simple and complex. Simple because a step in any direction is likely an improvement. Complex because you simply don’t know what you don’t know. “If I take a step this way, will that actually make it even more difficult to get to where I’m going?” After all, you don’t want to start a marathon by running in the opposite direction for the first mile.
The truth is, that backward mile probably taught you something very important like, “when the gun goes off, follow the crowd of people all moving in the same direction.” This is an oversimplification, but you get it. Moving backward and subsequently moving forward is better than never moving at all.
I recently read a newsletter by Ali Abdaal that told “The Parable of the Pottery Class.” There was a group of students new to pottery. Half the group was instructed to take 30 days and make one pot the best they could. The other half was told to make a new pot every day for 30 days. At the end of the month, the teacher inspected the pots and found that the 10 best pots were all made by the students who created a new pot every day.
I love this story. You can imagine that if you judged the first pot made by the “daily students” compared to the one pot made by the others, the first pot probably looked like junk. This is simply going to be true. I could have spent four weeks crafting this blog post, but instead I wrote it out in about a half hour. One draft. I fully expect to look back on this one day and find errors, but I’ll be glad that I started today because my masterpiece could not exist without this silly blog existing.
I’m excited to share more of what I’m learning. I hope that you enjoy following along. I’d love to be your guide in creating a more fulfilling, curiosity-driven, happy and productive life.