First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do
Epictetus
I recorded a podcast earlier this week. Halfway through, I knew that it wasn’t good yet I persisted and kept recording. My stubbornness won out on that battle, although I’m not sure what it actually accomplished in the end. The video still ended up in the bin and not published. I wasted an extra 10 minutes recording when I should have just stopped.
It was terrible. There were a lot of filler words in there. I lost my place. Sentences were repeated.
I know what it is that I want to talk about. My focus was off.
Simply put, I haven’t yet done the work needed so I can produce the podcast episode that I want (in this case, 11 morning routine hacks for 2023).
The work I didn’t do
What work haven’t I done? I didn’t:
- sit with my thoughts enough to get a clear picture of what hacks are important (rather than pulling out random ones as they come to mind)
- read other articles so I could back up my claims rather than bro-science everything
- set out a draft of hacks to make sure that they flowed and that they were appropriate for the episode
- review my own routines and changes so I could look at what things I have added or taken away lately and why it now works better
- reflect on how my routine has been working and how all the steps flow together
It’s always a humbling experience when you think you can just wing something because you are just going to recount what you do each morning. Ego will get in the way. Take the time. Make sure you have done all of the prior work.
I have examples of when I’ve done the work in the past. Many. I’ve even just done a reflection on 2022 as an article and as a podcast. Yet in my rush, I forgot those lessons and tried to power through. A good reminder to catch myself and slow down.
There were positives though. It turns out I had done the work for another episode. I had done my thinking, reflection, reading on why my wife and I review our weeks ahead and why it’s so successful. So I recorded that episode instead. It was fine.
Do the work. Produce the results.